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Job summary

Main area
science
Grade
Civil Service: Grade 7
Contract
9 months (Fixed term until - 31/03/25)
Hours
  • Full time
  • Part time
  • Job share
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
919-NK-310695-EXT
Employer
UK Health Security Agency
Employer type
Public (Non NHS)
Site
London, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham
Town
London, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham
Salary
£55,799 - £65,089 Per annum, pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
25/07/2024 23:59

Employer heading

UK Health Security Agency logo

Principal Scientist (Epidemiology)

Civil Service: Grade 7

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.

UKHSA’s 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 nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

  • Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s 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.

Job overview

The postholder will lead a cross organisational needs assessment relating to outbreak surveillance, an important priority for the HCAI & AMR Division in 2024-25 and a deliverable for the UK National Action Plan for antimicrobial resistance. The needs assessment will describe: current capacity, practice and areas for improvement in the detection of outbreaks of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) within healthcare settings; their notification; surveillance and reporting; capture of learning; and linking reporting with implementation of public health action. Recommendations arising from this assessment may include interventions to enhance detection, improve understanding of transmission, facilitate information sharing and inform mitigation and control of MDRO outbreaks to prevent harms to patients and the public. This work should lead to publication.

The postholder will be a senior member of the scientific staff of the HCAI & AMR Division, within the Incidents, Outbreaks and Stewardship (IOS) Team and will be supervised in this work by a Consultant Epidemiologist and supported by members of the team. The HCAI & AMR Division is a multidisciplinary team including epidemiologists, microbiologists, public health specialists, bioinformaticians, behavioural scientists, data managers, statisticians, IT specialists, and operational and administrative staff.

 

Main duties of the job

The postholder will lead a cross organisational needs assessment relating to outbreak surveillance as described above. This post will also provide senior scientific support to the epidemiological investigation of HCAI & AMR related incidents and outbreaks as required, supporting local Health Protection Teams, the Field Service and in collaboration with the NHS and other partners. This will include leading and managing the technical and analytical aspects of epidemiological outbreak investigations and supporting junior team members in carrying out these tasks. 

 The post holder will also take a lead role in public health scientific analyses and writing reports on specific projects, regular and ad hoc publications and peer reviewed publications. Contributions to the work and professional development of other staff in the team are also expected. Building and maintaining strong relationships with colleagues across UKHSA and the NHS will also be required.

For a full list of the main duties and responsibilities of the role, please refer to the attached Job Description. 

Working for our organisation

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.  

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main responsibilities

 Surveillance and Data Analysis

  • Identify surveillance needs (including horizon scanning), create surveillance system specifications, conduct complex statistical analyses and interpret surveillance data, making appropriate recommendations, and translating it in to public health action, develop automated routines and solutions and supervise / assure on the preparation, quality and delivery of routine and ad hoc surveillance reports.
  • Authorise /manage complex or sensitive data requests and in the development of outputs and statistical analysis. 
  • Responsible for planning, implementing and maintaining a high level of surveillance and high quality epidemiology to meet needs, providing expert technical advice to PH practitioners on the design, analysis and interpretation of surveillance databases and data whilst assessing the current and future political /economic /scientific /technological /legal /environmental influences on team work.
  •   Experience of using Stata and / or R

Outbreak Support and Epidemiological Investigations

  • Lead and manage the technical and analytical aspects of epidemiological outbreak investigations including advising on study design, writing protocols for analytical studies, overseeing questionnaire design and study database development, training interviewers, preparing outbreak reports and supervising and supporting investigations into exceedances. 

Audit, Quality and Governance

  • Evaluate existing surveillance systems (acting on results) and the acute response to incidents and outbreak, ensuring that it is used to improve standards and consistency across the team, evaluate teaching sessions and undertake and supervise audits as part of the team audit programme.

Research

  • Identify research questions, project manage a research study, analyse datasets with appropriate methodology to answer research questions, and translate results into public health action.
  • Perform systematic reviews of literature, co-author grant proposals/applications (including applying for ethical approval), present at scientific conferences, programme area meetings and other fora, and publish and present scientific papers on public health surveillance, outbreaks and infectious disease control in collaboration with health, public health, academic and other partners.

Management / workforce / HR

  • Effectively manage others and yourself: lead, supervise and motivate scientific and information staff; effectively appraise, manage performance, and address HR/disciplinary issues for staff line managed; be recruiting manager for posts, update JDs, be responsible for managing own workload, including developing objectives and reviewing progress against these. 

Teaching/Training

  • Teach colleagues and stakeholders on surveillance and epidemiology, supporting ongoing training activities within the department, develop teaching material and courses, assess teaching requirements of team and colleagues and supervise MSc and other short term team attachments.

Strategic thinking / partnership working

  • Build and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders and partners, manage delivery of agreed work programme including timely reporting to stakeholders and work in partnership to ensure needs of stakeholders are met.

Selection Process:  

This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your skills and capabilities outlined in the essential criteria 

 Application & Sift  
competency-based assessments

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 5 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of   

  • a CV/ Application form (Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application) 

  • a (1000) word Statement of Suitability.  

 This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the (5)essential criteria.  

The CV / Application form and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.

In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on (lead criteria) - Experience of interpreting and evaluating complex epidemiological data, sensitive health data analyses and performing analytical epidemiology and concepts in outbreak situations

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

Please do not exceed 1000 wordsWe will not consider any words over and above this number.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage. 

Stage 2: Interview (competency based) 

 You will be invited to a (single) remote interview.

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

There will be a Presentation task and details will be sent to applicants.  

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

 Please note all the essential criteria listed in the job description will be assessed at interview stage. 

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

Location Information 

UKHSA operates 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 Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool or London site.

Eligibility Criteria

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

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.

Working for the Civil Service

TheCivil Service Codesets 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.  

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

It’s important to note that there are currently exceptions to applications being considered if your conviction relates to any of the following:  

  • life sentences  

  • arson  

  • sexual offences  

  • hate and terror offences  

Some departments will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role.  

If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available 

Starting Salary 

Entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.   

The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase.   

Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.  

For further details please refer to the Information Sheet - Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment 

 

 

Person specification

Knowledge and experience

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge of principles and practice of surveillance, including data management, data transmission, data security, data quality, data analysis including descriptive statistics and graphics and data reporting
  • Experience of interpreting and evaluating complex epidemiological data, sensitive health data analyses and performing analytical epidemiology and concepts in outbreak situations
  • Demonstrable experience of public health, health protection or epidemiology including epidemiology for outbreak investigations
  • Proficient and/or expert in common statistical/ database/mapping tools such as Stata, R, GIS, network analysis, SQL, etc.
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of research activities with a suitable publication record (3+ papers including 1+ first author) and grant writing experience

Skills / capabilities/ behaviours

Essential criteria
  • Able to build and maintain effective relationships with co-workers and key stakeholders, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Purple SpaceApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveImproving working livesMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerThe Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (enei) is the UK's leading employer network covering all aspects of equality and inclusion issues in the workplace.Carer Confident -AccomplishedHappy to Talk Flexible Working

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Recruitment
Job title
Resourcing support
Email address
[email protected]
Additional information

For information regarding the role please contact James Elston at [email protected]

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