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About the VMD

The VMD is the regulatory and policy lead responsible for issues concerning the authorisation, use, and manufacture of veterinary medicines in the UK.

Our aim is to protect public health, animal health, and the environment, and promote animal welfare by assuring the safety, quality and effectiveness of veterinary medicines.

Find out more at: About us - Veterinary Medicines Directorate - GOV.UK

About the Job

This exciting and interesting job puts you at the heart of post-authorisation surveillance of veterinary medicines for the UK market and plays a major role in assuring the ongoing assessment of the benefit-risk balance for the use of these medicines.

As a Veterinary Surgeon and member of the Pharmacovigilance (PhV) team, you will be responsible for protecting animal, environmental and public health by continuous monitoring of the efficacy and safety of veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) throughout their lifecycle. We employ a globally recognised approach, with an emphasis on the detection and assessment of signals, regular benefit-risk reviews for veterinary medical products, and the inspecting of Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs). We collaborate with national and international bodies to maintain the safe and effective use of veterinary medicines in the UK.

Recent amendments to the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 have significantly increased the pharmacovigilance obligations for VMPs. In response, the PhV team is expanding and restructuring to meet these enhanced regulatory and operational demands. The updated regulations have led to a greater volume of data and stricter inspection and oversight requirements. This necessitates stronger governance, enforcement, and data analysis and interpretation capabilities.

We are seeking a veterinary professional with experience in leadership, scientific assessment, and of working in a regulatory or regulated environment.

Job description
You must be comfortable working within a complex, rapidly developing, scientific environment and within a legislatively prescribed framework but also be able to incorporate innovative thinking into the delivery of the work. You will be expected to contribute your expertise towards maintaining UK market appeal for veterinary medicines and aid future collaboration with other international regulators.

Your main responsibilities and duties will be to:

• Lead and manage a team of 4 direct reports with responsibility for ensuring effective planning, prioritisation, and delivery of workstreams aligned with regulatory deadlines, business needs, and quality standards.
• Lead horizon scanning and PhV R&D activities to identify emerging technologies, substances, and diseases that may require additional surveillance activities, coordinate research proposals, and contribute to the VMD’s wider scientific and innovation agenda.
• Assess and evaluate the post-authorisation benefit-risk of pharmaceuticals and biological/immunological VMPs (including vaccines and novel therapies) by applying expert scientific judgement and clinical veterinary knowledge to interpret safety data, contribute to signal detection, regulatory decisions, and support the implementation of risk mitigation strategies.
• Maintain and apply up-to-date expertise in relevant legislation, guidelines, and scientific developments, to provide pharmacovigilance leadership through reviewing guidelines, support VMD’s regulatory science strategy, and contribute to activities related to VMP availability.
• Represent the PhV Team internally and externally, contributing to national and international committees and working groups, and supporting wider government initiatives on medicine safety, efficacy, and availability.
• Conduct and peer review complex technical pharmacovigilance assessments, including evaluation of safety data, signal detection and benefit–risk analysis
• Provide support and cross-cover for other equivalent leads in the team.
• Develop and coordinate PhV reporting and performance monitoring, producing robust management information for internal governance and external publication, to provide assurance on the activities undertaken by the team.

You will be expected to:

• comply with quality management and information security standards, and GDPR and record management requirements, and act corporately in accordance with Civil Service values – meeting, role-modelling, embedding, and championing the corporate expectations of the VMD.
• maintain an awareness of developments in the field of Pharmacovigilance and the regulation of medicines and be proactive in the development and review of scientific and regulatory guidelines.

For further information or to apply, please click the apply button.

The closing date for this role is 12 October 2026.

Sift and Interview dates

The sift will be conducted week commencing 12 October 2026.

Interviews are currently scheduled to take place in person at the VMD the week commencing 9 November 2026.

Please note, this timeline is indicative at this stage and could be subject to change.

You cannot claim back any expenses incurred during the recruitment process.