Public Health Intelligence Specialist

Job description

Job responsibilities

LONDON BOROUGH OF MERTON

PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title Public Health Intelligence Specialist

GradeBand London Borough of Merton Terms Conditions

Grade ME

Responsible to Principal Public Health Intelligence Specialist

Accountable to Principal Public Health Intelligence Specialist

Location Merton Civic Centre London Road Morden SM DX

Working hours WTE- hours per week

MAIN PURPOSE

The post holder will be employed by the London Borough of Merton as part of

the Merton Public Health Team The post holder will support the Public Health

Information and Children Lifelong Learning Families function assisting in

the development and management of the direction of public health information

to reflect local regional and national priorities The post holder will undertake

specific projects including analysis and reporting on datasets focusing primarily

on children and young people and providing information that will enable a full

understanding of health needs in the area addressing health inequalities

determining priorities for action assisting in the wider understanding of the

characteristics of the local population and actively disseminating the findings of

a wide range of analysis

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder will support Public Health Merton in ensuring the provision of

high quality and often complex information from a range of sources and that it

is appropriately analysed and interpreted for use at operational and strategic

levels to support and inform decision making She will provide statistical and

epidemiological advice to the organisation and other strategic partnerships

often there will be conflicting information which will require a high level of

understanding and advice which data from sources should be used and how

the information should be interpreted The post holder will use specialised

software such as ArcGIS and display analysis in clear and compelling ways

including through ArcGIS and infographics

The post holder will undertake projects on behalf of the organisation and

support long term plans for designated services along with undertaking

research projects to support Public Health Intelligence service objectives

Job Scope

The post holder will

Support the development and training of other staff in statistics and

epidemiological analyses

Present complex statistical information in a clear and engaging way to a

variety of audiences which will include both those with and without an

understanding of statistical techniques

Guide and advise others as appropriate in their decision-making

processes based on sound public health knowledge and evidence

Core Duties and Responsibilities

The postholder will undertake the following

Support Public Health and Children Lifelong Learning Families CLLF

with health intelligence Develop and utilise information and intelligence

systems to underpin public health action across disciplines Council

departments and organisations including supporting the collation

interpretation and dissemination of relevant data and information

Analytical support to the public health intelligence team public health

and CLLF staff and line management of two or more analysts

To monitor data and the surveillance function and produce reports as

required

Analysis synthesis interpretation and presentation of data on for

example childrens health and social care childrens inequalities eg

child poverty and specific metrics eg vaccinations and any other data

that may be required

To have an understanding and the ability to overview all the reports

including local regional analysis

To be able to quality assure the data on reports produced and any other

presentations

Support the design and management of systems to input store and

disseminate public health statistical and epidemiological information

helping to set up systems to integrate and link multiple data sets

Assist in resolving highly complex queries and ad-hoc requests where

there is more than one possible answer and where leading opinion may

conflict and provide professional judgement in deciding the most

appropriate solution in the given situation eg to support the

commissioning process

To participate in horizon scanning where there are new opportunities for

the data

Public health intelligence specialists must be able to work across all topic

areas and adapt to the needs of the department Changes to job plans

will be in consultation with the postholder

KEY TASKS

All the key tasks described below are in the context of supporting the

Principal Public Health Intelligence Specialist andor the CPH in

carrying out their health intelligence function

Communication and relationship

Good communications skills both oral and written are required to

receive and analyse highly complex statistical information

An ability to present highly complex and sensitive information on a

range of public health and CLLF topics to other statistical specialists

and non-specialist audiences and individuals

Presentations will be made to a variety of audiences in both terms of

knowledge and size

Communicate with and establish and maintain relationships with other

members of the Public Health Team and CLLF a range of other groups

or individuals seeking help advice or information on epidemiology

statistics statistical methods research or survey or questionnaire

design related to public health

Write and contribute to reports as appropriate and as directed by the

line manager These reports will vary in length and complexity and will

range from informal summaries to detailed comprehensive reports It

will also be necessary for the post holder to be able to summarise

these reports and help disseminate their findings It will be necessary

to be able to explain complex analyses and findings to specialist and

non-specialist audiences in a way that they can understand the

implications of the report

The post holder will have specialist knowledge in public health

intelligence

To undertake any other duties as may reasonably be determined from

time to time to be commensurate with the range of activities outlined

above

Knowledge Training and Experience

Through masters level qualifications or equivalent qualifications and

experience

Demonstrate specialist and in depth knowledge of epidemiology

statistics and information analysis related to health that will enable the

post holder to support Public Health and CLLFs health intelligence

function in providing timely solutions to a range of analytical and

methodological issues projects and queries

Have knowledge to support the design and management of systems to

input store and disseminate public health statistical and

epidemiological information

Have appropriate levels of knowledge to be able to support the

development and production of major reports eg Public Health

Annual Report JSNA HNAs Bulletins and Profiles This requires well

developed interpretation and report writing skills and the ability to

explain complex information in simple terms

Ability to support regular updates to the online version of the JSNA

Experience of undertaking surveys statistical analyses and

dissemination of findings with the ability to communicate complex

information to specialists and non-specialists

Appropriate levels of knowledge and experience to support undertaking

evaluations using statistical and epidemiological methods to effectively

measure the outcome and benefit of individual public health initiatives

Knowledge of various statistical software packages databases and

spreadsheets and have the technical capability to support data

management and manipulation

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

Support the handling of complex analytical and statistical health

information problems and issues requiring interpretation

Use judgemental skills to derive alternative information sources and

methods of analysis when appropriate

Use specialised software such as ArcGIS and SHAPE tool to create

maps

Use infographics toolssoftware such as piktochart to enable audiences

to visualise the data to explain complex information

Use a range of available data sets including national regional local

authority NHS and other sources such as SafeStats

In conjunction with technical skills a range of analytical skills are

needed to appropriately identify and respond correctly to

epidemiological issues

Analyses may involve sensitive information so the post-holder needs

to ensure that the analyses are completed carefully and correctly This

involves detailed checking and examination of the analyses produced

Support the resolution of complex queries where there is more than

one possible answer and where leading opinion may conflict and

provide professional judgement on the most appropriate solution in the

given situation eg to support the commissioning process

Planning and Organisational Skills

Contribute to the planning and formulation of organisational local and

regional plans and strategies based on sound statistical and

epidemiological information revisiting current strategies where

necessary should the evidence-base change

To support the design and management of systems to input store and

disseminate public health statistical and epidemiological information

setting up systems to integrate and link multiple data sets

Have a number of tasks underway at the same time and it will be

necessary for the post holder to plan and organise their own time

according to deadlines

Exhibit flexibility in order to allow for changes in information format

lack of information provided and delays in receiving requested

information

It may be necessary for the post holder to arrange meetings with

colleagues to plan objectives and work commitments for

multidisciplinary research audits and projects

Physical Skills

The post requires highly developed keyboard skills to input and

manipulate data where accuracy and continuous quality

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Masters level qualification or equivalent experience in statistics, epidemiology, or a related field.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum two years in an analytical role.
• Experience in line management of health intelligence staff.
• Experience working with multiple health-related datasets and information systems.
• Experience in system development, including writing queries and reports.
• Experience in the development of systems for inputting, storing, and disseminating public health data.
• Experience of analysing and interpreting health, healthcare, demographic, or local authority data.
• Experience in developing and delivering statistical/epidemiological presentations.
• Experience in project-based working, managing competing priorities and deadlines.
• Experience in report writing and presenting complex information to varied audiences.
• Experience using ArcGIS and creating infographics for data visualisation.

Desirable

• Experience supporting Public Health Specialty Registrars, apprentices, or early-career colleagues.
• Experience contributing to JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment), Health Needs Assessments, or Public Health Annual Reports.
• Experience in survey design, audits, and research projects related to public health.
• Familiarity with SafeStats or other national/regional health intelligence platforms.
• Experience in quality assurance of health data and reports.
• Experience in horizon scanning for new data opportunities or emerging public health trends.
• Experience working across multi-agency teams or in cross-departmental collaboration.
• Experience in policy development or supporting service transformation through data insights.

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.

Employer details

Employer name

London Borough Of Merton

Address

Civic Centre

London Road

Morden

SM4 5DX

Employer's website

https://www.merton.gov.uk/jobs (Opens in a new tab)