Environmental Public Health Practitioner

Job summary

The Environmental Hazards and Emergencies (EHE) Department provides authoritative scientific advice to government, NHS and other bodies. EHE's mission is to prepare for and prevent future health security hazards, strengthen capability and respond to chemical and environmental emergencies, and build the UK's capacity on health security for new and long-term exposure to environmental hazards.

The EHE Department comprises of multidisciplinary teams of scientists working across geographically dispersed locations within England & Wales. The department is responsible for providing specialist advice at local,national and international level on the public health impact of acute and chronic non-infectious environmental exposures.

Main duties of the job

Scientists collaborate with academia on research and evidence reviews to underpin this advice, such as via the National Institute of Health Research Health Protection Research Units (HPRU). Many scientists sit on cross government and multi-agency expert groups relevant to environmental public health. EHE also provides support to the Government's expert Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP).

The post holder, based within one of the chemical and environmental hazards teams (see job advert for location), will respond to chemical & environmental hazard incidents and enquiries which threaten people's health, through provision of public health risk assessments. Such threats might involve chemical fires, chemical contamination of the environment, or deliberate release of chemicals. The postholder will contribute to development of evidence and provision of expert environmental public health advice to government, multi-agency stakeholders and members of the public.

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: 16 June 2026
• Pay scheme: Other
• Salary: £33,422 to £40,731 a year PER ANNUM, PRO RATA
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working
• Reference number: 919-JP-303094-EXT
• Job locations: Supporting Hub, Bristol, BS1 6EH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

• Incident Response: Contribute to the UKHSA Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response arrangements as a Category 1 responder Collaborate within EHE, relevant regulators and others to promote an effective public health response service, providing advice onpublic health protection Undertake environmental public health risk assessments for acute & chronic chemical and environmental hazard exposures to prevent or mitigate risks to the public With support, critically analyse and interpret complex data and evidence to inform public health assessments and advicePublication & communication: Review environmental permit applications; health impact or environmental impact assessments or planning applications providing advice on threats to public health Plan and carry out, with support, complex scientific studies of high quality to formulate robust evidence-based advice for environmental public health Contribute to research papers for submission to peer reviewed journals Participate in scientific meetings and conferences, presenting papers describing research activities. These may be at internal (UKHSA), national, European or international events
• Training: Disseminate information and knowledge gathered from participation at workshops, meetings, seminars and conferences to EHE colleagues Assist in provision of training on environmental public health issues for a range of stakeholders, in support of EHE training courses Assist in reviewing any training materials to improve training outcomes Participate at multi-agency training including emergency planning, chemical incident exercises and other technical workshops

This is not an exhaustive list.

Essential role criteria

• Degree in science or environmental science, or equivalent Level 6 qualification, or equivalent experience in a similar role
• Analysis of scientific and technical data
• Experience of scientific project work
• Ability to observe and question when gathering information, and identifying key issues
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage own workload
• Good presentation skills with experience of creating and giving presentations to varied audiences such as team colleagues and external stakeholders
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships
• Proficient working knowledge of Microsoft Office

Desirable role criteria:

• Broad general knowledge of environmental sciences and environmental public health
• Experience of scientific research and development
• Ability to write evidence based scientific material
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Selection process

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your behaviours, strengths, ability, experience and technical skills.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You willbe requiredto complete an application form. You will be assessed onthe listed8essentialcriteria,and this will be in the form of:

• an application form(Employer/ Activity history section on the application)
• a 1000wordsupporting statement.

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledgeprovide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.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 beadvisedyou will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.

HealthjobsUK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than1000words. We will not consider any words over1000words.

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

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

Only those meeting all essential criteria will be taken through to shortlisting.Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on:

• Degree in science or environmental science, or equivalent Level 6 qualification, or equivalent experience in a similar role
• Analysis of scientific and technical data
• Experience of scientific project work

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

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

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

You will be invited to a face to face interview in Bristol. In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

Behaviours, strengths, ability, experience and technical skills will be tested at interview.

You will be required to prepare a 10 minutes presentation on 'Describe a key public health challenge in the UK' as part of the interview.

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead behaviour)
• Communication and Influencing
• Working Together

Interviews will be held 16th July 2026. Please note, these dates are subject to change.

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

Location

This role is being offered as hybrid working based in Bristol.

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) on-site.

Eligibility criteria

Option 1 - External

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

Security clearance level requirement

Part 1

Successful candidates must pass a basic Disclosure and Barring Security (DBS) check before they can be appointed.

Part 2

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard clearance.

Salary information

If 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.