Clinical and Public Health Fellow

Job summary

An opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated registrar in Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology, Virology, public health or paediatrics (including paediatric infectious diseases) to join UKHSA as a clinical fellow

This fellowship is an outstanding opportunity for the individual to gain experience and expertise at a national level in areas including investigation and management of major incidents and outbreaks; infectious disease surveillance; guidance and policy development and implementation; research; service development and improvement including close collaborative work across regional reference laboratories, directorate and divisions.

An individual plan will be agreed with the Fellow depending on prior experience and interests, setting out their duties and objectives. The agreement will be tailored to take in consideration the both the needs of the Directorate/Division and the individual. It will include objective setting and mapping expected outputs and timescales for any projects.

Main duties of the job

There is a fellowship opportunity available for 12 month Out of Programme Experiences (OOPE) post to commence February/March 2027. This is aimed at Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology, Virology and Public Health registrars currently on training programmes with a National Training Number (NTN). The registrar MUST have OOPE/OOPT approval in principle from their TPD.

About us

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

Details

• Date posted: 21 July 2026
• Pay scheme: Hospital medical and dental staff
• Salary: £54,499 to £76,582 a year per annum, pro rata
• Contract: Fixed term
• Duration: 12 months
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: 919-HM-6161982-EXT
• Job locations: Various UKHSA Labs, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Salisbury, NW9 5EQ, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

During the placement the StR will be expected to:

Gain understanding and experience of:

• The delivery of the national role of UKHSA
• The commissioning and financing of different aspects of the delivery of public health programmes and their impact on programme performance
• The role of the various agencies in delivering, managing and monitoring programme
• Guidance and policy development
• Service and quality improvement in relation to aspects of UKHSAs work
• Providing public health input into commissioning and financing decisions with regards to the delivery of public health programmes

Develop skills in:

• Liaising with other stakeholders to optimise the delivery of public health programme
• Cross divisional working within UKHSA
• Providing clinical input into delivery of the national programmes
• Policy development and implementation
• Decision making and time management
• Working on ad hoc analyses of each area of responsibility as directed by consultants and scientists
• Identifying, investigating and responding to cases, clusters and outbreaksof communicable disease

Objectives Delivery:

• The StR will be expected to agree a plan with their project and educational supervisors. The plan will be tailored to meet the individual StR's needs and the needs of the host division and will include the objectives for the placement and the output and timescales expected for any projects.

The StR is expected to:

• Take responsibility for arranging 1:1 sessions with their supervisor(s)
• Inform their educational supervisor of any special requirements, ideally at the pre-placement meeting;
• Inform their education supervisor promptly of any difficulties, including concerns about lack of opportunities to gain experience;
• Attend the workplace as required and on time;
• Share their diaries with UKHSA staff;
• Notify their educational supervisor (or unit/department administrator if unavailable) when unwell;
• To deliver the objectives set out in the plan the StR will be expected to work closely with members of the individual teams
• Short induction including familiarisation with base, the team, wider colleagues within UKHSA, and organisational arrangements.
• Dealing with enquiries from the public and health professionals
• Issuing advice to clinicians on individual cases
• Participating in investigation of clusters/ outbreaks
• Attendance at (and presentation where appropriate) key meetings relevant to the division
• Attendance at cross UKHSA, meetings relevant to training, and /or projects
• Work on projects which contribute to the strategic work of the division and across divisions which are appropriate to the individual StR
• To meet regularly with their project and educational supervisors.
• To complete an evaluation of the placement.
• The StR should pursue a programme of continuing professional development in accordance with any relevant professional registration or statutory requirements, whilst maintaining appropriate awareness of service provider requirements.

Person Specification

Please refer to the person specification below in addition applicants must:

• Be on a formally accredited specialist training programme
• Have satisfactory progression through annual assessments (ARCP)
• Read, sign and return the Declaration Form (attached to the job advert) with confirmation from your Training Programme Director/Head of School that this is a suitable training opportunity and that you can undertake an Out of Programme Experience (OOPE). The form must also be signed by your Training Programme Director/Head of School and returned to the Recruitment Team at SCS.mdrecruitment@ukhsa.gov.uk at the time of submitting your application. Failure to submit the completed form may result in your application not being progressed to the interview stage
• Express a preference (within the Statement of Suitability) for up to three available placements from the UKHSA Placement List document (attached to the job advert). Placements will be allocated to successful applicants based on merit, determined by interview ranking
• Be available for the period of 12 months

For full details, please see attached Job Description & Person Specification.

External

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).

STAGE 1 Application & Sift:

Applicants must read, sign and return the declaration form to the SCS MD Recruitment Team - SCS.MDrecruitment@ukhsa.gov.uk when submitting their application. This is required in order for the application to be assessed; without it, we will be unable to consider the application.

Applicants should read the attached document listing the available placements. They are required to express up to three placement preferences, in order of preference, within their Statement of Suitability. Placement allocation will be based on merit.

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of an Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application) up to1500 word Statement of Suitability.

You will also be required to read, sign and return the declaration form

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role.

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)

If we receive a large number of applications an initial sift against the personal specification criteria (essential) will be conducted.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we may longlist into 3 piles of:

Meets all essential criteria

Meets some essential criteria

Meets no essential criteria

Shortlisting:

In the event of a large number of applications we may conduct an initial sift, on the lead criteria of:

• Understanding of the UK research and NHS system

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications/large amount of successful candidates.

We will only take through applications that meet all essential criteria.

Please note feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.

Stage 2: Interview (competency based)

You will be invited to aremote interview.

Interviews will be held in September, with dates to be confirmed

This vacancy is being assessed usingthe person specification. During the interview we will assess against the below:

Knowledge,Experience,Skills and Abilities

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 meet the security requirements before they can be appointed.

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

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates for this role must pass an enhanced disclosure and barring security check before they can be appointed.

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at one of our Scientific Campuses or Labs. 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 one of UKHSA's labs.

If based at one of Scientific Campuses or Labs, you will be required to have a minimum of a Counter Terrorism Check security vetting check as a minimum. 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 3 years as the role requires Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) clearance. In exceptional circumstances 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.

For further information about specific posts please contact the Postgraduate Training Faculty on pgtf@ukhsa.gov.uk