AddressDetails
Reference number
Salary
Job grade
Contract type
Type of role
Working pattern
Number of jobs available
Contents
Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
UKHSA are actively seeking an Emergency Preparedness Officer (EPO) to join their team. As a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, 2004, UKHSA plays a crucial role in Emergency Preparedness, resilience, and response (EPRR). The EPO position is pivotal in ensuring that UKHSA delivers and maintains a high-quality service in this critical area.
The Emergency Preparedness Officer (EPO) provides local guidance for health Emergency Preparedness and works as part of the Regional Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response (EPRR) team. Additionally, the EPO assists in ensuring governance and audit of all regional emergency plans. Furthermore, the EPO actively participates in the lessons identified process for major incidents.
This role will based at our UKHSA Birmingham Office (23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH). Hybrid working will be available, 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 in the office.
*Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available.*
Working Pattern – Full Time, Part Time, Job Share, Flexible Working, Hybrid Working
Job description
- Act directly on behalf of the Regional EPRR Team with responsibility for implementation of service development within the area of Emergency Preparedness and response.
- Provide specialist knowledge in emergency planning and the supporting systems e.g. incident coordination centres and act as sole point of contact for requests for public health information from other departments, partner agencies and other.
- Lead in the design, development and maintenance of databases, spreadsheets, questionnaires, surveys and intelligence resources relevant to public health, provide complex analyses at all levels for UKHSA and partner organisations to explore new methods of data collection and dissemination.
- Work to support the EPRR team in the assessment, development, production and maintenance of the Emergency Preparedness and response governance annual audit and develop and maintain a set of internal standards against which the whole organisation is audited.
- Coordinate the preparation, validation, exercising, review and updating of emergency and continuity plans/policies for the centre.
- Coordinate and assist with the review process following an incident/ emergency by providing written reports which assess lessons identified, make recommendations and revisions as necessary and supervise the distribution of emergency response plans and amendments.
- Contribution, in support of the EPRR team, to the development of the staff training programme and deliver training on aspects of multi-agency EPRR processes. Include generic and role specific training including implementation and training duties around internally used incident alerting systems information sharing systems e.g. Resilience Direct
- Understand the restricted access nature of major incident and business continuity documents and handle requests for information sensitively. Contribute to and have a thorough understanding of the handling of protectively marked documents in abidance with the Official Secrets Act.
- Attend and present at relevant conferences and seminars as part of CPD to further own development and increase knowledge base.
- Support the UKHSA Regional Centre to contribute to the Local Resilience Fora and Local Health Resilience Partnerships and to represent UKHSA when appropriate or nominated which may require taking forward of specific areas of work and participation in sub-groups as necessary, taking part in Local Risk Assessment discussions.
The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.
Person specification
It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of 1000 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential criteria (for full details of all essential criteria please refer to the attached job description):
Essential
- Degree, NVQ level 4 or equivalent level vocational expertise in an emergency planning discipline (two years equivalent level vocational experience in an emergency planning discipline)
- Diploma in Health Emergency planning or working towards it having successfully completed at least the Award and Certificate levels
- Knowledge of emergency and resilience planning methodologies
- Experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment
- Demonstrated experience of co-ordinating projects in complex and challenging environments
- Experience of managing risks and reporting
Desirable
- Experience of working in specialist area
- Experience of drafting briefing papers and correspondence at SMT level
- Comprehensive knowledge of project principles, techniques and tools, such as Prince 2 Foundation and Microsoft Project
- Understanding of the public sector
Benefits
For more information on the UKHSA please visit: UK Health Security Agency - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
- Range of health and wellbeing support
Any move to UKHSA 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 Childcare Choices , 30 Hours Free Childcare, Tax-Free Childcare and More , Help with Costs , GOV.UK
Things you need to know
Selection process details
STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:
You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the full list of essential criteria as detailed in the attached job description – please do provide evidence of how you meet this.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.
STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW
This competition will involve an interview held at our UKHSA Birmingham Office.
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.
Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section).
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.
Expected Timeline:
Advert close: 23:55hrs on the 22nd of March 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.
Shortlist: w/c 25th of March 2024
Interviews: 18th of April 2024
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 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules This 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 the European 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 SC Security Check. 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&C’s 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/
Complaint process:
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.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
