Apprentice Trading Standards Officer
Peterborough City Council
Fletton Quays (PE2 8TY)
Closes in 12 days (Wednesday 6 August 2025)
Posted on 23 July 2025
Contents
Summary
The majority of the role will be spent on planning and delivering operational activity to crack down on illicit tobacco. When you are not working on illicit tobacco, you will gain experience in other areas of Trading Standards work, including Product Safety and Fair Trading.
- Wage
-
£27,711 a year
Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
Salary between £27,711 - £31,067.
- Training course
- Trading standards professional (level 6)
- Hours
-
Hybrid working plus operational work across Peterborough & Cambridgeshire.
37 hours a week
- Start date
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Tuesday 30 September 2025
- Duration
-
3 years
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
- Following comprehensive training, your primary role will be to take a leading role in tackling illicit tobacco and vapes, co-ordinating and organising operational work including liaison with partners,
gathering and analysing local Intelligence, leading operational work in this field, dealing with evidence gathering and disposal, publicising the work and collating quarterly data on what’s been
delivered - In addition to this, you will initially assist senior officers with operational work including investigations, inspections, projects and other interventions as directed to determine compliance
with legislation, including taking part in national, regional and local initiatives and enforcement activities - This will give you the knowledge and experience you need to ultimately start to carry your own investigation case load and run your own projects
- You will also be asked to support wider service activities and work as needed, and to participate in the Duty system, monitoring incoming complaints and dealing with them in accordance with our protocols
- Much of what we do requires a level of research to inform our work, for instance as part of investigatory project work, and it will therefore be necessary for you to conduct research from time to time
- For some areas of your work you will need to make test purchases or take samples and arrange for their testing in accordance with legislative requirements and statutory guidance
- For the majority of businesses we deal with, when we find a breach of legislation, we issue advice and guidance to help them put things right, which can be in a range of formats. As such this will also be an integral part of the role
- For more serious issues it is likely to be necessary for you to issue statutory notices and warning letters to non-compliant businesses, and conduct criminal interviews, prepare legal reports for our lawyers in preparation for legal action
- Trading Standards works with a wide range of partners, and it will be really important in this role to develop and maintain effective partnership working arrangements with a range of services and
agencies both within and outside of the council in the areas you are involved in in order to help facilitate the best possible outcome - Accurate record keeping and attention to detail is essential to comply with service, as well as legal, requirements, so this will be an important element of the role
- Intelligence is fundamental to the Service and you will play a part in supporting this through Intelligence gathering, analysis and recording on our Intelligence database
- In addition to the training and examinations you’ll be required to participate in to achieve your Level 6 Apprenticeship, you will also attend external training in other areas of the service where
this would benefit your role, and occasionally you will be required to travel to training outside the authority which may include an overnight stay - Whilst you will be provided with one day a week study time, it will be necessary to do several hours study a week in your own time as part of your Apprenticeship
- You will also be expected to co-author your training and development plan, and to seek out opportunities to shadow and assist officers to increase your experience of our work across the service and meet the requirements of your apprenticeship
- On occasion you will be required to work outside of normal office hours (weekends and evenings) as necessary to maximise the effectiveness of service delivery
Where you'll work
Sand Marin House
Brittern Way
Fletton Quays
PE2 8TY
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
CSA (SERVICES) LTD
Training course
Trading standards professional (level 6)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Lead and manage investigations and interventions.
- Apply investigative techniques and evidence gathering to produce reports with recommendations.
- Analyse, interpret, challenge, and evaluate data and intelligence.
- Interpret and apply relevant Acts, Regulations, Codes of Practice and Guidance in the consumer protection environment.
- Influence, negotiate and challenge stakeholders in the delivery and decision-making process.
- Use research, analytical and problem-solving techniques to resolve and prevent consumer protection issues.
- Conduct and/or respond to formal interviews in line with legal controls and best practice collaborating with legal representatives.
- Gather evidence for use for potential legal proceedings and acting as a witness when required.
- Make legal and tactical decisions to improve the outcomes in consumer protection investigations.
- Promote the improvement of compliance standards in consumer protection.
- Promote social inclusion in the workplace with businesses, stakeholders, and consumers.
- Promote environmental sustainability and support change to improve the environment.
- Lead and manage operational projects to achieve time dependent outcomes.
- Communicate complex information, best practice, and guidance in consumer protection, adapting delivery for different audiences.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to achieve agreed collective outcomes.
- Identify and apply industry developments to achieve continual service improvement.
- Lead the development and monitoring of financial strategies and setting of organisational budgets based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or similar, and challenge financial assumptions underpinning strategies.
- Build constructive working relationships across teams.
- Identify the training and development requirements of the team and stakeholders.
- Set strategic direction through the implementation of plans.
- Lead and respond to risks using risk management techniques.
- Provide support, specialist advice, and guidance for businesses, consumers, and stakeholders.
- Act as an advocate for projects and transformation of services across organisational boundaries such as those impacted by sustainability and the UK Net Carbon Zero.
- Lead and manage investigations and interventions.
- Apply investigative techniques and evidence gathering to produce reports with recommendations.
- Analyse, interpret, challenge, and evaluate data and intelligence.
- Interpret and apply relevant Acts, Regulations, Codes of Practice and Guidance in the consumer protection environment.
- Influence, negotiate and challenge stakeholders in the delivery and decision-making process.
- Use research, analytical and problem-solving techniques to resolve and prevent consumer protection issues.
- Conduct and/or respond to formal interviews in line with legal controls and best practice collaborating with legal representatives.
- Gather evidence for use for potential legal proceedings and acting as a witness when required.
- Make legal and tactical decisions to improve the outcomes in consumer protection investigations.
- Promote the improvement of compliance standards in consumer protection.
- Promote social inclusion in the workplace with businesses, stakeholders, and consumers.
- Promote environmental sustainability and support change to improve the environment.
- Lead and manage operational projects to achieve time dependent outcomes.
- Communicate complex information, best practice, and guidance in consumer protection, adapting delivery for different audiences.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to achieve agreed collective outcomes.
- Identify and apply industry developments to achieve continual service improvement.
- Lead the development and monitoring of financial strategies and setting of organisational budgets based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or similar, and challenge financial assumptions underpinning strategies.
- Build constructive working relationships across teams.
- Identify the training and development requirements of the team and stakeholders.
- Set strategic direction through the implementation of plans.
- Lead and respond to risks using risk management techniques.
- Provide support, specialist advice, and guidance for businesses, consumers, and stakeholders.
- Act as an advocate for projects and transformation of services across organisational boundaries such as those impacted by sustainability and the UK Net Carbon Zero.
Training schedule
Trading standards professional Level 6 (Degree with honours) Apprenticeship Standard
Requirements
Essential qualifications
Degree in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Presentation skills
- Analytical skills
- Team working
- Initiative
- Project planning skills
Other requirements
Current driving licence and access to a suitably insured vehicle for use in connection with duties.
About this employer
Peterborough City Council was formed as a unitary authority in 1998, having previously been part of Cambridgeshire County Council. As a unitary authority, the council has both the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Our values: We are committed to putting people first. Everyone matters. We are a values-led organisation. There are six values that we strive to achieve across all our work - with colleagues, partners and our communities: Transparent - we keep our promises Collaborative - we create and maintain a supportive environment Inclusive - we recognise and value diversity Respectful - we respect all people and communities Innovative - we are bold and courageous Integrity - we are open and honest
Company benefits
Access to a range of benefits via Vivup, including in-store and online discounts as well as our Cycle to Work and Home & Electronics schemes and much more.
Disability Confident
A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.
You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.
After this apprenticeship
- To be a qualified Trading Standards Officer
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
CSA (SERVICES) LTD
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000333263.
Apply now
Closes in 12 days (Wednesday 6 August 2025)
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