Senior Scientist

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

61 Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5EQ (Hybrid)

About the job

Job description

As the Senior Scientist your main responsibilities will include:

Surveillance

• Manage existing national surveillance systems and co-ordinate the development of new surveillance systems for hepatitis, HIV and/or STIs and to supervise and advise junior scientific and administrative staff in the maintenance and development of integrated or enhanced surveillance datasets.
• Supervise junior scientific colleagues and the administrative team in the production of surveillance reports, publications and ad-hoc enquiries.
• Help coordinate the activities of scientists in partner institutes involved in collaborative surveillance programmes, as well as provide technical advice and assistance to public health practitioners on the design, maintenance, analysis and interpretation of surveillance databases.
• Assist 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.

Outbreak Investigation

• Manage the technical and analytical aspects of outbreak investigations, under the supervision of the Senior/Consultant lead

Research

• Contribute to the development of research proposals, the coordination, collection and collation of data from collaborators based in specialist laboratories and other institutions throughout the UK, and conduct complex statistical analyses of surveillance/research datasets
• Contribute to the process of writing scientific papers for publication in peer reviewed journals and project reports to funding bodies.

Publications and presentations

• Supervise scientific and administrative staff in the production of departmental outputs and editorial material for the Health Protection Report.
• Present epidemiological findings at national and international meetings and conferences

Teaching and Training

• Develop and present lectures and teaching materials on the epidemiology and surveillance of hepatitis, HIV and/or STIs for UKHSA, university postgraduate and professional development training programmes and contribute to the training for new members of staff on the epidemiology and surveillance of hepatitis, HIV and STIs.

Please review the Job Description for a full list of responsibilities.

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 1500 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 

• First degree in a science subject and Higher degree in Epidemiology, Public Health or an allied subject, or equivalent
• Postgraduate work/study in public health, epidemiology or an allied subject
• Analysing, Interpreting and evaluating complex epidemiological data, using Access/ SQL databases, spreadsheets, statistical and graphics packages to an advanced level
• Managing epidemiological studies and outbreak investigation and writing scientific papers and/or project reports
• Ability to work independently and take responsibility for own technical work and time and to work as an effective team member and to work on several separate tasks at the same time, whilst keeping to agreed deadlines
• Communicate ideas and methods clearly and succinctly to include excellent oral and written communication skills
• Identify and solve day-to-day practical problems and have the ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources
• Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships.

Desirable 

• Having a thorough understanding of recent advances in the epidemiology and microbiology of hepatitis, HIV and/or STIs and presenting scientific papers at national and international conferences. 

Please review the Job Description for the full criteria.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,716, UK Health Security Agency contributes £11,533 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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%

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Jon Payne
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

Further information

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: [email protected]. 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.

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