Public Health Clinical Lead (Maternity Cover)

NHS; Sunderland; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority is seeking a Public Health Clinical Lead to provide leadership and develop health strategies aimed at reducing inequalities and improving community outcomes. The role requires a degree in nursing, strong public health knowledge, and leadership skills. This temporary position is expected to last until July 2026 and offers opportunities for flexible and remote working.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Learning and development opportunities

Local government pension scheme

Qualifications

• Significant post-registration experience in public health nursing or nurse management.
• Current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
• Strong knowledge of health inequalities and workforce development.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical leadership and support for public health strategies.
• Engage with stakeholders to implement health initiatives.
• Develop evidence-based health strategies and oversee programs.

Skills

Public health knowledge

Analytical skills

Leadership skills

Excellent communication

Project planning

Education

Degree in Nursing

Postgraduate qualification in public health

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Public Health Clinical Lead (Maternity Cover)

Temporary, expected to be until July 2026 (maternity cover).Sunderland City Council is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of local communities and reducing health inequalities in the city. Our Health Healthy Plan sets out our ambitious to help Sunderland become a healthier, stronger and more thriving place. We work closely with a wider range of partners including the NHS and voluntary and community sector.

Main duties of the job

The Public Health Clinical Lead will play a key role in achieving the ambitions of the Healthy City Plan. The role will provide clinical leadership and support the development of high-quality services, strategies and policies that best meet the needs of the local population.

We are seeking an individual who has strong leadership skills, public health knowledge and experience and is passionate about reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes. This role will involve working across the local health and care system and so strong skills in building relationships and influencing others are crucial.The development of strategies and polices along with supporting service commissioning are all key elements of the role. We hope to appoint someone with strong experience of working across the system, including with community members and a willingness to innovate in order to deliver positive outcomes to local communities.

About us

As a colleague at Sunderland City Council you will have access to a fantastic range of benefits and discounts, including flexible and remote working, learning and development opportunities, and access to the local government pension, child care and car lease schemes.Please refer to the Job Description and the essential criteria in the Person Specification when completing the personal statement on the application form. This information is used to select candidates for interview.

Job responsibilities

Service/Team

Public Health and WellbeingDirectorate

Public Health Team

Responsible to

Deputy Directorin Public Health and Wellbeing/Consultant in Public Health

The post holder willprovide day-to-day management and oversight for staff within the PublicHealth team, including direct line management of Contracts and FinanceOfficer. This will includeco-ordination of work, provision of advice, one to ones, appraisal, trainingand continuing professional development, recruitment and discipline.

Mainpurpose of job

The post holder will make asignificant contribution to the Public Health and Wellbeing directoratewithin the Council, with a reach out into the wider integrated care systemand evolving place-based arrangements for health and care provision.

The post holder willprovide a Clinical Public Health Lead role within the Public Health team,developing and implementing a range of evidence-based strategies, policiesand programmes that support improved population health and a reduction ininequalities.

The role will also have across-department role in supporting Sunderland City Council in relation toclinical governance, commissioned public health services, and maximise thepublic health contribution to the health and care system in Sunderland.

Key responsibilities

In this role the postholder will be accountable to the Deputy Directorin Public Health and Wellbeing/ Consultant in Public Health and willensure that:

Public healthstrategies and programmes respond to the health needs and characteristics ofthe local population;

Public healthstrategies and programmes reflect up-to-date evidence, best practice andguidance (including NICE guidance);

Assurance canbe given to the Council in relation to the performance of public healthstrategies and programmes and their contribution to public health outcomes,Council corporate outcomes and the outcomes of key partnerships;

Public healthis represented on relevant partnerships and strategic groups focussed on keypublic health programmes;

Public Healthprogrammes are regularly reviewed and change management processes are appliedto support continuous improvement and deliver better outcomes, quality andvalue.

The post holder willprovide clinical advice and leadership, to support commissioning and internalgovernance processes, including:

Ensuringprofessional advice is available to members of the Public Health andWellbeing team and wider council colleagues to inform commissioning andassurance processes.

Ensuringclinical governance systems and processes are in place to enable safe, highquality and cost-effective care for commissioned contracts.

Ensuringprocesses for audit and risk assessment are implemented within commissionedservices.

Ensuring frontline clinical staff are supported tomaximise opportunities for health promoting practice and embed personalisedcare and population health across the life course, in-step with place-basedpartnership and commissioning arrangements.

The post holder will make asubstantial impact on the health and wellbeing of the population ofSunderland by developing evidence-based strategies, policies and programmes,providing professional advice to the Public Health team and place-basedpartner, providing expertise and support to professionals, service users andthe public.

The major focus of the workwill be to develop evidence-based strategies and oversee the implementationof partnership programmes or commissioned services to improve health andwellbeing outcomes and reduce health inequalities across the population of Sunderland.

Key tasks

The following list istypical of the duties the post holder will be expected to perform. It is not necessarily exhaustive and otherduties of a similar nature and level may be required from time to time.

The post holder will:

1. Lead, co-ordinate and manage thedevelopment of an agreed range of priority areas, public health strategies,policies and programmes, working with stakeholders as appropriate.

2. Establish and maintain constructiverelationships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders,including the ICB, local provider organisations (e.g., NHS Trusts, GPpractices, PCNs, dentists, community pharmacies, child health services and schools),voluntary and community groups and local communities.

3. Engage with a range of stakeholders,organisations and individuals across sectors and in a range of settings tooversee the implementation and delivery of interdisciplinary and/orinteragency strategic plans and programmes.

4. Represent the Health, Housing andCommunities team on relevant partnerships and strategic groups withresponsibility for delivering public health programmes, acting as Chair whereappropriate.

5. Lead the evaluation and qualityassurance of strategies, policies and programmes and develop and updateshort, medium and long term implementation plans in line with changing needsand expected outcomes.

6. Review service programmes and leadchange management processes to support continuous improvement and deliverbetter outcomes, quality and value working with members of the Health,Housing and Communities team, wider colleagues within the Council, and staffin partner organisations.

7. Support the Health, Housing andCommunities team to implement evidence-based practice by undertaking,commissioning and/or overseeing research and development to ensure improvedhealth outcomes and reduced health inequalities.

8. Provide professional advice andguidance to members of the Health, Housing and Communities team, otherCouncil officers, elected members and other stakeholders in relation toevidence based public health, health and care strategies and programmes.

9. Utilise a range of information sourcesto develop understanding of health needs to inform the development andimplementation of a range of evidence-based strategies, policies andprogrammes.

10. Ensure that public health, health andcare initiatives and programmes are underpinned by effective community,public and stakeholder engagement activities.

11. Seek and provide assurance to theSenior Management team in relation to progress and performance of strategies,policies and programmes.

12. Monitor key performance indicators,outcomes and quality measures to ensure compliance with strategy goals andprogramme objectives and to secure their contribution to improving the healthof the population of Sunderland.

13. Write and contribute to reports whichwill vary in length and complexity, summarise reports and disseminate theirfindings.

14. Present varied, complex and/orsensitive concepts or information to non-specialist and specialist audiences.

15. Work with colleagues within theCouncil, in partner organisations, and in public health, health and carenetworks to share and develop practice in relation to health and care.

Other duties/specificpolicies e.g. DBS

Promote and champion apositive organisation-wide culture that reflects the Councils vision andvalues and treat members of the public with courtesy and respect.

The post holder must carry out their duties with full regard to theCouncils Equal Opportunities Policy, Code of Conduct and all other CouncilPolicies.

The post holder must comply with the Councils Health and safety rulesand regulations and with Health and safety legislation.

The post holder must comply with the principles of the Freedom ofInformation Act 2000 in relation to the management of Council records andinformation.

The postholder must comply with the principles and requirements of theData Protection Act 2018 and GDPR in relation to the management of Councilrecords and information, and respect the privacy of personal information heldby the Council

The post holder will berequired on occasion to travel within the City/region as appropriate toundertake the role.

Person Specification

Experience

• Significant post-registration experience in public health nursing or nurse management

Qualifications

• Degree in Nursing
• Current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
• Postgraduate qualification or equivalent experience in public health, health or care

Skills, Knowledge, Ability (including ability to develop knowledge, skill or experience)

• Strong knowledge of public health programmes, health inequalities, and workforce development
• Ability to assess population health needs and develop responsive strategies and programmes
• Analytical skills to interpret complex data and develop solutions to improve health outcomes
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) for diverse audiences
• Ability to produce high-quality documentation (e.g. strategies, policies, specifications)
• Project planning and management skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Strategic thinking and budget prioritisation capability
• Ability to lead and motivate teams across partner agencies

Deputy Director of Public Health and Wellbeing