Consultant Scientist (Food and Agriculture)

Minton Treharne & Davies Ltd; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consultancy firm in Cardiff is seeking a Consultant Scientist to join its Food and Agriculture team. In this role, you will conduct forensic investigations into safety and quality disputes across food commodities. This includes preparing protocols, gathering evidence, managing cases, and preparing technical reports. The ideal candidate will have strong communication skills and a postgraduate degree in a relevant subject. Travel worldwide will be required for incident investigations.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree in relevant subject preferred, but not essential.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including preparing scientific reports.
• Problem solving skills and ability to act with initiative.
• Eager to learn and develop skills.
• Prepared to travel at immediate notice.
• Able to manage own workload and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Attend incidents worldwide to perform forensic investigations.
• Prepare sampling and testing protocols for consignments.
• Witness and supervise sampling operations.
• Gather contemporaneous evidence in relation to incidents.
• Prepare written technical advice and reports.
• Provide expert evidence in mediation, arbitration, or court.

Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Problem solving skills

Ability to act with initiative

Prepared to travel at immediate notice

Eager to learn and develop skills

Education

Postgraduate degree in relevant subject

Job description

Consultant Scientist (Food and Agriculture)

Background

MTD is currently recruiting for a Consultant Scientist (Food and Agriculture) to join our consultancy team in Cardiff, United Kingdom.

Job Description

As a Consultant Scientist within MTD’s food and agriculture consultancy team, you will develop the skills required to perform forensic investigations into safety and quality disputes on a variety food and agricultural commodities. This will include extensive training in our Food Laboratory at our Head Office in Cardiff as well as attendance on site with experienced consultants to learn in the field.

The disputes can arise throughout the supply chain. Such work is undertaken for clients in the marine and insurance sectors, including international insurance companies, traders, manufacturers, suppliers, ship owners, P&I Clubs, claims handlers, loss adjusters and solicitors.

Our clients appoint MTD to provide clear and independent technical advice into the cause of an incident and how the problem might best be mitigated. Such investigations will typically involve attendance at the site of an incident (often at very short notice) to gather evidence (e.g. obtain documentation, oversee the proper sampling of a material in line with International Standard procedures, interview involved parties etc.) and manage what are often high-pressure, contentious situations, including carrying out joint surveys and providing real-time advice on mitigation. Further investigation may involve laboratory analysis/examination of samples, using both routine international test methods and/or tailored/adapted methodologies to determine the root cause of an incident.

You will then be required to compile the findings of the investigation into a technical report for clients without a scientific background. Ultimately, you may be required to give expert evidence in Court, Arbitration or Mediation.

Example Work

• Develop and oversee appropriate sampling protocols to determine the extent of mycotoxin contamination.
• Conclude reliably the rate of heat damage to a consignment of soya beans in East Asia and appraise how such damage could be mitigated.
• Attend in Djibouti to investigate the cause of a fire to a consignment of bagged wheat flour.
• Investigate the cause and extent of an infestation to grain in silos and warehouses in the United Kingdom.
• Investigate the apparent increase in moisture content to a consignment of refined sugar in West Africa despite no signs of external wetting.
• Attend in Central America to investigate the allegation, cause and extent in the change of colour of a consignment of maize.
• Investigate to determine the nature and source of a particulate contamination to a consignment of vegetable oils refined in Indonesia.
• Determine the cause of increased acidity of refined vegetable oil intended for use as a biofuel feedstock.

Key Responsibilities

The list below provides an overview of the key aspects of the Consultant Scientist (Food and Agriculture) role:

• Attend at incidents (on board Vessels, in silos, warehouses, mills, crushing plants, storage tanks, container yards, refineries, laboratories, cold stores, industrial freezers, and food manufacturers) worldwide to perform forensic investigations into safety and quality disputes concerning food and agricultural commodities.
• Prepare sampling and testing protocols for consignments in line with International Standards.
• Witness and supervise these sampling operations.
• Gather contemporaneous evidence in relation to the background and circumstances of the incident under investigation.
• Review and consult documentation, including researching applicable standards and regulations, where required.
• Manage cases by reporting to clients and liaising with other parties involved in the incident (shipping agents, inspectors, other experts and surveyors).
• Prepare written technical advice and reports.
• Attend meetings with clients to discuss the findings of investigations.
• Provide expert evidence in mediation, arbitration or court.

MTD’s Requirements

• Postgraduate degree in relevant subjected preferred, but not essential.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including preparing scientific reports to explain technical issues to non-scientific clients.
• Problem solving skills and ability to act with initiative.
• Eager to learn and develop skills.
• Prepared to travel at immediate notice.
• Able to manage own workload and meet deadlines when handling multiple projects.
• Any experience in the food industry or in agricultural science is advantageous, but not required.
• Any experience with sampling or analysing food and agricultural commodities would be considered an advantage.

Company registered in England
Company No. 0435262