Health Protection Practitioners

Job description

Job responsibilities

Summary

The core working hours are 0900 to 1700 Monday to Friday, however during enhanced incidents it may be necessary to extend hours including weekends and bank holidays; the exact details are subject to change and will be discussed further at the time of each incident. There is also a 24 hour on-call rota which includes evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

The post will be based in either Chilton or Fareham offices within the South East Region and applicants will be expected to be able to travel and work at either sister site for a minimum of 40% of their working week. Applicants will also be expected to travel within the area/Region as necessary.

All IT equipment needed to undertake the work will be provided, but it is essential that applicants have access to reliable broadband facilities.

Location

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) offers hybrid working.

The UKHSA South East Region is currently recruiting to several vacant positions across health protection teams.

For the Thames Valley, Hampshire IoW team, these posts will be based in either the Fareham or Chilton offices which are within the South East Region and applicants will be expected to be able to travel and work at either site for a minimum of 40% of their working week. Applicants will also be expected to travel within the area/Region as necessary.

Chilton, Fermi Avenue, Harwell Campus, Oxon OX110RQ

Fareham Civic Centre, Floor , Civic Way, Hampshire PO167AZ

You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas.

Relocation expenses are not available

Selection process details

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:

You will be required to complete an application form and a statement of suitability. Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, against the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section). Your Statement of Suitability must not exceed 1500 words.

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. The sift selection panel will only consider relevant career history information from the last 5 years.

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

STAGE 2 INTERVIEW:

This competition will involve an interview via Teams

As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs 03/12/2023 unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Interviews: Likely to be between 14th & 20th December 2023

Please note these dates could be subject to change.

Eligibility Criteria

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

Nationality requirements

Appointments to roles within UKHSA will be made in accordance with the Civil Service nationality rules. These can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals

Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

Nationals of the Republic of Ireland

Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service

Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service

Certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

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.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

Security clearance level requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard. People working with government assets must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard checks.

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Please Note

This role is to be appointed under Civil Service Terms & Conditions or NHS Terms & Conditions. Full details on the T&Cs are found https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Are you already a civil servant, or employed by a Civil Service Commission accredited public body? Please state home department on your application form.

Do you meet the nationality requirements for this post? https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints1@ukhsa.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website.

Person Specification

Education and qualifications

Essential

• Registered General Nurse or Allied Health Professional in relevant clinical discipline with current professional registration e.g. NMC (AfC Band 6)
• Working towards registration with an appropriate health or science related professional body (For AfC Band 6)
• First degree (Health Related) or demonstrable equivalent experience (CS HEO)
• Working towards registration with an appropriate health or science related professional body (CS HEO)
• 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)
• Proven experience in the establishment and maintenance of good relationships with managers, staff and external contracts

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
• 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

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).

Employer details

Employer name

UK Health Security Agency

Address

Chilton, Fermi Avenue, Harwell Campus, Oxon

OX110RQ

Fareham Civic Centre, Floor, Civic Way, Hampshire

PO167AZ

Employer's website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency (Opens in a new tab)