UK Health Security Agency
Senior Statistician
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Senior Statistician
Colindale
Job Summary
The postholder will join the vaccines analysis team within the immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases division (IVPD) at Colindale which is part of the chief medical advisor (CMA) directorate. The vaccines analysis team is focused on assessing vaccine preventable diseases in terms of disease epidemiology, vaccine impact, safety and effectiveness, laboratory methods and vaccine policy. The work of the team is wide ranging with a focus on studies to address areas of public health concern that influence decision making on the use of vaccines in the UK. The postholder will join a small number of statisticians within the vaccines analysis team and engage with other statisticians and mathematical modellers within the analysis and intelligence assessment division (AIA) which is part of the chief data officer (CDO) directorate.
The postholder will collaborate closely with the tuberculosis, acute respiratory, zoonoses and emerging infections, and travel health division (TARZET), also based at Colindale. In particular, the postholder will work on projects related to pandemic preparedness initiatives as identified through UKHSA’s Pandemic Surveillance Oversight Group (PSOG).
We are looking for an enthusiastic statistician to work on a range of projects, including pandemic preparedness and household infectious disease transmission studies. Experience in these specific areas, or more widely in infectious disease epidemiology, would be ideal.
Working for your organisation
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.
UKHSA 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.
Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers
Job Description
This is a temporary post to 31 March 2028 with responsibilities to work across a range of collaborative projects that the IVPD and/or TARZET are involved in. The main duties of the job will include:
- General statistical support for scientists within the IVPD and TARZET.
- Designing studies and developing appropriate statistical methods to answer questions involving pandemic preparedness and vaccine preventable diseases.
- Development of study protocols and assisting with statistical content of protocols such as statistical analysis plans and sample size calculation, this is to include protocols in relation to pandemic preparedness.
- Analysis of data from a wide range of sources, including that from a study of household transmission, as well as large-linked data bases such as Hospital Episodes data, vaccine registry data, GP data, laboratory data, and all-cause mortality data. This would require the use of advanced statistical methods and programming in software such as STATA or R.
- Writing statistical analysis or scientific reports and peer reviewed publications.
- Presenting results clearly to a wide-ranging audience including staff within the agency, advisory committees, and international audiences (e.g. in scientific conferences).
- Keeping up to date with relevant methodology to ensure best use of current methods. This may include advancing or adapting methods to answer public health questions.
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In addition to the main duties and responsibilities listed above, other duties may include:
- Contribution towards research grant applications for funding (from internal and external sources) where additional resources are required to implement a program of research.
- Management of specific projects.
- Teaching statistical methods to staff in the division.
- Managing and supervising staff as required.
Examples Of Areas Of Work Are As Follows:
- Developing protocols and analyses to run on FFX (first few x-hundred) pandemic data using actual or simulated data.
- Developing protocols and analysing data on household transmission of infectious disease (e.g. influenza or COVID-19).
- Analysing all-cause mortality data and automating a daily model of all cause-mortality to run in a pandemic.
- Estimating effectiveness, safety and impact of influenza and other vaccines in the UK. This will involve dealing with large-linked databases from a range of sources and being required to do rapid assessments.
- Modelling disease epidemiology using laboratory reports, GP/hospital data and sero-epidemiological data, with pandemic preparedness in mind.
Using your skills in complex data analysis and communication you will be part of vibrant teams working to improve public health with a focus on vaccines and pandemic preparedness. Your analyses of vaccines will feed into wider understanding of benefits and risks of vaccines and help with mathematical modelling and costs effectiveness assessment and policy decisions.
You will lead some projects, whilst in others your focus may be the statistical aspects. You will work carefully with a focus on quality and completing projects in a timely way and writing up results clearly. You will develop methodology as required whilst keeping simplicity of what is needed in mind. You will programme with well written code and learn new statistical packages if needed (for example STATA, R).
Some projects require rapid answers when there is an urgent question, and you may need to think of how to do an analysis very quickly to provide a rapid assessment whilst also planning on a more detailed assessment. In the event of an outbreak where there is pandemic potential, rapid work will be required to adapt and implement protocols, and to analyse data as it emerges.
Please note the above list is not exhaustive.
Examples Of Areas Of Work Are As Follows:
- Developing protocols and analyses to run on FFX (first few x-hundred) pandemic data using actual or simulated data.
- Developing protocols and analysing data on household transmission of infectious disease (e.g. influenza or COVID-19).
- Analysing all-cause mortality data and automating a daily model of all cause-mortality to run in a pandemic.
- Estimating effectiveness, safety and impact of influenza and other vaccines in the UK. This will involve dealing with large-linked databases from a range of sources and being required to do rapid assessments.
- Modelling disease epidemiology using laboratory reports, GP/hospital data and sero-epidemiological data, with pandemic preparedness in mind.
Using your skills in complex data analysis and communication you will be part of vibrant teams working to improve public health with a focus on vaccines and pandemic preparedness. Your analyses of vaccines will feed into wider understanding of benefits and risks of vaccines and help with mathematical modelling and costs effectiveness assessment and policy decisions.
You will lead some projects, whilst in others your focus may be the statistical aspects. You will work carefully with a focus on quality and completing projects in a timely way and writing up results clearly. You will develop methodology as required whilst keeping simplicity of what is needed in mind. You will programme with well written code and learn new statistical packages if needed (for example STATA, R).
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Some projects require rapid answers when there is an urgent question, and you may need to think of how to do an analysis very quickly to provide a rapid assessment whilst also planning on a more detailed assessment. In the event of an outbreak where there is pandemic potential, rapid work will be required to adapt and implement protocols, and to analyse data as it emerges.
Please note the above list is not exhaustive.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Postgraduate degree (MSc or PhD) in a subject with substantial statistical content, such as mathematics & statistics, data science, epidemiology, economics
- Extensive relevant research experience resulting in publication in peer reviewed journals
- Experience of project management on large collaborative projects
- Experience of applying a wide range of statistical methodology including coding in appropriate software/programming languages such as R or STATA
- Analysis of large or complex datasets
- Supervising junior staff
- Strong communication skills with extensive presentation evidence
Desirable Criteria
- Experience related to pandemic preparedness, planning epidemiological studies, writing protocols, household infectious disease transmission studies, or vaccine-related studies
- Experience working with infectious disease data, laboratory assay data, GP or hospital episode statistics data, with an understanding of limitations
- Delivering training in epidemiology/statistics
- Supervision of PhD/MSc projects
- Development of statistical methodology
- Continued professional development, e.g. Royal Statistical Society Chartered Statistician status.
Alongside your salary of £60,494, UK Health Security Agency contributes £17,525 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).
- 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 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 7 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
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