Public Health Principal - Quality and Strategy

Get Berkshire Active; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A public health organization in Milton Keynes seeks a Public Health Principal to lead the integrated behaviour change service, ensuring high-quality outcomes for residents. This role involves monitoring performance, managing a team, and collaborating with various stakeholders to promote healthier lifestyles. Candidates should have a relevant degree and leadership experience in public health, with a focus on driving improved service quality and managing budgets.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of leadership experience in public health or a related organization.
• Experience in shaping weight management or smoking cessation support.
• Knowledge of health inequalities and experience with diverse populations.

Responsibilities

• Lead service delivery and monitor performance.
• Manage a team to provide integrated health support.
• Collaborate with partners and enhance service outcomes.

Skills

Leadership experience

Stakeholder engagement

Service evaluation

Budget management

Team motivation

Education

Relevant degree (public health/nutrition/dietetics/sports science)

Job description

About the Role

Working on behalf of the Shared Public Health Service across Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes, the role of Public Health Principal – Quality & Strategy will be responsible for ensuring that our recently-launched integrated behaviour change service, Choose You, delivers high quality outcomes for our residents. Reporting to the Head of Service – Health Improvement, who retains overall leadership for the service, you will work closely with the Public Health Principal – Service Delivery to lead and manage the Service’s strategic direction. Your responsibilities will include monitoring performance, evaluating outcomes, and driving continuous improvement. This encompasses oversight of Smoke‑Free Generation funded initiatives and the advancement of wider Tobacco Control activities.

If you have a passion for evaluation, enhancing service outcomes, and collaborating with partners and service users, this is an excellent opportunity to use your skills and knowledge to shape and develop the service, to help our residents make healthy lifestyle changes. You will manage a team of Practitioners to provide residents with integrated support to adopt healthier behaviours to improve their well‑being.

Key Responsibilities

• Improve outcomes / health & wellbeing of those engaging with Choose You.
• Provide leadership that delivers high quality services which will simplify and enhance residents' experience of behaviour change advice, guidance, and support, reducing the need for multiple referrals between services.
• Ensure that the Service is effectively monitored and evaluated to identify impact, good practice, effective performance and areas for improvement.
• Set performance targets for Choose You for stop smoking, weight management and behaviour change.
• Address health inequalities across our 3 authorities by ensuring that Choose You offers high quality service access, good user experience and positive outcomes.
• Provide Public Health leadership, collaborating with other Public Health Principals, senior council managers and commissioned services.
• Provide strategic oversight of outreach and engagement objectives and plans, to increase awareness of Choose You and access to the service.
• To effectively identify, engage and build relationships with wider stakeholders (e.g. Primary Care, voluntary sector and ICB) to support the ongoing development and delivery of services.
• To increase well‑being, training, development and engagement of the workforce to support the delivery of a high quality, effective service.
• Have strategic oversight of training for the Choose You Team, with responsibility for commissioning external training providers where necessary.
• Manage the development and delivery of the Smoke‑Free Generation strategy/and action plan, including setting strategic objectives and the direction of that work.
• Hold required budget management responsibilities including Smoke‑Free Generation and engagement budgets.
• Provide line management of the Tobacco Control Practitioner and the Training & Engagement Practitioner.

The responsibilities listed above are not intended to be exhaustive. The role holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

What We’re Looking For

• A relevant degree (e.g. public health/nutrition/dietetics/sports science) or equivalent knowledge.
• At least 2 years of leadership experience in public health or a related organisation (e.g. local authority).
• Previous strategic experience, especially supporting service delivery.
• Strategic experience in shaping and developing weight management or stop smoking lifestyle change support.
• Experience of working with a range of stakeholders, including service users, to support the development of the service and drive improved outcomes for residents.
• Experience of identifying staff training needs and implementing effective solutions.
• A passion for monitoring and driving improved quality to ensure excellent services.
• Knowledge and experience of managing budgets.
• Proven ability to successfully motivate and lead a team.
• Understanding of health inequalities and experience working with diverse populations, including ethnic minorities and individuals from deprived areas.
• A track record in service evaluation, analysing and presenting data.