Health Protection Practitioner Level 2

Job responsibilities

Please note there are two job descriptions attached, one clinical and one non-clinical. Refer to the Job description and person specification for competencies.

The North West health protection team operates Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and provides an out-of-hours on-call duty service at all other times. The post holder will participate, following appropriate training, in the on-call rota, for which financial remuneration is provided as per terms and conditions of contract. The frequency of on call the post holder will undertake is based on service needs, expected to be >1:6 and <1:3.

UKHSA is dedicated to supporting the Continuous Professional Development of its staff. This is an opportunity to join an experienced and vibrant team of nurses, doctors and other health protection professionals. This vacancy falls within the clinical ring fence pool of posts within UKHSA. Therefore, suitably qualified clinical applicants will be employed on NHS terms and conditions and will be able to join the NHS Pension Scheme; other applicants who do not meet the clinical criteria will be employed on Civil Service terms and conditions.

Post Location

Your contractual and operational base will be at one of our North West offices; we have one post available at Piccadilly Place (Manchester) within the Greater Manchester health protection team and one post at Cunard Building (Liverpool) within the Cheshire and Merseyside health protection team. The role will include hybrid working which allows for staff who can operate remotely at home and in the office, to fulfil their role and responsibilities in line with the team and UKHSAs policies and guidance. The successful candidate will be expected to attend site at least 40% of their working time. On non-office days, the individual may work from home. Other travel from time to time may be required. You are asked to please state in your application an indication of your preferred contractual site.

Allocation to posts will be offered in preference order to highest scoring candidates at interview.

Application Process Details

To apply for the role you are required to complete an online application form. Unfortunately,late applications will not be considered.

Stage 1 - Application & Sift:

This vacancy will use competency based questions to assess the behaviours, experience, ability, technical skills/qualifications, strengths and commitment to equality and diversity detailed in the essential person specification.

As part of the application process you will be asked to provide a detailed Personal Statement / Statement of Suitability of up to 1500 words which will be assessed in line with the criteria listed in the person specification.

Applicants are strongly advised to use the criteria in the job description/person specification (available online) as sub-headings in their application to make it clear how they meet each of the selection criteria.

You will also be asked to provide information within the Employer/ Activity history section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history.

In the event a high volume of applications is received, an initial sift will be based on the essential criteria: Registered General Nurse or Allied Health Professional in relevant clinical discipline or health related first degree or equivalent experience and experience as a practitioner in a related field

Candidates who pass the initial sift will be progressed to a full sift.

Stage 2 Interview

All candidates who are successful at the sift stage will progress to a single face to face interview and will be assessed on the essential criteria as advertised.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed for this role isBPSS

Interviews will be held week commencing 25th September. Please note, these dates are subject to change.

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered General Nurse or Allied Health Professional in relevant clinical discipline with current professional registration e.g. NMC or First degree (Health Related) or demonstrable equivalent experience
• Working towards registration with an appropriate health or science related professional body

Desirable

• Professional Public Health qualification and registration e.g. Specialist Community Public Health (SCPHN) part of the NMC Register or UK PH Register for practitioners
• Master's in Public health, or higher degree in a related subject, or evidence of relevant CPD in Health Protection with documented experience at master's level practice
• Recognised teaching qualification, e.g. ENB 998/PGCE or NVQ Level 4 Certificate in education or equivalent experience
• Recognised qualification in Infection Prevention and Control or demonstrable equivalent experience

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• Post registration experience as a practitioner in a related field
• An understanding of and ability to work under the current Health and Social Care Act ( e.g. safe guarding vulnerable adults; data protection, information governance)
• Experience of building and developing effective stakeholder relationships
• Experience of risk management and associated reporting

Desirable

• Sound knowledge of the principles of health protection
• Proven experience of undertaking and completing projects on time and within complex and challenging environments
• Experience of working in community settings and with health care providers
• Experience of designing and implementing internal processes and procedures for service improvement e.g. governance standards, audit etc
• Experience of managing others in a managerial or supervisory role including performance management and appraisal and development
• Experience of business planning including budget management and financial processes
• Knowledge of project principles, techniques and tools such as Prince 2 and Managing Successful Projects

Skills and capabilities

Essential

• Effective verbal, written and presentation communication skills; capable of constructing and delivering clear messages accurately for a range of audiences
• Excellent planning and prioritisation skills and ability to manage competing demands
• Proven ability to problem solve whilst working in an unpredictable environment, often under pressure and to tight timescales
• Ability to demonstrate initiative and work independently with minimum supervision
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams, disciplines and organisations demonstrating respect and consideration for the role/ skill(s) of others
• Ability to analyse and interpret information in an effective manner to recommend an appropriate course of action to address the issue(s)
• Proven ability to work with quality improvement and governance frameworks
• Ability to effectively engage with others to influence and negotiate for positive outcomes
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office including Word, and Excel
• Evidence of ongoing CPD and committed to self-development

Desirable

• Able to develop, interpret, implement and evaluate policies
• Proven capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).