Job summary
COVID-19 has reinforced the impact that threats to health can have on society and the economy and driven health security as a critical component of our national security architecture. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.
Main duties of the job
The UKHSA East of England Region is part of the Regions Directorate within UKHSA's Health Protection Operations Group. The UKHSA East of England Region provides service across the East of England region and has two offices in Mildenhall and Harlow. This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic person to join the UKHSA East of England Region as a Consultant in Health Protection. This post is based in the Harlow office and the post holder will be expected to travel within the geographical patch and to other offices within the Centre.
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 in the UKHSA EoE region 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.
You will require a sound experience of health protection practice in the wider NHS context and have good generic public health skills including leadership 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.
About us
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 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.
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.
Job description
Job responsibilities
You will share the responsibility, with the 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 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.
UKHSAs remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nations expert national health security agency UKHSA will:
- Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nations readiness, defences and health security
- Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
- Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
- Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
- Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats, and reduce inequalities
Applicants are strongly advised to use the criteria in the person specification (available online) as sub-headings in their application to make it clear how they meet each of the selection criteria. Please also see job description for competencies.
Candidates must be included on the GMC Specialist Register in Public Health, Microbiology or Infectious Diseases Medicine, or UK Public Health Register for Public Health Specialists.
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.
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
UK Health Security Agency promoted diversity in the workplace and is an Equal Opportunities employer
Job description
Job responsibilities
You will share the responsibility, with the 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 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.
UKHSAs remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nations expert national health security agency UKHSA will:
- Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nations readiness, defences and health security
- Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
- Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
- Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
- Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats, and reduce inequalities
Applicants are strongly advised to use the criteria in the person specification (available online) as sub-headings in their application to make it clear how they meet each of the selection criteria. Please also see job description for competencies.
Candidates must be included on the GMC Specialist Register in Public Health, Microbiology or Infectious Diseases Medicine, or UK Public Health Register for Public Health Specialists.
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.
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
UK Health Security Agency promoted diversity in the workplace and is an Equal Opportunities employer
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register or UK Public Health (Specialist) Register
- If included in the GMC Specialist Register in a specialty other than public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology practice
- Public health specialist registrar and specialist trainee applicants who are not yet on the GMC Register/UKPHR 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/UKPHR
- Applicants must meet minimum CPD requirements in accordance with the requirements of the Faculty of Public Health/Royal College of Pathologists/Royal College of Physicians or other recognised body
- MFPH, or MRCPath, or MRCP
Knowledge and experience
Essential
- Minimum 6 months experience in Health Protection practice
- Practical experience in leading and facilitating change
- Experience of communicable disease control in a wide variety of settings including out of hours on call
- Experience of working with other agencies
- Experience of emergency planning
- Understanding of key agencies involved in health protection
- Knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, audit, quality improvement and evidence based clinical and/or public health practice
- Understanding of social and political environment
- Understanding of laboratory microbiology services
- Understanding of clinical infectious diseases services
- Understanding of clinical toxicology services
- Understanding of the principles of radiological protection
Desirable
- Experience of budget management and financial processes
- Experience and demonstrable competency in dealing with environmental hazards / chemical incidents
- Ability to undertake prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases of public health importance
- Peer reviewed scientific publications, presentation of papers at conferences, seminars, etc
Skills and capabilities
Essential
- Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills, including management of change
- Able to prioritise work, and work well against a background of change and uncertainty
- Adaptable to situations, can communicate with people of all capabilities and attitudes
- Project management
- Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics and health care evaluation
- Excellent oral and written communication skills (including dealing with the public and the media)
- Effective interpersonal, motivational and influencing skills
- Ability to respond appropriately in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances
- Sensible negotiator with practical expectation of what can be achieved
- Substantially numerate, with highly developed analytical skills using qualitative and quantitative data
- Computer literate
- Ability to design, develop, interpret and implement policies
- Ability to concentrate for long periods (e.g. analyses, media presentations)
- Resource management skills
Desirable
- People management and training
- Training and mentoring
- Have an awareness of and be working towards the key core competencies set out in Civil Service Competency Framework 2010-2017 and KSF for those on AfC terms and conditions
Behaviours and Attitudes
Essential
- Strong commitment to public health principles
- Commitment to team-working and respect and consideration for the skills of others
- Self-motivated, pro-active, and innovative
- High standards of professional probity
Equality and diversity
Essential
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, and in relation to management systems
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register or UK Public Health (Specialist) Register
- If included in the GMC Specialist Register in a specialty other than public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology practice
- Public health specialist registrar and specialist trainee applicants who are not yet on the GMC Register/UKPHR 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/UKPHR
- Applicants must meet minimum CPD requirements in accordance with the requirements of the Faculty of Public Health/Royal College of Pathologists/Royal College of Physicians or other recognised body
- MFPH, or MRCPath, or MRCP
Knowledge and experience
Essential
- Minimum 6 months experience in Health Protection practice
- Practical experience in leading and facilitating change
- Experience of communicable disease control in a wide variety of settings including out of hours on call
- Experience of working with other agencies
- Experience of emergency planning
- Understanding of key agencies involved in health protection
- Knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, audit, quality improvement and evidence based clinical and/or public health practice
- Understanding of social and political environment
- Understanding of laboratory microbiology services
- Understanding of clinical infectious diseases services
- Understanding of clinical toxicology services
- Understanding of the principles of radiological protection
Desirable
- Experience of budget management and financial processes
- Experience and demonstrable competency in dealing with environmental hazards / chemical incidents
- Ability to undertake prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases of public health importance
- Peer reviewed scientific publications, presentation of papers at conferences, seminars, etc
Skills and capabilities
Essential
- Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills, including management of change
- Able to prioritise work, and work well against a background of change and uncertainty
- Adaptable to situations, can communicate with people of all capabilities and attitudes
- Project management
- Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics and health care evaluation
- Excellent oral and written communication skills (including dealing with the public and the media)
- Effective interpersonal, motivational and influencing skills
- Ability to respond appropriately in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances
- Sensible negotiator with practical expectation of what can be achieved
- Substantially numerate, with highly developed analytical skills using qualitative and quantitative data
- Computer literate
- Ability to design, develop, interpret and implement policies
- Ability to concentrate for long periods (e.g. analyses, media presentations)
- Resource management skills
Desirable
- People management and training
- Training and mentoring
- Have an awareness of and be working towards the key core competencies set out in Civil Service Competency Framework 2010-2017 and KSF for those on AfC terms and conditions
Behaviours and Attitudes
Essential
- Strong commitment to public health principles
- Commitment to team-working and respect and consideration for the skills of others
- Self-motivated, pro-active, and innovative
- High standards of professional probity
Equality and diversity
Essential
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, and in relation to management systems
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
