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Job summary

Main area
Science
Grade
Civil Service: Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Part time
  • Job share
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
919-GB-305533-EXT
Employer
UK Health Security Agency
Employer type
Public (Non NHS)
Site
Colindale
Town
Colindale
Salary
£36,187 - £43,552 per annum, pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
15/12/2024 23:59

Employer heading

UK Health Security Agency logo

Epidemiological Analyst

Civil Service: Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

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 Immunisation Division is responsible for the national surveillance of most vaccine preventable infections and in providing technical support and clinical expertise to the Department of Health and Social Care and to the NHS in planning and delivering the national immunisation programmes.

We are looking for an Epidemiological Analyst to develop and maintain enhanced surveillance systems for vaccine preventable diseases, work closely with a wide variety of professionals from both within and out of UKHSA to ensure high quality data. The ideal candidate must have an understanding of vaccines, how they work and their utility in the national immunisation programme and be familiar with different database platforms and experienced in using statistical packages for performing epidemiological analyses and writing scientific papers for publication. 

You will produce regular and ad hoc outputs from these systems for inclusion in routine national and international reports, information requests and peer review articles and be comfortable presenting research work at local and national meetings and conferences. You will also manage the disease-specific web pages on the UKHSA website, ensuring that the old content is reviewed and updated in a timely manner and be responsible for supporting other departmental staff in website maintenance, developing infectious disease surveillance databases, database querying and report running.

Main duties of the job

  • Maintain, develop and document enhanced surveillance systems including databases
  • Create and update queries and data validation checks for the removal of duplicate records, data formatting and ensuring completeness of data
  • Liase with stakeholder staff providing surveillance data
  • Liaise with clinicians, laboratories and HPTs regarding individual cases and outbreaks
  • Develop, update and maintain appropriate pages on the UKHSA website in a timely manner
  • Work closely with scientists/managers on validation of content of the web pages to ensure uploaded data meets UKHSA website guidelines
  • Run regular queries on a wide range of databases to prepare four weekly, quarterly and annual surveillance reports for Health Protection Report as appropriate
  • To assist the Information Officer with appropriate ad hoc queries for Parliamentary Questions and other information requests & with the preparation of appropriate annual data sets for international organisations 
  • Maintain appropriate disease specific Reference Manager databases in liaison with departmental scientific and medical staff
  • Contribute to papers for scientific journals and reports for the Department of Health and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation upon request
  • Present  surveillance data and study results at in-house and national meetings/conferences, and attend national meetings/conferences 

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.  

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Selection Process Details: 

This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your Qualifications, knowledge and experience and / or skills and abilities outlined in the essential criteria. 

Stage 1: Application & Sift  

Competency-based assessment

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the below listed 10 essential criteria , and this will be in the form of a:  

  • Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application) 
  • 750 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 essential criteria. 

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

Please be aware that we will assess on the 10 essential criteria stated on the advert rather than the full list on the job description document. 

Shortlisting:

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

Please do not exceed 750 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 10 minute presentation (further details will be provided).

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

Eligibility Criteria - External  

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

Location 

This role is being offered as hybrid working. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using 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 the UKHSA Colindale office.

If based at one of our scientific locations, you will be required to have a Counter Terrorism 
Check security vetting check as a minimum. For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to 
be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should 
normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years as the role requires 
Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) clearance. In exceptional circumstances UK residency less 
than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and 
applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further dvice.  Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre 
transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

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 Counter-terrorist Check.

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years as the role requires Counter Terrorism Check (CTC). .UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.  

Person specification

Qualification

Essential criteria
  • A degree in relevant science subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area
  • Post-graduate degree in Epidemiology and / or equivalent or significant experience related to health information

Knowledge and experience

Essential criteria
  • Scientific research work experience
  • Data management, analysis and reporting of epidemiological data using different software packages (Microsoft Access, Excel, Stata, R)
  • Preparing scientific reports and presentations

Skills / capabilities/ behaviours

Essential criteria
  • Able to work as a team member
  • Able to work independently and to deadlines
  • Maintain required levels of confidentiality
  • Able to communicate and document methods clearly and succinctly
  • Able to liaise with a wide range of external collaborators including health service and academic professionals

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
Gurkamal Bhambra
Job title
Resourcing
Email address
[email protected]
Additional information

For information regarding the role please contact Graeme Rooney,  [email protected]

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