Director of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team

Main area: Global Operations

Grade: Civil Service: Senior Civil Servant (SCS) 1 or NHS Medical & Dental Consultant or Agenda for Change Band 9

Contract: Fixed Term: 3 years (until 31 March 2025) (Internal Loan/Secondment will be considered))

Hours: Full Time – 37 hours per week (SCS) or 10 Programmed Activities per week (Medical and Dental) or 37.5 hours per week (AfC))

Job ref: 919-AW-37022635-EXT

Employer: UK Health Security Agency

Employer type: Public (Non NHS)

Salary: £71,000 – 117,800 per annum (pro rata)

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 26/05/2022 23:59 (BST)

COVID-19 has reinforced the impact that threats to health can have on society and the economy and driven health security as a critical component of our national security architecture. 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

UKHSA’s immediate and most important priority is to continue the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the longer term, UKHSA will build on the legacy of the COVID-19 response to ensure resilient and scalable infrastructure to secure the UK in the strongest position to protect the public from future threats to health.

UKHSA mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. To achieve our objectives effectively and fairly, we commit to representing modern Britain and all its diversity. UKHSA recognises that diversity of background and life experience brings different insights, creates challenge and encourages change and innovation. This in turn produces more accountable and trusted public services and better decisions; better because they are more attuned to the needs and interests of all our communities. Differences of thought and outlook are not only respected but expected. We want all our employees to feel that they can be themselves at work and that they are valued.

Job overview

We are looking to recruit an outstanding individual to be the Director for the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)

Created in 2016 and financed by UK Official Development Assistance, the UK-PHRST is the primary arm of Her Majesty’s Government to provide and coordinate the UK’s public health response to outbreaks in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The UK-PHRST is a unique collaboration between UK Health Security Agency and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In addition to outbreak response, the core activities of UK-PHRST are outbreak-related research and capacity development for outbreak response.

The UK-PHRST monitors infectious diseases and other hazards globally to identify situations where the deployment of specialist expertise can mitigate these threats. It rapidly deploys a team of multidisciplinary public health professionals and researchers on behalf of the UK Government to areas of need in support of national governments. This can be bilaterally and via the World Health Organisation, UK Emergency Medical Team and other partners. The UK-PHRST Director will be the overall accountable lead to deliver this UK Government-funded programme.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking a dynamic senior leader with international standing for a highly visible position as Director of the UK-PHRST. The Director is a leadership role in the international field of outbreak response and research on emerging infectious diseases. Candidates should have substantial strategic, managerial, operational and field experience in the rapid response/support team environment across all three UK-PHRST remits – outbreak response, research and capacity development. The post-holder must demonstrate a proven ability to work at a high level with both UK-based and international partners, especially in LMICs. The Director will be responsible for leadership, management and the strategic delivery of the UK-PHRST programme.

The post-holder should have substantial strategic, managerial, operational and field experience in the rapid response/support team environment across all three UK-PHRST remits – outbreak response, research and capacity development. The post-holder must demonstrate a proven ability to work at a high level with both UK-based and international partners, especially in LMICs. The Director will be responsible for leadership, management and the strategic delivery of the UK-PHRST programme.

The post will be within the UKHSA Global Operations Directorate of Health Protection Operations, with an honorary contract with LSHTM

Working for our organisation

At the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to provide health security for the nation by protecting from infectious disease and external hazards. We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

Our mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. We will work to ensure our people have the diverse skills, experiences and backgrounds we need to thrive, that our employees are representative of the communities we serve and feel valued and enabled to play their part in delivering our work.

Creating our working culture is an ongoing process which we are developing by listening and learning together, hearing and acting upon diverse voices and opinions to develop a common sense of identity and effective ways of working.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post-holder will be expected to travel at short notice to areas of outbreaks, including potentially hazardous environments with heightened levels of security risks, to interact with local officials, affected communities, non-governmental organisations and others in support of the deployed UK-PHRST.

The Director will be responsible for:

• Leading, supporting and developing a team of public health professionals and supporting functions with the potential to deploy at short notice.
• Supporting the rapid investigation and response to disease outbreaks at source, with the aim of limiting their impact on critical infrastructure and preventing further spread or harm
• Developing the international discussion to promote the outbreak response agenda
• Accountable for the generation of an evidence base for best practice in disease outbreak interventions where gaps in current evidence exist, delivered through LSHTM
• Strengthening the UK-PHRST through continuous review of training, feedback and lessons learnt to enable improved and rapid response to disease outbreaks.
• Leadership, management, coordination and delivery of the UK-PHRST objectives.
• Team development and performance management to foster a single cohesive group with unity of purpose.
• Ensuring that the UK-PHRST programme and all of its funded activity meets ODA requirements.
• Acting as a single focal point for UK-PHRST for requests for and decisions on deployment for outbreak investigation and control.
• Overseeing coordination, organisation and support for deployment of the UK-PHRST, including pre-deployment training and assessments
• Command of the UK-PHRST when deployed and post-deployment debriefing, follow up and psychological support.
• Ensuring delivery of the research programme led by Deputy Director for Research at LSHTM that is aligned with the UK-PHRST’s mandate and builds the evidence base for international disease outbreak response.
• Ensuring delivery of an effective capacity strengthening programme in ODA-eligible countries, which represents value for money, aligns with International Health Regulations implementation and with the UK Government’s global health security objectives.
• Representing the UK-PHRST in cross-government discussions and co-ordination with other external partners, including the media, as appropriate.
• Serving as the liaison with between UKHSA, LSHTM, DHSC and others to ensure support for the UK-PHRST’s work.
• Serving as the liaison with the World Health Organization and other international partners (e.g. European Union; Africa, US and other Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) on all aspects of UK-PHRST work, including disease surveillance, operational planning, training and capacity development.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• A postgraduate degree in a relevant health-related or emergency response-related subject

Qualifications (for medical candidates only)

Essential criteria

• Membership in the UK Faculty of Public Health or other qualification relevant to the individual’s professional background
• Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List/UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists
• If included in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List in a specialty other than public health medicine/dental public health, candidates must have equivalent training
• Public health specialist registrar and specialist trainee applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List in dental public health/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/GDC/UKPHR specialist registers

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria

• Proven international leadership experience for operations, research and capacity development in the area of infectious disease outbreak response in LMICs; including technical support and leadership for the response activities to the country of deployment
• Demonstrable relationship building skills at all levels, both within the immediate working environment and externally. Strategic, managerial, operational and field experience in a rapid response/support team environment across all three UK-PHRST remits – outbreak response, research and capacity development

Skills and Capabilities

Essential criteria

• Proven skill in managing problems in highly sensitive and/or complex problems in political and social environments
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral (including in high profile international fora and in dealing with the media) with proven diplomacy, negotiation and influencing skills
• In-depth understanding and practical experience developing and implementing best practice in the field of governance, risk and assurance
• Ability to take responsibility, show leadership, prioritise and make decisions

Desirable criteria

• Excellent analytical skills, able to identify patterns and trends, where specialist advice is needed
• Ability to operate at pace in a fast changing, complex geo-political environment with countries that have their own public health challenges and varying degrees of public health infrastructure

Equality and Diversity

Essential criteria

• Cultural competence including cultural sensitivity and awareness

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ
This is a Non Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules and is therefore open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) Nationals and certain non EEA members. For more information please refer to the supporting documents detailing the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, salary on appointment is normally the minimum point (see salary range above). This will be dependent on the successful candidate’s current salary and terms and/or equivalent experience. The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change, most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. Please see attached an information sheet explaining starting salaries and benefits when joining the UKHSA.

For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary.

For Temporary Appointments: If you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan. If you are an existing UKHA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay and Grading policy.

Given the nature of the work of the UKHSA, as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, you may be required in an emergency, if deemed a necessity, to redeploy to another role at short notice. You may also be required to work at any other location, within reasonable travelling distance of your permanent home address, in line with the provisions set out in your contract of employment.

To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.

As from 1 January 2021 broadly the following groups may be eligible to work in non-reserved posts within the Civil Service:

• UK nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• EEA nationals with (or eligible for) status under the EUSS
• Relevant EEA or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• Relevant EEA or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• Certain family members of the relevant EU & Turkish nationals

Changes_to_the_Civil_Service_Nationality_Rules_from_1_January*2021*-_Guidance_and_departmental_actions.pdf

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (attached as a supporting document).

Employees who feel they have been unfairly treated during a recruitment process can use the Civil Service Commission’s grievance procedure. External candidates should complain to the hiring manager handling their campaign. In addition both internal and external candidates have the right to complain to the Civil Service Commissioners.

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

Interview expenses will not be reimbursed.

The UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.
If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

Any move to the UK Health Security Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

Benefits of working at UKHSA include:
Generous annual leave:

• 26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service
• 28 days after 5 years of continuous service
• 32 days after 10 years of continuous service,
• plus public holidays and one for the Queen’s birthday

We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving
• Access to a retail discounts and cashback site

The UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing.
We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.