Consultant Health Protection

Job responsibilities

PHE is required to check employment history covering three consecutive years. Please therefore supply referees (with email addresses) to cover this period. Additional documentation such as P60s may be required as evidence. You must give details of at least three different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.

Candidates for these positions will need to be able to adapt quickly to the changing shape of the local incident response over the months as we respond to new learning and research, developments in the science, new guidance and rules in relation to Covid-19.

To carry out the role, we are looking for a dynamic public health professional with strong leadership skills and vision. The post of Consultant in Health Protection in the Public Health England Region is a senior level position, suitable for a public health professional seeking an exciting position to protect peoples health from infectious diseases and other threats.

Public Health England (PHE) is an executive agency of the Department of Health providing; strategic leadership, research, advice and support for Government, local authorities and the NHS in protecting and improving the nations health.

PHE is required to check employment history covering three consecutive years. Please therefore supply referees (with email addresses) to cover this period. Additional documentation such as P60s may be required as evidence. You must give details of at least three different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.

Public Health England promotes diversity in the workplace and is an equal opportunities employer.

Please note that the post advertised will be subject to Public Health England / Civil Service Terms and Conditions of employment.

Shortlisting details and interview arrangements will be communicated via email therefore please ensure you check your Emails/NHS jobs accounts regularly following the closing date. If you do not hear from us within 6 weeks, please assume your application was not successful on this occasion, and we thank you for your interest in Public Health England.

Name

Victor Aiyedun or Jorg Hoffmann

Additional contact information

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

Candidates must be included on the GMC Specialist Register in Public Health, Microbiology or Infectious Diseases Medicine, or UK Public Health Register for Public Health Specialists.

The successful candidate will be appointed to the point of the Consultant salary scale appropriate to their years of seniority or if from a background other than medicine to NHS Agenda for Change Band 8d.

Prospective candidates are invited to an informal discussion about the post with Dr Victor Aiyedun, Lead Consultant in Health Protection, 0300 303 8537 or Jorg Hoffmann at jorg.hoffmann@phe.gov.uk.

Qualifications

Essential

• Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register or UK Public Health (Specialist) Register with a license to practice
• If included in the GMC Specialist Register in a specialty other than public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology practice
• Public health specialist registrar and specialist trainee applicants who are not yet on the GMC Register/UKPHR must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview; all other applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the GMC/UKPHR
• Applicants must meet minimum CPD requirements in accordance with the requirements of the Faculty of Public Health/Royal College of Pathologists/Royal College of Physicians or other recognised body

Desirable

• MFPH, or MRCPath, or MRCP

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• Minimum 6 months experience in Health Protection practice
• Practical experience in leading and facilitating change
• Experience of communicable disease control in a wide variety of settings including out of hours on call
• Experience of working with other agencies
• Experience of emergency planning
• Understanding of key agencies involved in health protection
• Knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, audit, quality improvement and evidence based clinical and/or public health practice
• Understanding of social and political environment
• An understanding of the public sector duty and the inequality duty and their applications to public health practice
• Understanding of laboratory microbiology services
• Understanding of clinical infectious diseases services
• Understanding of clinical toxicology services
• Understanding of the principles of radiological protection

Desirable

• Experience of budget management and financial processes
• Experience and demonstrable competency in dealing with environmental hazards / chemical incidents
• Ability to undertake prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases of public health importance
• Peer reviewed scientific publications, presentation of papers at conferences, seminars, etc

Skills and capabilities

Essential

• Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills, including management of change
• Able to prioritise work, and work well against a background of change and uncertainty
• Adaptable to situations, can communicate with people of all capabilities and attitudes
• Project management
• Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics and health care evaluation
• Excellent oral and written communication skills (including dealing with the public and the media)
• Effective interpersonal, motivational and influencing skills
• Ability to respond appropriately in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances
• Sensible negotiator with practical expectation of what can be achieved
• Substantially numerate, with highly developed analytical skills using qualitative and quantitative data
• Computer literate
• Ability to design, develop, interpret and implement policies
• Ability to concentrate for long periods (e.g. analyses, media presentations)
• Resource management skills

Desirable

• People management and training
• Training and mentoring
• Have an awareness of and be working towards the key core competencies set out in Civil Service Competency Framework 2010-2017 and KSF for those on AfC terms and conditions

Behaviours and Attitudes

Essential

• Strong commitment to public health principles
• Commitment to team-working and respect and consideration for the skills of others
• Self-motivated, pro-active, and innovative
• High standards of professional probity

Equality and diversity

Essential

• 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

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).