Deputy Director – Gastrointestinal and One Health (GOH)
UK Health Security Agency
About the job
Job summary
The Deputy Director’s job is to build and lead the Gastrointestinal and One Health (GOH) division. This involves providing clinical and public health leadership on the detection and analysis of, and interventions concerning reducing the incidence of Gastrointestinal and One Health infectious diseases. It is a critical role which supports the delivery of the primary UKHSA function to protect the public health.
Working with internal and external stakeholders, as Deputy Director they will lead nationally on the prevention, detection, control and reduction of Gastrointestinal and One Health infectious disease. They will work collaboratively across UKHSA teams to support the delivery of the agency’s wider remit on emerging infections, including the strategic plan for the detection and response to novel infection incidents.
The DD will ensure that UKHSA, through the Clinical Public Health (CPH) Group, is at the forefront of scientific innovation, and that the evidence base for intervention in, and prevention of, outbreaks of gastrointestinal infectious disease covered by the division is world-leading. This will involve working in a fully integrated and open way with multiple academic institutions and developing new partnerships and collaborations for the agency.
Job description
You will be expected to lead and manage the Division in all respects and will be supported in doing so by a Head of Business Operations. This partnership allied with good governance will enable you to focus on the scientific leadership of the Division.
You must understand the following:
• the science base in your area of responsibility
• the delivery of diagnostics, epidemiological and laboratory surveillance, and interventions involving gastrointestinal and one health infections
• the operational response to outbreaks (including: detection; diagnostics, genomics and laboratory data; analysis and modelling; local intervention and escalation)
• how to manage the topic specific areas listed above
• effective communication with the public in this area
• effective engagement with policy makers to influence, support drafting, and enable the implementation of policy
• how to coordinate with other experts in partner organisations
• how to manage the department in a cost effective way
Person specification
The post holder is required to:
• Take overall public health and clinical responsibility for the Division, and provision of services nationally and internationally, where relevant.
• Be accountable for, and provide public health, clinical and scientific leadership in, the investigation and interpretation of communicable disease within the remit of your division.
• Ensure that the epidemiology, microbiological, surveillance and monitoring of communicable disease covered by your division is of the highest standard.
• Have lead responsibility for management of UKHSA relationship with Food Standards Agency and the Animal and Plant Health Agency
• Work across organisation to develop integrated relationships with other government departments, particularly DEFRA
• Be a positive role model and an effective member of the CEI Senior Leadership and Management team and accept collective responsibility for the performance of the directorate.
• Ensure that staff engagement, as measured by the annual staff survey, in your Division is high and improvements are made, year on year.
Full details on responsibilities are in the attached 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
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.
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 staff 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.
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.
Other Information
- 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 9 or Civil Service SCS1.
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
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.