Deputy Director Health Equity and Community Protection


Company:	NHS Jobs
Salary:	£112,782 to £150,569 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, E14 5EA
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	9 Oct 2026
Closing date:	30 Oct 2026

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Summary

Support the development, application and quality assurance of tools to enable the systematic assessment of health equity e.g. Health Equity Assessment Tool, Health Impact Assessment/Equality Impact Assessment Work across the public health system to develop comprehensive engagement to magnify the community voice, groups and leadership in the work of health equity and inequalities, focusing on inclusion health groups, protected characteristics and vulnerable people. Work with NIHR Health Protection Research Units to ensure consideration of health equity in their aims and objectives, and to support UKHSA in developing further insight and evidence for the impact and management of infectious diseases and health hazards on specific groups including those in particular high-risk settings e.g. Care Homes, the Prison estate etc. As a system leader foster appropriate relationships and collaborations at national, regional and global levels Provide authoritative consultant-level public health advice to UKHSA Executive Committee, Directors, government departments and national partners on health equity and community protection implications of infectious diseases, environmental hazards and emergency incidents. Provide strategic leadership to ensure health equity and community protection approaches are embedded within preparedness, resilience and response functions, including pandemic preparedness, ensuring that the needs of vulnerable groups and communities experiencing inequalities are systematically considered in planning and response. Lead the development and continuous improvement of UKHSA's public health advice and guidance cell in incident response, ensuring the organisation can rapidly translate emerging evidence into authoritative advice and guidance during incidents, and emergencies. Provide senior public health leadership during incidents and emergencies, ensuring that decisions are informed by population health evidence, assessment of inequalities and consideration of vulnerable populations. Act as Incident Director or Strategic Response Director where required and ensure that health equity considerations are incorporated into preparedness and response activity. Please see attached Job Description & Person Specification for full details. The successful candidate will be appointed to the point of the Consultant salary scale appropriate to their years of seniority or if from a background other than medicine to NHS Agenda for Change Band 9. Inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice (or be eligible for registration within six months of interview). If included in the GMC Specialist Register/ in a specialty other than public health medicine, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health practice. Public Health Specialty Registrar applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview; all other applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the GMC . Inclusion in the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists (or eligibility within six months of interview). Nonmedical applicants who are not yet fully registered with the UKPHR must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within six months of gaining specialist registration at the date of interview. All other nonmedical applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the UKPHR Specialist Register (for example, confirmation that a UKPHR specialist portfolio has been submitted). ExternalOpen to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants). Stage 1: Application & Sift This vacancy is using / Competency based framework. At sift stage you will be assessed against the essential criteria listed in the job advert. You will be required to complete an: Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application) 1000 word Statement of Suitability. Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your statement of suitability must be no more than 1000. This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, referring to the attached Job Description & Person Specification. 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). Application form & Statement of Suitability will be marked together. Please note feedback will not be provided at this stage. Longlisting:In the event ofa large number ofapplications,we will longlist into 3 piles of: Meets all essential criteria Meets some essential criteria Meets no essential criteria If used, the pile(s) Meets all essential criteria will proceed to shortlisting Stage 2: Interview Interview stage (competency based): You will be invited to a face-to-face interview. Interviews will be held week commencing 16th November 2026, please note these dates are subject to change. This vacancy is being assessed using Competency based framework. During the interview we will assess against the below: KnowledgeExperienceSkills and Abilities You will be asked to prepare and present a 5-minute presentation at the start of your interview, followed by 5 mins of questions on the presentation, around the subject of priorities in the role. The specific subject of this will be sent to you prior to interview; slides will be permitted. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. Please note that you will be required to undergo an Enhanced DBS check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Clearance. For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires Security Check (SC). UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice. This role is being offered as hybrid working based at our core HQ in . We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, averaged over a month) working at our office. Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport links and benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). Salary InformationIf you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms Consultant (GMC) - £113,565 - £150,569 (plus £2,162 London Weighting) AfC Band 9 (UKPHR) - £112,782 - £129,783 (20% of basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £5,794 and a maximum payment of £8,746)

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