Senior Scientist (Epidemiology)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Location

This role will be based in 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ.

UKHSA offers hybrid working for its employees This role will be based at UKHSA offices in Colindale with opportunities for an element of working from home.

Currently this requires working from an allocated UKHSA base location for 60%, from the beginning of 2024.

The balance between home and workplace working is to be agreed with the line manager, determined primarily by business need and in line with departmental policy.

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

Job Summary

This post is within the Healthcare Associated Infection, Fungal, Antimicrobial Resistance, Antimicrobial Utilisation & Sepsis Division (Clinical & Public Health group) of UKHSA. The mission of the division is to protect people from healthcare-associated and antimicrobial resistant infections, through world-leading public health microbiology, outbreak response, surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, modelling, research and interventions.

The post holder, working with Epidemiologists, Scientists, Clinical and operational colleagues, will identify business intelligence and reporting needs and be responsible for ensuring delivery from system specification through to implementation and output production. This will include the delivery and management of a centralised data storage and reporting solution providing workload, financial and KPI data as a service for the entire HCAI & AMR division.

Through the application of advanced analytical and software skills, the post holder will support activities, develop solutions and undertake complex analytical and programming tasks both locally and on behalf of the division.

The post holder will provide information management expertise across the division and contribute to all project management and delivery activities across the study, working strategically with colleagues to ensure effective partnership working.

The role requires an ability to analyse how data is modelled and collected in current systems and identify where common data items and sources are used. The postholder will be expected to work closely with scientists across the Divisions to identify where there are gaps in data and make recommendations to improve the data flows and models.

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 1,250 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.

Strategic cluster setting direction:

1. Seeing the big picture

2. Changing and improving

People cluster engaging people:

1. Leading and communicating

2. Collaborating and partnering

Performance cluster delivering results:

1. Managing a quality service

2. Delivering at pace

There might be a task you need to complete as part of your interview, information will be shared with you before your interview.

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 29/01/2024 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: TBC

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 athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rulesThis 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 theEuropean 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. 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

• Educated to first degree level or equivalent relevant experience, preferably in a numerate discipline such as statistics, mathematics, coding/programming, sciences, social sciences, economics, geography or similar.
• Post-graduate degree or equivalent experience in public health, epidemiology, health intelligence, statistics, computer science or data science.
• Substantial experience of information and data management including knowledge and understanding of information governance issues in relation to data collection, storage and sharing and research
• Experience of providing customer focused information services.
• Experience in all aspects if the design, development, implementation and maintenance of systems
• Experience of overseeing and ensuring the successful delivery of projects relating to information systems and management
• Experience in the operational testing, development and implementation of new information systems
• Ability and skills to develop automated routines and solutions as required and to oversee and respond to more complex or sensitive data requests
• Comprehensive skills in the use of at least some of the following: coding/programming (R, Python), SQL, databases, GIS, statistical software (e.g. R, Stata, SAS, SPSS).
• Experience of developing and using data visualisation tools including dashboards (e.g. PowerBI, R Shiny) for presenting and interpreting complex public health analysis and findings to key stakeholders
• Ability to undertake complex analytical and programming tasks using common and specialist software packages to support data extractions, analysis and validation
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships.

Desirable

• Experience of identifying needs or gaps in data or information
• Knowledge and experience of the NHS Information Governance Toolkit, The Data Protection Act and Caldicott and data protection and confidentiality requirements
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Able to build and maintain effective relationships with co-workers and key stakeholders

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

61 Colindale Avenue

London

NW9 5EQ

Employer's website

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