Field Epidemiology Training Programme Director

Job description

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Further develop, progress and maintain a field epidemiology training programme to the highest international standards and ensure a high-quality service in a changing context
• Oversee FETP management: manage the FETP office; manage the FETP budget; lead on programme technical quality assurance
• Manage programme risks and resources

• Be responsible for programme governance, report to the UK FETP Advisory Group, National Field Services Senior Management Team, and Health Protection in Regions Senior Leadership Team

• Continue the planning, development and implementation of the programme, including the delivery of core training modules.

• Teach and facilitate in FETP training modules, which are delivered residentially in week-long blocks at various locations across the United Kingdom, and occasionally overseas.

• Oversee a network of field epidemiology training sites and supervisors
• Work with the Faculty of Public Health and other regulatory bodies to ensure coherence and synergy between the field epidemiology training programme and professional requirements
• Ensure continued accreditation of the programme by the relevant professional standards setting and regulatory bodies
• Work with academic centres of excellence in the UK and other countries to draw on best practice and ensure content of the course is focussed on future needs
• Establish collaboration with other field epidemiology training programmes
• Promote and advocate for the field epidemiology training programme and liaise with relevant stakeholders
• Oversee collaboration with the UK Rapid Support Team, and Global Public Health Programmes to ensure the development of staff with international expertise
• Collaborate with colleagues in Global Public Health to identify where trainees, FETP fellows and staff, can support capacity building and achievement of global health security in Lower and Middle Income Countries
• Work with devolved administrations and partner countries to offer FETP training as an external UKHSA product, generating potential income to the programme and providing workforce development/capacity building in those countries.
• Act as an ambassador for UKHSA with regard to the FETP and the above-mentioned responsibilities.
• Establish contacts with TEPHINET/ECDC/EPIET/CDC and other FETPs to exchange training material, fellows and trainers

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

The post holder will develop working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal and external to UKHSA. This will include;

Internal

• Deputy Director, National Field Services Division
• Director and Deputy Directors, Global Health Protection Directorate
• Director and Deputy Directors, Radiation, Chemical, Climate & Environmental Hazards Directorate
• UK Rapid Support Team
• Public Health Microbiologists
• FETP Scientific Coordinators
• FETP Fellows
• FETP Programme Office (Programme Manager and Personal Assistant)
• FETP Advisory Group
• Primary field and project supervisors
• Statisticians, Modellers, and IT specialists

External

• UK devolved administrations (DAs)
• Faculty of Public Health
• Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET), Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET), African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), and other FETP programmes
• Task Force for Global Health
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EDCD)
• Collaborating scientists in academic institutions

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

Stage 1: Application & Sift

This vacancy is using the Competency Framework

At sift stage you will be assessed against the essential criteria listed in the job advert.

You will be required to complete an:

Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application) Up to 1500 word Statement of Suitability

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role.

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible)

Your statement of suitability must be no more than 1500 words.

If we receive a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted against the lead essential criteria listed underQualifications in the Person Specifications section of thejob description.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications, we may longlist and only candidates who meets all essential criteria will proceed to shortlisting.

Please note feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2:Interview stage (competency based):

You will be invited to a face to face interview.

Interviews will be held at10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, week commencing 28 September 2026. Please note these dates are subject to change.

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

This vacancy is being assessed using competency based framework. During the interview we will assess against the below:

KnowledgeExperienceSkills and Abilities

You will be asked to prepare and present a 10 minute presentation on the following:

What are the characteristics and scope of an FETP programme that should be nurtured and protected and what could /should be modernised?

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

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.

Inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice (or be eligible for registration within six months of interview)

If included in the GMC Specialist Register/ in a specialty other than public health medicine, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health practice

Public Health Specialty Registrar applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register 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.

Inclusion in the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists (or eligibility within six months of interview).

Nonmedical applicants who are not yet fully registered with the UKPHR must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within six months of gaining specialist registration at the date of interview. All other nonmedical applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the UKPHR Specialist Register (for example, confirmation that a UKPHR specialist portfolio has been submitted).

Hybrid working attached to a specific Scientific Campus

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at our Scientific Campus in Colindale.

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 our campus.

Based at our scientific campus in Colindale, you will be required to have a minimum of 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. 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.

Security Clearance

Successful candidates for this role must pass anenhanceddisclosure and barring security check before they can be appointed.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed isCounter-terrorist Check.

Salary Information

If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

AfC Band 8d

£94,356 - £108,814 (plus 15% basic salary to a maximum £6,137)

Consultant

£113,565 - £150,569 (plus £2,162 London Weighting)

UK Health Security Agency promoted diversity in the workplace and is an Equal Opportunities employer

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• The National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996 (legislation.gov.uk) In line with legislation, inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice/GDC Specialist List or inclusion in the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists at the point of application.
• 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 and/or appropriate experience of public health practice
• Any public health speciality registrar applicants who are currently on the UK public health training programme and not yet on either the GMC, GDC or UKPHR specialist register must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry to a register at the date of interview Applicants going through the portfolio registration routes (GMC or UKPHR) are not eligible to be shortlisted for interview until they are included on the register. The six-month rule does not apply to these portfolio route applicants.
• If an applicant is UK trained in Public Health, they must ALSO be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview. If an applicant is non-UK trained, they will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT
• Applicants must meet minimum CPD requirements (i.e. be up to date) in accordance with Faculty of Public Health requirements or other recognised body
• MFPH by examination, by exemption or by assessment, or equivalent
• Postgraduate qualification in Public Health or a related field (e.g. MPH)

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Experience of the control of communicable disease outbreaks and environmental hazards in a wide variety of settings including out of hours on call
• Practical experience of working with UK health protection and emergency response agencies
• Experience of working in an acute medical setting
• Practical experience in facilitating change across complex systems
• Experience of emergency planning
• Experience of leading and implementing multiagency strategies
• Experience of training and providing mentoring (NB training is delivered residentially in week-long blocks at various locations across the United Kingdom, and occasionally overseas
• Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics and health care evaluation
• Understanding of social and political environment, laboratory microbiology services, clinical infectious diseases services, clinical toxicology services, the principles of radiological protection and of potential CBRN agents and methods of dissemination
• Understanding of the public sector duty and the inequality duty and their application to public health practice
• Knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, quality improvement and evidence based clinical and/or public health practice

Desirable

• Staff management and training
• Budget management

Skills, Capabilities and Behaviours

Essential

• Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills
• 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)
• Ability to travel and attend training modules delivered in week-long blocks at various sites across the United Kingdom, and occasionally overseas

Desirable

• Provision of medical advice to managing clinicians on clinical investigations for patients who may have been exposed to CBRN agents
• Provision of medical advice on CBRN medical countermeasures
• Application of epidemiological methods and statistics

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.

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.

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.

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

UK Health Security Agency

Address

Colindale

London

NW9 5EQ

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency