Epidemiologist

Job summary

The postholder will work on the surveillance, epidemiology and investigation of gastrointestinal infections by providing specialist scientific support for a range of national surveillance programmes, outbreak investigations and research projects. This will include the design and development of new surveillance and data management systems in response to developments in microbiological typing methods in collaboration with other epidemiologists and IT/bioinformatics specialists and will be required to conduct complex statistical analyses to produce GI pathogen surveillance, outbreak investigation and risk assessment outputs.

Main duties of the job

o Manage existing national surveillance systems and co-ordinate the development of new surveillance systems for gastrointestinal pathogens and to supervise and advise junior scientific and administrative staff in the maintenance and development of integrated or enhanced surveillance Conduct complex statistical analyses of data on gastrointestinal pathogens drawn from a variety of surveillance sources in response to enquiries from external stakeholders ( other Government departments and agencies such as Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC), Food Standards Agency (FSA), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) etc), international agencies, public health practitioners, academics and members of the public as well as internal UKHSA Advise and support scientific and administrative staff in conducting routine analyses of surveillance datasets for standardised outputs and ad hoc Supervise junior scientific colleagues and the administrative team in the production of standard GI pathogen surveillance and outbreak reports and publications.

About us

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.

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Job description

Job responsibilities

The main responsibilities of this role include:

Coordinating the activities of scientists in partner institutes involved in collaborative surveillance programmes. Providing technical advice and assistance on the design, maintenance, analysis and interpretation of surveillance database outputs. Assisting in the design and development of new surveillance and data management systems in response to developments in the application of microbiological typing methods including contributing to the drafting of Standard Operating Procedures. Writing or contribute to the drafting of scientific papers for publication in peer reviewed journals and detailed reports for UKHSA or Government departments. Conducting complex statistical analyses of data on gastrointestinal pathogens drawn from a variety of surveillance sources in response to enquiries from other Government agencies (DHSC, FSA, DEFRA), international agencies, public health practitioners, academics and internal UKHSA stakeholders. Collating and interpreting epidemiological and microbiological data drawn from a variety of sources. Providing statistical analyses for government agencies, health protection teams and environmental health departments. Writing Briefing Notes (BNs) and Situation Reports (SitReps). Presenting epidemiological findings at national and international meetings and conferences. Updating the gastrointestinal infections web-pages with data and associated information. Managing the technical and analytical aspects of outbreak investigations, under the supervision of the Head of Incidents & Response by:- Designing outbreak databases.- Liaising with governments departments which lead on all aspects of food safety and public health protection related to GI pathogens.- Coordinating and advising interviewing teams.- Interviewing clinicians and patients to collect clinical and risk factor data- Overseeing data entry and ensuring quality control of outbreak databases.- Presenting epidemiological data to Incident Management Teams.- Contributing to the production of outbreak reports and subsequent publications.

Selection Process:

This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your knowledge, experience, skills & abilities.

Stage 1:Application& Sift

You willbe requiredto complete an application form. You will be assessed on the above listed 8 essentialcriteria,and this will be in the form of

Application form(Employer/ Activity history section on the application)

a 750word Statement of Suitability.

This should outline howyour skills,experience,andknowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

Application formand Statement of Suitability will be marked together.

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

Please do not exceed 750 words . We will not consider any words over and above this number.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2:Interview (competancy based)

You will be invited to a single face to face interview

Knowledge, experience, skills & abilities will be tested at interview.

A test scenario will also be given to assess your technical skills, details will be provided during the interview.

Interviews will be held week commencing TBC, 2024.

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

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (includingby definition internalapplicants).

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 one of UKHSA's core HQs (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London) or at one of our scientific campus sites (Colindale, Porton and Chilton). 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

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 aCounter-terrorist Check (CTC).

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

MSc or equivalent experience in Public Health, Epidemiology, or an allied subject

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

Experience of postgraduate work/study in public health, epidemiology or an allied subject Significant experience of interpreting and evaluating epidemiological data, using databases, spreadsheets, Statistical and graphics packages to an advanced level (R skills) Demonstrable experience of outbreak investigation

Skills, Capabilities and Behaviours

Essential

Ability to work independently and take responsibility for own technical work and time and to work as an effective team member Ability to analyse, summarise and interpret complex epidemiological data using R Ability to create and give presentations to a varied group of internal and external stakeholders and an ability to liaise with a range of health professionals and scientific industry specialists

Qualifications

Essential

MSc or equivalent experience in Public Health, Epidemiology, or an allied subject

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

Experience of postgraduate work/study in public health, epidemiology or an allied subject Significant experience of interpreting and evaluating epidemiological data, using databases, spreadsheets, Statistical and graphics packages to an advanced level (R skills) Demonstrable experience of outbreak investigation

Skills, Capabilities and Behaviours

Essential

Ability to work independently and take responsibility for own technical work and time and to work as an effective team member Ability to analyse, summarise and interpret complex epidemiological data using R Ability to create and give presentations to a varied group of internal and external stakeholders and an ability to liaise with a range of health professionals and scientific industry specialists

Technical

Essential

Test

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