Public Health Lead - 2 Posts

Sefton Council; England; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in England is seeking two Public Health Leads to enhance public health outcomes through strategic planning and multi-agency collaboration. The roles involve addressing health inequalities and promoting health improvement initiatives. Ideal candidates will have public health knowledge, excellent communication skills, and experience in project management. The position offers opportunities for flexible working and a supportive environment.

Benefits

28 days annual leave increasing to 33

Enhanced sick pay scheme

Flexible working opportunities

Access to health services and counselling

Discounted gym membership

Qualifications

• Experience in public health or health-related posts.
• Ability to engage with stakeholders across multi-agency partnerships.
• Understanding of social determinants of health.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of health improvement programmes.
• Manage budgets and prepare bids for external funding.
• Advise council officers and Elected Members on public health matters.

Skills

Public health knowledge

Excellent communication skills

Analytical skills

Leadership skills

Project management

Education

Relevant degree plus additional training and/or experience to Masters degree (MPH)

Job description

Sefton Council is seeking to recruit 2 Public Heath Leads with strong technical skills and a real commitment to improving population health.

The post holders will join the Public Health Teamat an exciting and formative time. They will be responsible forleading and contributing to multi-agency and partnership networks, developingstrategic plans and programmes to address health issues and health inequalitiesand deliver against the public health outcomes framework.

We are a progressive and supportive PublicHealth Team and have an excellent working relationship with our wider systempartners. The roles will complement a number of specialist public health roles eachhaving a focus on a specific area.

One role will focus on weight management, offeringthe successful candidate a key opportunity to further develop and evolve theweight management agenda across the borough.

The other role will focus on health protection as well as the stop smoking agenda. This ill require a broad knowledge of health protection with an additional focus on reducing the harms associated with smoking and the use of tobacco products.

Main duties of the job

Both post holders will also be expected be ableto adapt to a range of wider public health priorities, within health improvement,health protection, wider determinants and health care public health.

Technical expertise and knowledge of working acrossmulti-agency partnerships, leading service development and complex strategic commissioningof health improvement services is essential as well as an informed knowledge ofthe wider social determinants of health.

Thepost holders will be expected to be able to cope withmultiple and changing demands, and to meet tight deadlines. A high level ofintellectual rigour, political awareness, negotiation, motivation skills andflexibility are required to understand broadorganisational cultures, advise, challenge and advocate to enable effectiveworking across partnerships as well as being able to influence without directauthority.

About us

As a Sefton Council employee, you can receive:

28 days annualleave rising to 33 days with 5 years continual service and 8 bank holidays.

Enhanced sick payscheme, maternity/adoption leave pay and maternity support leave.

Opportunities foragile/flexible working

Access to freeeye tests and where appropriate, contribution towards spectacles

OccupationalHealth Service available to advise on work related health issues.

Commitment tosupporting staffs emotional and mental health with access to a free andconfidential employee counselling service.

Discounted gymmembership with all Active Sefton gyms

Cycle to work scheme.

Salary sacrificesschemes including childcare vouchers.

Access to localbenefits and discounts on products and service

Job responsibilities

The PublicHealth department is a specialist, multidisciplinary team working acrossSefton. The department works in partnershipwith other local authority departments, NHS, other statutory services and the voluntarysector. The department has a wide range of responsibilities to protect andimprove the publics health and tackle inequalities. These include identifyinghealth needs of the population, advising on and commissioning health servicesto meet those needs, providing evidence on the effectiveness oftreatments/interventions and highlighting the needs of the more sociallyexcluded and vulnerable, as well as health protection and broader healthcarepublic health services which are also key component parts of our delivery.

The Public Health Lead will contribute to the publichealth duties within the local authority, these include advising council officersand Elected Members on all matters of public health, commissioning andperformance management of a specified list of public health services.

It is expected that the post holder will workacross specific programme areas , building strong partnerships which include wider councilpartners, NHS and the voluntary sector, assuring that local health improvement,health care and health protection arrangements are fit for purpose, aligned androbust. The post holder will be requiredto demonstrate a clear understanding of the local population needs for Sefton andwill primarily focus on broad health improvement priorities with some additionalsupport across health care and health protection when required.

Keyareas and responsibilities will include:

Lead commissionedprogrammes for health improvement, health protection, health care publichealth, wider determinants and health inequalities.

Lead and co-ordinatecontract performance and review meeting

Interpret national datasets and address performance issues where required.

Provide servicestewardship and strategic development for a range of programme areas.

Provide expert input tonational, regional and local policy and reference groups.

Provide public healthsupport to the emerging health and social care structure.

Provide public healthadvice / support to multiagency / multidisciplinary safeguarding reviews.

MAIN DUTIES

1.Surveillance and assessment of the populations health and well-being

To source,interpret and utilise the available evidence base, including in depth analysisand interpretation of health data and effectiveness appraisal of diverse publichealth interventions, in the context of conflicting views between professionalsand agencies. Contribute specialist topic information to annual and publichealth reports, strategic documents and other reports as required. Prepare andprocess communications (e.g. press releases) with the media within overallguidelines set by the LA.

Identify public health needs using various methodologies e.g. healthneeds assessment, equality impact needs assessments (EINAs), Health ImpactAssessment (HIA) and develop appropriate health outcome measures when planningand commissioning projects or programmes to improve health and reduce healthinequalities.

2.Assessing the evidence of effectiveness of health and healthcareinterventions, programmes and services

Analyse and interpret national and local policy, data and nationalevidence of effectiveness (from a variety of highly complex sources), todevelop, make recommendations and evaluate public health related projects orprogrammes some of which may be contentious.

Support the development of a culture of continuous evaluation byimproving the efficiency and effectiveness of investment; identifying the needfor and commission/undertake/contribute to evaluations, research and audits toassess the effectiveness of interventions, programmes and services.

Keep up to date with the evidence base of effective public healthpractice in particular relating to specific public health topic areas, andpublic health competencies (through literature searches, critical appraisal ofliterature, conferences, journal clubs, professional body communications, etc.)

3.Policy and strategy development and implementation

Develop and co-ordinate multi-agency and partnership collaborative workto engage and influence others, to identify and report on local need and toimprove health and wellbeing. Take responsibility for strategic planning;leading the development, co-ordination and implementation of multi-agencystrategy and action plans.

Effectively manage a delegated budget for specific commissioned servicesand/or projects, with supervision from senior public health staff. Write bidsto secure funding for PH and partnership projects.

Commissionservices, as required, within allocated resources; ensuring that contracts aresuccessfully negotiated and implemented in line with identified needs. Leaddevelopment of service specifications and performance management arrangementswith all providers that will ensure financial and performance targets are met,that services offer value for money and are delivered efficiently.

Using standard project management techniques set up and manage specificprojects or programmes to improve heath and reduce health inequalities.

4.Leadership and collaborative working for health

Influence statutory, community and voluntary sector partners to optimisehealth gains and reductions in health inequalities.

Provide leadership, support and advice to internal and external partnersto inform investment decisions and strategic development to ensure that apublic health perspective informs policy development, strategic commissioningand operational planning.

Provide highly specialist knowledge and expertise on health improvementtopic areas utilising excellent project management skills, communication,partnership working, training, contributing to websites and disseminatinginformation to partner organisations.

Provide support and supervision for health and other professional staff, in the development of interventions to tacklepublic health issues and to address health inequalities. Initiate, develop andcommission training and education programmes for the benefit of health andother professional staff and evaluate effectiveness, including presentations tosmall groups, conferences, students, meetings and networks.

1.General

Responsible for themanagement of member(s) of the Public Health team, as allocated to the postholder including direct line management and/orproject/matrix management of staff.

Deputise for the senior public health team as required and representthe council at local, regional and national events; provide advice on policiesand practices, and strategic direction and support to the relevant partnership boardsand forums.

Use various software packages to enable reports, presentations, spreadsheets, databases, and artwork to be produced.

Responsible for chairing and minute taking at meetings as required.

Aware of NHS and council information governance/ best practice and localguidelines. Demonstrate understanding by competently handing patient,confidential and sensitive data at all times.

In the performance of all duties, and in particular in the support andmanagement of staff, to implement all council policies and procedures necessaryto meet customer care needs and to reflect the councils vision and values.

To ensure that client information data is lawfully gathered, accurate,up to date and only divulged in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998and the local government common law duty of confidentiality. Failure to apply these duties can lead to theindividual or the Department facing court proceedings.

To undertake any other duties as directed from time-to-time to meet theexigencies of the service.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

The nature of the work may require the post holder to undertake commitments outside normal working hours. This may include meetings and supporting Public Health Senior Leadership Team in response to public health incidents, outbreaks and emergencies.

Thepost you are applying for is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act1974 and therefore you are required to declare any convictions, cautions,reprimands and final warnings that are not protected (i.e. filtered out) asdefined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975(Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013.

Forfurther information, please refer to DBS filteringguidance at www.gov.uk/dbs.

The post you are applying for requires access to the Public Service Network (PSN) and requires compliance with the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard.

Person Specification

Skills, Knowledge and Aptitudes

• Proven ability to apply professional judgement in resolving complex and diverse public health and commissioning issues.
• Ability to act on own initiative and professional judgemental within the scope of the role.
• Excellent communicator in oral, written and presentation skills. Skilled in communicating and negotiating with and influencing colleagues, partners and stakeholders at a senior level.
• Ability to build effective working relationships and engage the public and service users in service development.
• Ability to create complex, high quality written material, including statistical tables, for a wide readership.
• Effective team member with strong interpersonal, influencing and facilitation skills.
• Flexible, pro-active, uses initiative, prioritises, manages own workload and works well under pressure and to tight timeframes with minimal supervision.
• Ability to carry out research and evaluate research carried out by others. Proven ability to assess, plan, prioritise, monitor and evaluate a range of interventions.
• Ability to analyse and interpret information for effective decision making.
• Computer literate to enable reports, presentations, spread sheets, databases, and artwork to be produced.
• Ability to manage budgets and prepare bids for external funding.
• Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics, health care evaluation.
• Awareness of methods of developing clinical quality assurance and evidence based clinical practice.
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of social and political environment, including national and local policy, strategies and guidance.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of specialist public health fields acquired through relevant degree plus additional training and/or experience to Masters degree (MPH) or equivalent.
• Registered, or working towards registration as a Public Health Practitioner.

Special Requirements

• This post is registered as exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and in accordance with the Police Act; the successful candidate must be able to obtain satisfactory Enhanced Criminal Record Disclosure in order to be appointed to the post. In the respect a criminal record check will be undertaken prior to confirmation of appointment.
• The post holder must travel independently over a wide geographical area.

Experience

• Substantial experience in strategic public health/health related posts and facilitating change in practice.
• Experience of engaging stakeholder in a multi agency, multi partnership format.
• Experience of engaging with elected members and or clinicians.
• Experience of project management, commissioning and budget management.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Head of Inequalities and Strategic Partnerships