Consultant Clinical Scientist

About the job

Location

61 Colindale Ave, London, NW9 5EQ

About The Job

Job summary

The Consultant Clinical Scientist is within the Healthcare Associated Infection, Fungal, Antimicrobial Resistance, Antimicrobial Utilisation & Sepsis Division (Clinical & Public Health group) of UKHSA. The mission of the division is to protect people from healthcare-associated and antimicrobial resistant infections, through world-leading public health microbiology, outbreak response, surveillance , antimicrobial stewardship, modelling, research, and interventions.

The post holder will be responsible for providing leadership and expertise in Infection Control within the HCAI & AMR Division. The postholder will act as a clinical scientist specialist advisor/consultant in infection control and healthcare associated infections and serve as a member of the Divisions Leadership and Management Group.

The post holder will also be providing highly specialized consultancy service on healthcare-associated infection throughout the NHS, health-care sector, and wider public and community health setting; locally, nationally and to international partners.

The role does require the post holder to have a current UK professional registration with the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) and will require regular travel across our national sites.

Hours:

Part time, 18.75 hours per week.

Location:

The role will be based at: UKHSA Colindale, 61 Colindale Ave, London NW9 5EQ and will require regular travel across our national sites.

*Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available. *

Job Description

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities, and duties, which includes:

• Deliver expert, highly specialized advice to local infection control practitioners, primary health care providers, hospital trusts, research establishments, national and international bodies on matters relating to hospital infection prevention; including control aspects of hospital infection, sterilization and disinfection methods, instrument decontamination, types of specialist ventilation, operating theatres, isolation facilities, burns units, environmental decontamination, health care laundry, and healthcare product contamination. Where required, delivery this advice at very short notice and/or in critical situations.
• Investigate outbreak of infection at the request of Directors of Infection Prevention and Control, Infection Control Doctors, Consultants in Communicable Disease Control, Regional Epidemiologists, Department of Health & Social Care and WHO.
• Form, work in and facilitate teams of people who may have been bought together at short notice and who may be of a higher grade/status than the post holder, to deal with outbreak investigations.
• Identify mechanisms of infection transmission, reporting in such a way to facilitate rectification, advise such that strategies to prevent recurrence of adverse events are developed.
• Prepare reports of scientific investigations to local, national and international bodies and submit papers for peer-review publication.
• Take part in preparing answers to Parliamentary Questions, ministerial information requests and press enquiries.
• Contribute to healthcare trust, national and international policies on infection control.
• Assist hospital trusts, national and international bodies on infection control quality standards and assurance.
• Advise hospital trusts and regional review bodies on infection control aspects of planning and up-grading healthcare facilities.
• Promote infection control good practice by writing guides, papers, book chapters and books on aspects of the subject. Undertake short-term placements with WHO and other international partners providing various infection control services, including consultancy, training and outbreak investigation, in order to raise profile of UKHSA/NHS, provide help and support to less developed health care systems and to gain knowledge of infection control issues of new and emerging diseases.
  
  
  

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and are not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Please review the job description for the full list of responsibilities.

Person specification

It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of 1000 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential criteria contained within the relevant Person Specification. Please provide evidence for any of the desirable criteria that you may also meet.

Essential:

• Good first degree in relevant biological science
• PhD or clearly demonstrable equivalent experience specific to the postholder’s duties
• Registration with HCPC as Clinical Scientist
• Relevant postgraduate qualification
• Nationally recognised as an expert in the field of infection control with extensive, in-depth experience of working as an infection control clinical scientist within UKHSA, NHS or similar setting including excellent knowledge of guidance on infection control.
• Significant practical and theoretical experience in infection control including good knowledge of engineering aspects of infection control including ability to keep up to date with changes in theoretical and practical aspects of infection control.
• High level of knowledge and understanding of the way in which infection control is managed within hospitals and community settings.
• Excellent knowledge of outbreak investigation and response to adverse incidents including ability to identify adverse occurrences and develop measures to prevent them.
• Good knowledge of specialist equipment used in environmental studies related infection control.
  
  
  

Desirable:

• Ability to think clearly in adverse circumstances and whilst under pressure and analyse and evaluate evidence to make timely and pertinent decisions and judgements and back those judgements up.
• Ability to transfer skills and experience of healthcare associated infection control to wider public health setting including via teaching and lecturing at specialist and postgraduate level and representing UKHSA in national and international settings including public speaking and conference presentation skills.
• Please do not submit your CV, we require you to complete the full application process including a Personal Statement/Statement of Suitability. Please ensure that your Statement of Suitability contains no personal identifiers e.g., name in either the file name or content of the document. **
  
  
  

Benefits

Please review the job description for the full criteria.

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%
  
  
  

Things you need to know

Selection process details

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:

You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the advertised essential criteria – please do provide evidence of how you meet this.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.

STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW

This stage will involve a Microsoft Teams Interview.

As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. Candidates will also be asked to participate deliver a 10 -minute presentation to the panel. Full details will be provided prior to the interview.

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs on 22nd November 2023 – unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Shortlist: w/c 4th December

Interviews: w/c 13th December

Please note these dates could be subject to change.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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) (opens in a new window)
• 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 (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window) .

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Chantelle May
• Email : [email protected]
  
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]