Public Accountability Officer

Strategy, Policy and Programmes Group sets the strategic direction for UKHSA, supports the organisation to deliver the business plan and evaluates performance of delivery.

Positioned in the Strategy Directorate, the Parliamentary and Public Accountability team provides a centralised service working directly with requesters, regulators, OGDs, Ministers’/CEO offices, Parliament and members of the public in the delivery of UKHSA’s obligations with respect to Parliament and the public. The team works collaboratively across the whole of UKHSA to provide a high-quality service to all of our customers in line with UKHSA’s values and our key performance indicators.

You will be working with a highly motivated and passionate group of people and will be working alongside them in an exciting and fast-paced environment with the opportunity to make your mark and influence government policy and delivery. In line with the UKHSA values, we are inclusive, insightful and impactful in our work.

This role will sit within the Enquiries & Complaints Team, but also work on requests for information made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs).

Location

Role available at all core and scientific locations with hybrid working available

Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Porton Down, London, Chilton

Essential Criteria:

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, you must review this to produce your statement of suitability):

Essential

• Experience of Freedom of Information and/or other statutory access requests in a government setting and/or health related policy area;
• Ability to work at pace on a range of competing priorities, whilst remaining calm under pressure and demonstrating a high level of resilience;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence people at all levels, building trust with stakeholders to achieve goals;
• Ability to solve problems and escalate issue to Senior Leadership Team when necessary;
• Experience of supporting policy teams by drafting of timely responses to parliamentary and Public Accountability business; this might include Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, public enquiries, complaints or parliamentary business. Regularly reviewing with the team what worked well and what didn’t, ensuring best practices are embedded and shared;
• Ability to communicate complex legal, scientific and technical information to a non-scientific audience.
• Excellent IT skills - Microsoft, Excel, Adobe

Desirable

• BCS Practitioner Certificate in Freedom of Information and/or GDPR;
• Degree or equivalent experience.