Grainne Behan

Develop and implement strategies to enforce trading standards regulations, ensuring compliance with consumer protection laws and fair trading practices.

• Lead and supervise a team of [number] trading standards officers, providing guidance, training, and support to ensure efficient operation and high-quality service delivery.

• Conduct thorough investigations into consumer complaints, deceptive practices, and fraudulent activities, collaborating with relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies and legal professionals.

• Manage complex legal cases, prepare evidence, and represent the organization in court proceedings, ensuring compliance with legal requirements and maintaining accurate documentation.

• Provide expert advice to businesses and consumers regarding trading standards legislation, product safety, and fair trading practices, promoting awareness and facilitating compliance.

• Collaborate with external agencies and industry associations to establish partnerships, share best practices, and enhance regulatory effectiveness.

• Develop and deliver training programs to educate businesses and trading standards officers on regulatory requirements and consumer protection measures.

• Conduct regular audits and inspections of businesses to monitor compliance with trading standards regulations, issuing warnings, fines, or closure notices as necessary.

• Stay up to date with emerging trends, legislation, and enforcement techniques in the field of trading standards, attending relevant conferences and training programs.

- Professional Competence. Examples include doctors that are practising overseas and doctors on leave from medical practice who are also required to meet statutory professional competence requirements.

- I developed Standard Operation Procedures (SOP’s) to ensure consistency in approach to processing CPD/audit documentation. I designed and implemented the CPD guidance material to doctors which includes web content, newsletters and media queries and other communication tools.

- Managed complaints from doctors where complaints arise during the management of the audit process and I ensure that they are dealt with in a timely and transparent manner.

- Providing executive support including preparation of briefs, reports, minute taking for a number of internal Council Committees. As executive support to these committees, I was the first point of contact to the group and developed a good working relationships with the Chair and other group members.

- Provided advice and guidance to other health and social care regulatory bodies/stakeholders on matters relating to audit and maintenance of professional competence in line with legislative requirements.

- Professional Competence. Examples include doctors that are practising overseas and doctors on leave from medical practice who are also required to meet statutory professional competence requirements.

- I developed Standard Operation Procedures (SOP’s) to ensure consistency in approach to processing CPD/audit documentation. I designed and implemented the CPD guidance material to doctors which includes web content, newsletters and media queries and other communication tools.

- Managed complaints from doctors where complaints arise during the management of the audit process and I ensure that they are dealt with in a timely and transparent manner.

- Providing executive support including preparation of briefs, reports, minute taking for a number of internal Council Committees. As executive support to these committees, I was the first point of contact to the group and developed a good working relationships with the Chair and other group members.

- Provided advice and guidance to other health and social care regulatory bodies/stakeholders on matters relating to audit and maintenance of professional competence in line with legislative requirements.

Birmingham City Council – Enterprising Communities

May 2007 – April 2008

Compliance and Monitoring Officer.

Role was to oversee the contract management of a portfolio of Birmingham City Council community regeneration projects funded by European regional and social funding (ERDF and ESF) ensuring that activity and expenditure meet contractually agreed standards, timescales, profiles and outputs.

Duties included:

- Undertake monitoring and inspection visits of projects that have received funding ensuring that they are delivering to contractual obligations. Ensured that European funding regulations, output targets and timescales for reporting were met by projects.

- Responsible for preparing the reports following inspection visits ensuring that all recommendations made in the report were implemented as well as highlighting any irregularities on projects.

- Developed strong working relationships with projects and other interested stakeholders. Key working relationships were established with projects to ensure that records and targets are being maintained to an auditable standard in order to support quarterly key performance indicators and grant claims.

- Reporting to the programme manager on an ongoing basis. I gave both written and verbal reports to the departmental board on the progress of projects and highlighting areas of good practice for monitoring of projects.

Project manager on the development of training for new roles in support work for Long Term Conditions care services. Responsible for the planning, delivery and evaluation on all aspects of the project.

Duties included:

- A broad range of research carried out on shaping these roles based on existing skills set of similar roles and competencies, skills mapping, analysing government policy and evidence based material in long term conditions. Research was presented and appraised to various stakeholders in a variety of formats. New support roles developed including job descriptions to support people with long term illnesses in their homes and primary care settings.

- Developed a National Open College Network accredited training programme at 3 levels including, recruiting students, teaching and design of all course materials.

- Extensive partnership working at a strategic and community level. Responsible for recruiting students as well as working with various healthcare professionals in developing the roles both internally and externally.

- Reported directly to the head of section/chief executive officer. Sole responsibility for creating own work plan with key deliverables, organising workload including administering own budget. Regularly presented management reports to head of section and steering groups on the progress of the project.