About the job

Job summary

A senior role within the Health Protection Team (HPT) providing leadership, management and oversight of the HP function, including the response to incidents and outbreaks and responsibility for the day-to-day operational delivery.

The post holder will play a key role in developing, shaping and assuring the HP function, which may include managing individuals and teams, working closely with partners, and ensuring delivery of high-quality surveillance, response and support systems. The postholder will have responsibility for developing and maintaining close working relationships both internally and with partner organisations. In addition, they will contribute to and lead on regional and national priorities, including contribution to wider public health initiatives consistent with the regional delivery model and integrated working.

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations.  Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site.

Job description

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 HP service delivering to high quality standards responsive to the needs of the local community and UKHSA as partners in the local public health systems.

Sharing the responsibility with the other consultants as well as HP practitioners, for dealing with the surveillance, prevention and control of communicable disease and the response to non-communicable environmental hazards. Contributing to the investigation and management of a full range of health protection incidents carrying out surveillance, co-ordination & monitoring of local implementation of certain key national programmes.

The post is subject to the core competencies as set out by the Faculty of Public Health for Consultant appointments and the post holder will be expected to demonstrate expertise in all of them.  Refer to Appendix A of the Job Description.

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.  

Person specification

Key working areas include:

Response - management of incidents, clusters and outbreaks of infectious diseases or environmental hazards; contribute, and/or lead the UKHSA response during incidents in line with Emergency Planning Resilience and Response (EPRR), both in and out of hours.

Surveillance - Contribute strategically to the development and maintenance of effective systems for the surveillance of communicable disease and environmental hazards

Partnership Working - proactive development and contribution to key relationships with a wide range of individuals and stakeholders both internal and external

Research, Teaching & Training – contributing to research activity and training programmes and providing clinical supervision where appropriate

 

Management & Leadership - To be a visible, positive leader and role model.

Personal & Professional Development – Continuing own Professional Development and that of others

You must demonstrate how you meet the full list of duties and responsibilities which can be found in the job description. 

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

STAGE 1 – Application & Sift:

This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your Qualifications, knowledge and experience and / or skills and capabilities outlined in the person specification.  You will be required to complete an application form. You will also be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This will be assessed in line with the advertised criteria.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a detailed personal statement / statement of suitability (max 1500 words) based on the essential criteria advertised. This should outline how you consider your skills, knowledge and experience meet the selection requirements. It should provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the person specification criteria outlined. 

Applicants are strongly advised to use the person specification section as sub-headings in the application to make it clear how you meet each of the selection criteria.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview and assessment.

Your application may be rejected and you may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence (AI), as your own.

STAGE 2 – Interview

All candidates who are successful at the sift stage will progress to an interview and will be assessed on the essential criteria as advertised.  A presentation will form part of this assessment.

Interviews will be held week 11th Sept 2024. Please note, this date may be subject to change.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed.

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.  

Open to external

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants)

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.

Inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice (or be eligible for registration within six months of interview).

If included in the GMC Specialist Register/ in a specialty other than public health medicine, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health practice.

Public Health Specialty Registrar applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview; all other applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the GMC.

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.
To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you.

An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. 
This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. 

If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should: 
Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.