About the job

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic person to join UKHSA East of England within the Health Protection Team as a Consultant in Health Protection. The Health Protection Team provides service across the East of England Region and has three offices: Mildenhall (Suffolk), Harlow (Essex) and Cambridge.

There is an expectation the successful candidate will undertake proactive work in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire area and therefore the role will be based in the Mildenhall or Cambridge office. Travel across the geographical patch and to other UKHSA sites should be expected.

To carry out the role, we are looking for a dynamic public health professional with strong leadership skills and vision. The post of Consultant in Health Protection is a senior level position, suitable for a public health professional seeking an exciting position to protect people’s health from infectious diseases and other threats including that of COVID-19.

Job description

You will require a sound experience of health protection practice in the wider NHS context and have good generic public health skills together with an understanding of and skills in multi-organisational working.

Working in close partnership with local authorities and the NHS, the post holder will have operational responsibility for the provision of a safe and effective health protection service which delivers to high quality standards and is responsive to the needs of the local community and UKHSA’s partners in the local public health systems. 

Person specification

At the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to provide health security for the nation by protecting from infectious disease and external hazards. We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

You will share the responsibility with a multidisciplinary team, including other consultants in health protection as well as health protection practitioners, for dealing with the surveillance, prevention and control of communicable disease and the response to non-communicable environmental hazards including chemical and radiation issues within the East of England. You will contribute to the investigation and management of a full range of health protection incidents (including outbreaks of diseases such as meningitis and food poisoning) and will carry out surveillance, co-ordination, support and monitoring of local implementation of certain key national programmes.

Our mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. We will work to ensure our people have the diverse skills, experiences and backgrounds we need to thrive, that our employees are representative of the communities we serve and feel valued and enabled to play their part in delivering our work.

Creating our working culture is an ongoing process which we are developing by listening and learning together, hearing and acting upon diverse voices and opinions to develop a common sense of identity and effective ways of working.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters, promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

•    Option 3 – External - Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants)
Applicants are strongly advised to use the criteria in the Person Specification of the Job Description as sub-headings in their application to make it clear how they meet each of the selection criteria. 

The successful candidate will be appointed to the point of the Consultant salary scale appropriate to their years of seniority or if from a background other than medicine to NHS Agenda for Change Band 8d.

Candidates must either be included on the GMC Specialist Register in Public Health, Microbiology or Infectious Diseases Medicine, or UK Public Health Register for Public Health Specialists or able to provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview.

The successful candidate will be appointed to the point of the consultant salary scale appropriate to their years of seniority or if from a background other than medicine to NHS Agenda for Change Band 8d.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.