Public Health Improvement Officer

Peterborough City Council; Peterborough; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 25 days + bank holidays

Car lease scheme

Development opportunities

Paid volunteering hours

Employee Benefits Platform discounts

Cycle to Work Scheme

Home & Electronics schemes

Equality, diversity and inclusion in网络

Employee Recognition Awards

Job summary

Peterborough City Council is seeking a public health professional to join the Public Health team on a fixed-term contract. You will help deliver core public health activities across mandated services and high-need areas, coordinating across the Council, NHS, and voluntary sectors to prevent harm.

You will shape practical, evidence-based approaches, drive governance, partnerships and reporting, and contribute to a sustainable, community-informed public health agenda for Peterborough.

Qualifications

• Strong public health knowledge and prevention approaches.
• Experience leading or coordinating programmes with multiple partners.
• Excellent partnership-building, influencing and negotiation skills.
• Ability to translate evidence and data into practical actions.
• Effective project-management skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication for diverse audiences.
• Ability to facilitate meetings, workshops and collaborative discussions.
• Commitment to co-production and inclusive practice.
• Sensitivity to safeguarding, confidentiality and handling sensitive information.
• Experience in local government, the NHS or voluntary/community sector is helpful.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate local delivery of harms prevention programmes.
• Lead or support with monitoring of contracts with commissioned providers.
• Establish and support governance and partnership arrangements.
• Strengthen or redesign services with providers for better impact.
• Commission prevention activity, including targeted initiatives for high-risk groups.
• Evaluate progress and prepare reports for senior leaders and partners.

Skills

Public health knowledge

Programme management

Partnership building

Influencing & negotiation

Data-to-action translation

Project management

Written & verbal communication

Facilitation of meetings

Co-production & inclusion

Safeguarding & confidentiality

Job description

Fixed Term Contract until 31 December 2028

This is an exciting opportunity to join Peterborough City Council's Public Health team to support with programmes that lead to improved outcomes for the residents of Peterborough. You will work as part of a team delivering the core elements of the public health agenda from mandated services to high need areas to prevent poor health outcomes.

Working across the Council and with NHS, voluntary and community sector partners, you will:

• coordinate local delivery of harms prevention programmes;
• lead or support with the monitoring of contracts with commissioned providers who deliver the services,
• establish and support effective governance and partnership arrangements;
• strengthen and/or redesign services with providers where the impact could be improved,
• commission prevention activity, including targeted initiatives for groups and communities at greater risk;
• evaluate progress and prepare clear reports and briefings for senior leaders, elected members and partners.

This is a strategic, system-facing role rather than a frontline service delivery post. You will have the opportunity to shape areas of public health practice and establish a sustainable approach that is informed by evidence and grounded in the experiences of local people.

All about our Team

You will join the Public Health team within Peterborough City Council.

We are a supportive and collaborative team working to improve the conditions that shape people's health. Our work recognises that good health is influenced not only by health services, but also by housing, employment, income, poverty, transport, planning, the local environment, community safety and access to support.

The team leads Peterborough's Health in All Policies approach, working across Council directorates and with local and regional partners to ensure that health, wellbeing and health inequalities are considered in policies, programmes, commissioning and service design. Our current work connects public health with healthy places, housing, poverty, employment, planning, transport and other wider determinants of health.

You will join a team that values evidence, partnership working, practical action and the meaningful involvement of residents. We encourage people to bring new ideas, make connections across organisational boundaries and help translate public health evidence into changes that improve lives.

All about You

We are looking for someone who can combine public health knowledge and approaches with excellent programme, partnership and communication skills.

You may have developed relevant experience through public health, health improvement, mental health, community development, substance use, safeguarding, health inequalities, commissioning or another prevention-focused area.

You will bring:

• a good understanding of public health, prevention, early intervention, health inequalities and harm-reduction approaches;
• experience of leading or coordinating a programme involving a range of organisations and stakeholders;
• strong partnership-building, influencing and negotiation skills;
• the ability to turn evidence, data and lived-experience insight into practical recommendations and deliverable action plans;
• effective project-management skills;
• excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear briefings, reports and presentations for different audiences;
• confidence in facilitating meetings, workshops, training and collaborative discussions;
• a commitment to co-production, inclusive practice and ensuring that lived experience influences decisions;
• sensitivity when working with subjects involving stigma, financial difficulty, mental health and safeguarding; and
• a commitment to equality, confidentiality, safeguarding and the responsible handling of sensitive information.

Experience of local government, the NHS or the voluntary and community sector would be helpful. Most importantly, you will be curious, organised and collaborative, with the confidence to build programmes and bring people together around a shared ambition to prevent harm.

Our Benefits

We value our colleagues and have developed a number of benefits in addition to our generous annual leave starting at 25 days + bank holidays, sick pay and local government pension scheme…

• Access to a range of benefits via our Employee Benefits Platform, including in-store and online discounts as well as our Cycle to Work and Home & Electronics schemes
• Buy up to 10 days additional annual leave (pro-rata)
• Access to car lease scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared Cost AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities including apprenticeships to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to our equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to receive Employee Recognition Awards

Our Commitments

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to fostering diversity, advancing equity, and building an inclusive workplace for everyone. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and particularly encourage those from underrepresented groups, including disabled people, care leavers, and individuals from minority ethnic communities. Your unique perspectives and experiences are encouraged and valued and will play a vital role in our success.

We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible. If you are a person who has or considers yourself to have a disability and you require reasonable adjustments to the application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].