Health Protection Practitioner

Job summary

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.

The post holder will be part of the multi-disciplinary team contributing to the day-to-day provision of the health protection function, including the management of infectious and environmental hazards and contributing to the response to major incidents. They will use specialist knowledge and skills to undertake case management, liaise with, and provide health protection advice and response across a range of partner organisations, professionals and the public. They will actively contribute to the wider provision and development of the health protection function, including the development, training and supervision of others within the team. The post holder will also develop areas of expertise within regional programmes, working with relevant leads to take this work forward.

The post holder will undergo a programme of on-going development and education to build on existing knowledge and develop skills to provide specialist health protection advice and meet competencies required to undertake the role.

We are seeking candidates who are Registered General Nurses or Allied Health Professionals in a relevant clinical discipline with current professional registration e.g. NMC (For AFC Band 7 Terms and conditions.) Candidates holding the above registration will be appointed on NHS Terms & Conditions at NHS AfC Band 7.

Candidates without this registration will be appointed on Civil Service Terms and Conditions at SEO (Senior Executive Officer) grade.

Job description

The main duties of the role relate to:

• Response
• Surveillance
• Partnership working
• Research, Teaching and Training
• Management and Leadership
• Personal and Professional Development

This list is not exhaustive.

Response

• Support daily acute response delivery.
• Provide first contact specialist advice.
• Assess routine incidents; escalate complex ones.
• Maintain accurate caseload records.
• Use evidence based practice; seek senior input.
• Join case reviews and support long term issue management.
• Participate in regional on call rota.

Surveillance

• Support communicable disease and environmental hazard surveillance.
• Use surveillance data to inform public health action.
• Assist with identifying health needs and inequalities.

Partnership Working

• Build stakeholder relationships.
• Manage challenging issues; escalate when needed.
• Support public health improvement initiatives.

Research, Teaching & Training

• Contribute to research.
• Help develop and deliver teaching.
• Support training of doctors, trainees, and professionals.
• Provide supervision/mentorship.

Management & Leadership

• Act as a professional role model.
• Support policy, protocol, audit, and quality improvement.
• Undertake line management as required.
• Lead projects and support system wide priorities.
• Ensure confidentiality and governance compliance.
• Contribute to business continuity and strategic team work.

Personal Development

• Participate in appraisal, revalidation, and CPD.
• Support team development.
• Maintain supervision and ongoing learning.

Key Relationships

• Work with UKHSA teams, NHS, local authorities, voluntary sector, prisons, care homes, and partner agencies.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Registered General Nurse or Allied Health Professional in relevant clinical discipline with current professional registration e.g. NMC (For AFC Terms and Conditions)
• First degree (Health Related) or demonstrable equivalent experience (For Civil Service Terms and Conditions)
• Working towards registration with an appropriate health or science related professional body
• Post registration experience as a practitioner in a related field
• Knowledge and ability to work under the current Health and Social Care Act
• Experience of building and developing effective stakeholder relationships
• Experience of risk management and associated reporting
• Effective verbal, written and presentation communication skills
• 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 timescale
• 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
• 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

Desirable criteria:

• 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
• 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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,148, UK Health Security Agency contributes £12,789 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your qualifications, knowledge and experience and / or skills and abilities outlined in the essential criteria.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

Competency Based

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 17 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:

• Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• 1500 word supporting statement.

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V (Please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 1500 words. We will not consider any words over 1500 words.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we may longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

If used, the pile ‘Meets all essential criteria’ will proceed to shortlisting.

Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we may conduct an initial sift, on the lead criteria of

• Post registration experience as a practitioner in a related field
• Proven ability to problem solve whilst working in an unpredictable environment, often under pressure and to tight timescales

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications/large amount of successful candidates.

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

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

You will be invited to a face to face interview. If face to face interviews are planned, in exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

Knowledge, experience, skills & abilities will be tested at interview.

You will be asked to prepare and present a 5–10 minute presentation at the start of your interview. The subject of this will be sent to you prior to interview.

Interviews dates are to be confirmed.

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

Location

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at our Horsham or Ashford offices.

We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using 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 our offices in either Horsham or Ashford.

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Clearance.

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires Security Check (SC). UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further

Eligibility Criteria

External: Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including internal applicants).

Future location

UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down.

For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full
completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.

Reasonable Adjustments

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 consider 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:

Reasonable Adjustments , Civil Service Careers

International Police check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period

Internal Fraud Check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub, and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for external candidates to the Civil Service

Careers website

Please visit our careers site for more information hUKHSA Hub , Civil Service Careers

NHS Pension

This role is offered under Agenda for Change (AFC) Terms and Conditions.
• If you are already on AFC T&Cs or accept the role on a fixed-term contract,
you will be enrolled in the NHS Pension Scheme or keep your current AFC
Pension.
• If you take the role on a loan or temporary promotion, you will retain your
existing, substantive T&Cs.
• If the role is available under either AFC or Civil Service T&Cs depending on your registration, your pension scheme will align accordingly.

Salary Information

If you are successful at interview and are moving from another government
department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

Salary bands:

NHS AfC Band 7 £47,810 - £54,710 per annum, pro rata

Civil Service SEO £44,148 - £50,121 per annum, pro rata (Outer London salary)

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

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

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Nigel Poole
• Email : nigel.poole@ukhsa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ukhsa.gov.uk

Further information

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: Complaints@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:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk