JOB SUMMARY

The Countermeasures and Preparedness Team (CPT) sits within Commercial, Vaccines and Countermeasures Delivery in UKHSA, reporting to its Chief Operating Officer.
The CPT is responsible for ensuring the UK can respond effectively to new and emerging disease threats, pandemics, and emergency response situations. This includes risks to national and wider health security, such as the accidental or malicious release of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agent, and in incidents involving certain venoms and toxins.
The CPT is at the heart of the UKHSA’s mission to keep all our communities safe, save lives and protect livelihoods through effective prevention, preparedness and response to infectious diseases and environmental hazards. We achieve this through the effective oversight, procurement, supply and operationalisation of a range of medical countermeasures.
We also manage key pandemic preparedness capability, including an advance purchase agreement with CSL Seqirus, the National Pandemic Flu Service and the Moderna-UK Strategic Partnership. The CPT has a serious remit, but we deliver this with a positive, supportive and fun working culture.
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.

JOB DESCRIPTION

This role specifically will work with the Response Operations Lead to develop this key organisational capability, whilst developing deployment plans and response testing for a range of countermeasure products.

The post holder will also collaborate with counterparts in National Security Policy, DHSC, and wider HMG to identify the right interventions and investments for long-term resilience. Some of the duties for the role include;

• Contribute and develop business cases and submissions and monitor their progress.
• Monitor the progress of business cases and approvals.
• Prepare papers and submissions, make arrangements for their timely reviews and coordinate comments and responses amongst stakeholders.
• Contribute to requests for information including FOI and parliamentary questions
• To be responsible for managing the stocks of exotic antivenoms, antitoxins, immunoglobulins and vaccines including deployment of these as required.
• Ongoing management of operational responses as required.
• Ensure that there is appropriate policy input into the maintenance of stockpiles of clinical countermeasures.
• Implement good project management practice, tracking key activities and milestones, updating project plans and risks and issues registers.
• Ensure all operational activities and processes adhere to Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards, maintaining compliance and supporting the integrity of the supply chain.
• Manage relationships with an extensive network partners and stakeholders

The Countermeasures and Response team leads the charge for the supply of relevant pharmaceutical products against a range of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats, overseeing the end-to-end design, procurement and operational planning for all products necessary for an effective response.
In addition, the team lead on the procurement and deployment of a range of exotic Anti-venoms, anti-toxins and Immunoglobulin’s, alongside acting as the lead Response team for CVCD when incidents occur.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential criteria - You will be assessed on the below 11 essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description Document.

• Educated to degree level in a relevant subject or significant experience of working at a similar level
• Proven experience of writing briefings, submissions and reports for senior officials and/or ministers.
• Proven experience in establishing and maintaining relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes.
• Demonstrable understanding of the public health system and its political environment.
• Basic knowledge of commercial, financial and procurement.
• Written and oral communication skills, including ability to clearly articulate complex issues in a clear and concise way.
• Gathering and use of evidence to be used to inform decision making.
• Works well with others and encourages collaborative working within a team.
• Effective use of project management skills and techniques to deliver outcomes, including identifying risks and mitigating actions.Works confidently with financial information and other quantitative data.
• Must be able to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others.
• Actively develops their own knowledge, skills and capabilities through continual career and professional development and supports others with theirs.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

The post holder will also collaborate with counterparts in National Security Policy, DHSC, and wider HMG to identify the right interventions and investments for long-term resilience. Some of the duties for the role include;

• Contribute and develop business cases and submissions and monitor their progress.
• Monitor the progress of business cases and approvals.
• Prepare papers and submissions, make arrangements for their timely reviews and coordinate comments and responses amongst stakeholders.
• Contribute to requests for information including FOI and parliamentary questions
• To be responsible for managing the stocks of exotic antivenoms, antitoxins, immunoglobulins and vaccines including deployment of these as required.
• Ongoing management of operational responses as required.
• Ensure that there is appropriate policy input into the maintenance of stockpiles of clinical countermeasures.
• Implement good project management practice, tracking key activities and milestones, updating project plans and risks and issues registers.
• Ensure all operational activities and processes adhere to Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards, maintaining compliance and supporting the integrity of the supply chain.
• Manage relationships with an extensive network partners and stakeholder

Essential criteria - You will be assessed on the below 11 essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description Document.

• Educated to degree level in a relevant subject or significant experience of working at a similar level
• Proven experience of writing briefings, submissions and reports for senior officials and/or ministers.
• Proven experience in establishing and maintaining relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes.
• Demonstrable understanding of the public health system and its political environment.
• Basic knowledge of commercial, financial and procurement.
• Written and oral communication skills, including ability to clearly articulate complex issues in a clear and concise way.
• Gathering and use of evidence to be used to inform decision making.
• Works well with others and encourages collaborative working within a team.
• Effective use of project management skills and techniques to deliver outcomes, including identifying risks and mitigating actions.Works confidently with financial information and other quantitative data.
• Must be able to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others.
• Actively develops their own knowledge, skills and capabilities through continual career and professional development and supports others with theirs