Senior Scientist - Asbestos & Exposure Measurement

About Us

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We’re dedicated to protecting people and places, ensuring everyone can lead safer and healthier lives  are now looking for a Senior Scientist to join us on a full-time, permanent basis. Part-time working hours are available for this role. We can accept part-time applicants who can commit to working a minimum of 30 hours per week.

• Salary of £47,686 - £54,453 per annum
• Competitive Civil Service pension scheme with employer contributions of over 28.97%
• 185 hours’ annual holiday, increasing to 222 hours after 5 years' qualifying service, plus public holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave (recorded as 7.4 hours in addition to your annual leave balance)
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Family-friendly policies and working hours to support work-life balance
• Parental leave benefits
• Access to a range of benefits, including Cycle to Work Scheme, E-Gift Cards, and vouchers via Edenred

As a Senior Scientist, you will apply your asbestos expertise to scientific, regulatory and investigative work that supports the effective management of workplace asbestos risks. Working across a programme of site and laboratory-based activities, you will deliver asbestos-related investigations and research. These will include workplace exposure assessments, incident investigations and sampling, as well as generating and interpreting scientific data to support regulatory, forensic and investigative work.

You will also provide technical expertise to regulatory, operational and policy colleagues, communicating scientific findings to technical and non-technical audiences and contributing to guidance, research outputs and evidence-based decision-making.

Additionally, you will:

• Produce high-quality scientific reports, publications and presentations
• Share knowledge and mentor colleagues
• Support the development of technical capability within the team
• Maintain scientific, quality, governance and Health & Safety standards
• Train to become an HSE Nominated Asbestos Person

For the foreseeable future, a significant proportion of this role will involve external site-based project delivery across Great Britain. The role involves working with asbestos in controlled laboratory and site environments. You will be required to wear close-fitting respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for certain activities and successfully complete face-fit testing, as well as undertake the relevant health surveillance or medical assessments required for working with asbestos.

To be considered as a Senior Scientist, you will need:

• Practical site experience of asbestos surveys, duty-to-manage activities and clearance testing and/or asbestos management activities
• Practical experience of site and/or laboratory-based work, investigating workplace exposures or supporting regulatory, forensic or investigative activities
• Experience of generating, validating and interpreting analytical or research data
• Experience of communicating technical and/or scientific information to technical and non-technical audiences
• A commitment to continuing professional development and undertaking the training required to become an HSE Nominated Asbestos Person
• A full UK driving licence
• The BOHS Certificate of Competence in Asbestos, or a combination of recognised asbestos qualifications and professional experience demonstrating equivalent competence in asbestos surveying, duty-to-manage activities and clearance testing
• A degree in a suitable scientific discipline, such as chemistry, materials science, environmental science, geology, forensic science or a related subject

The closing date for this role is 5th October 2026.

Other organisations may call this role Senior Asbestos Scientist, Asbestos Scientist, Asbestos Specialist, Asbestos Consultant, Senior Asbestos Consultant, Occupational Hygiene Scientist, Exposure Scientist, Asbestos Surveyor, or Asbestos Analyst.

the Health and Safety Executive are equal opportunities employers, value diversity and are strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. Equal opportunities are the only acceptable way to conduct business and we believe that the more inclusive our environments are, the better our work will be.