UK Health Security Agency
Senior Scientist - Epidemiologist
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Scientific Campus, Colindale, London
Job Summary
The post holder will contribute to pandemic preparedness working across the Immunisation and Vaccine Preventable Disease (IVPD) division and the Pandemic Surveillance Oversight Group (PSOG). They will develop and test database, data linkages and pipelines in preparation for incidents and the next pandemic.
In addition, the post holder will have the opportunity to be involved in other aspects of surveillance, including the analyse and interpret surveillance data and develop automated routines and solutions as well as overseeing and responding to more complex or sensitive data requests. This will be through their application of, and expertise in, analytical, statistical, database, mapping and web tools, underpinned by knowledge of information and data science approaches.
The post holder will contribute to public health scientific analyses and writing reports on specific projects, regular and ad hoc publications and peer reviewed publications.
Contributions to the work and professional development of other staff in the team are also expected, and this may extend to Health Protection colleagues to improve services and information quality. Liaison with colleagues across the Chief Medical Advisor Group, wider UKHSA and NHS colleagues at regional/local level will also be required.
Job Description
The primary focus of this role will be pandemic preparedness, and development of the key data sources for infectious disease incidents and the next pandemic. Posts will involve:
- Developing a case and contact registry, which draws to together data sources from across the UK, into a single consistent database that will be used by multiple teams for the public health management of cases, and for the epidemiological analysis and modelling.
- Development of mortality surveillance, working on existing infrastructure to develop reporting of pathogen agnostic mortality data, linked to both lab and demographics to produce robust and accurate epidemiological data should it be needed in the case of an infectious disease outbreak or pandemic. In addition, postholders would also have the opportunity to work on wider respiratory infectious disease surveillance, outlined in greater detail below.
Pandemic Preparedness
- Support development of data linkages, pipelines and databases for key pandemic preparedness requirements (case and contact registry, mortality surveillance)
- Transfer of these into UKHSA’s new data and analytics platform (EDAP) where feasible
- Liaising with developed administrations to understand their requirement and barriers to be incorporated in UK wide surveillance, and where possible develop pipelines that would allow this
- Documentation of standard operation procedures, onboarding processes, data dictionaries and information governance requirements
- Working with the data team as a liaison between subject matter experts and data engineers to ensure the final process and database is both technically and epidemiologically sound.
- Testing of these processes, pipelines and databases
Surveillance
- Develop, manage and maintain the surveillance databases.
- Manage existing national surveillance systems and co-ordinate the development of new surveillance systems for acute respiratory viral infections and to supervise and advise junior scientific and administrative staff in the maintenance and development of surveillance datasets.
- Conduct complex statistical analyses of data on respiratory viruses drawn from a variety of surveillance sources in response to ad hoc enquiries from Government agencies, international agencies, public health practitioners, academics and members of the public.
- Advise scientific and administrative staff conducting routine analyses of surveillance datasets for standardised outputs and ad hoc enquiries.
- Supervise junior scientific colleagues and the administrative team in the production of surveillance reports and publications.
- 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.
- Write scientific papers for publication in peer reviewed journals and detailed reports for UKHSA or Government departments.
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Outbreak Investigation
- Manage the technical and analytical aspects of outbreak investigations, under the supervision of the Consultant lead, by:
- Designing outbreak databases
- Liaising with relevant specialists to collect epidemiological data
- Coordinating and advising incident teams
- Interviewing clinicians and patients to collect clinical and risk factor data during incidents
- Overseeing data entry and ensuring quality control of databases
- Collating and interpreting epidemiological and microbiological data drawn from a variety of sources
- Conducting complex statistical analyses of datasets
- Providing statistical analyses for government agencies
- Writing briefing notes and situation reports
- Presenting epidemiological data to Incident Management Teams
- Contributing to the production of outbreak reports and subsequent publications.
Research
- Contribute to the development of research proposals
- Coordinate the collection and collation of data from collaborators.
- Conduct statistical analyses of epidemiological and microbiological data for grant funded research projects and UKHSA programmes.
- Provide complex statistical analyses of surveillance/research datasets to academic units and other agencies involved in collaborative research studies under the guidance of the project leader.
- Contribute to the process of writing scientific papers for publication in peer reviewed journals and project reports to funding bodies.
Publications and presentations
- Supervise staff in the production of departmental web outputs and editorial material.
- 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 respiratory viruses for UKHSA, university postgraduate
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Postgraduate work/study in public health, epidemiology or an allied subject
- Experience working with, developing and linking large databases and data-sets
- Experience interpreting and evaluating epidemiological data, using SQL databases, spreadsheets, statistical (R) packages to an advanced level
- Experience 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
- Identify and solve day-to-day practical problems.
- Ability to work on several separate tasks at the same time, whilst keeping to agreed deadlines.
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships.
Desirable Criteria
- Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making
- Able to communicate ideas and methods clearly and succinctly to include excellent oral and written communication skills.
Alongside your salary of £46,310, UK Health Security Agency contributes £13,416 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. UKHSA's ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.
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- 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 employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your qualifications, knowledge and experience and / or skills and abilities outlined in the essential criteria.
Stage 1: Application & Sift
Competency Based
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 8 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:
- Application form (Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
- 1000 word supporting statement.
This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.
You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.
Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 1000 words. We will not consider any words over 1000 words.
Longlisting:
In the event of a large number of applications, we will longlist into 3 piles of:
- Meets all essential criteria
- Meets some essential criteria
- Meets no essential criteria
If used, the pile(s) that meets ALL essential criteria’ will proceed to shortlisting.
Shortlisting
In the event of a large number of applications we will conduct an initial sift, on the lead criteria of:
- Experience working with, developing and linking large databases and data sets.
- Experience interpreting and evaluating epidemiological data, using SQL databases, spreadsheets, statistical (R) packages to an advanced level
- Experience writing scientific papers and/or project reports
Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications/large amount of successful candidates.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview
Competency Based
You will be invited to a single remote interview.
Knowledge, experience, skills & abilities will be tested at interview in the form of questions.
Interviews dates to be confirmed.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
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