Job Description

UKHSA is a Category 1 responder as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act, 2004 and Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) is an essential element of its activity. This role is pivotal in ensuring that UKHSA delivers and maintains a high-quality service in this area.



The Emergency Preparedness Manager (EPM) provides the UKHSA Health Protection in Regions London team with expert advice and support for health emergency preparedness and resilience working in conjunction with the wider EPRR team and Lead Consultant in EPRR. Assisting in ensuring governance annual assurance and audit of all regional and UKHSA Regional emergency plans including arrangements to prepare for and recover from incidents and events.



The EPM will be required to attend Local Resilience Fora, Local Health Resilience Partnerships and associated sub-groups. Working with the Senior EPM and wider EPRR team the EPM will assist in implementing recommendations from lessons identified from response to incidents both major and other less significant incidents, events, and exercises. The EPM will be expected to develop and deliver training in EPRR to different professional groups within and outside UKHSA.



The EPM provides the UKHSA region workforce with technical advice and support for health emergency preparedness and resilience, working in conjunction with the Head of EPRR, Senior EPM and EPM.



Assisting in developing, maintenance, governance and review of all multiagency regional and UKHSA region plans, protocols and frameworks resilience and response, the candidate will be required to attend multiagency meetings in and around London, representing the Agency and service. Working with the Senior EPM to implement recommendations from lessons identified from response to incidents, coordinating an annual EPRR assurance process for the region, and be expected to deliver EPRR related training to different professional groups within and outside of UKHSA.



The EPM will work in consistency with other regional EPRR teams to ensure, in line with the CCA requirements and principles of Integrated Emergency Management, that responsibilities for emergency planning, resilience and response are discharged effectively within the area of responsibility. The postholder works with a high degree of autonomy and will ensure there are robust arrangements in place to enable UKHSA to undertake an effective and timely response to any incident that could impact on public health and continuity of critical services, in conjunction with partner agencies and stakeholders.



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



Help develop and deliver a high-quality, high-performing EPRR function, supporting the London Region and its partners in preparing for and responding to emergencies and incidents affecting London.



Planning and guidance



Ensure the UKHSA London region is resilient by providing, tactical and operational advice and guidance in the development and coordination of the organisation's emergency preparedness and planning arrangements



Contribute to the design and implementation of UKHSA's preparedness for and response to major incidents and emergencies, as defined in the UKHSA Concept of Operations, National Incident Response Plan and Regional Incident Response Plan



Lead the development and improvement of UKHSA and London Region EPRR policies, guidance and response plans complying with UKHSA's requirements as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act. This may include plans to respond to specific risks as identified in regional and local risk assessments e.g. site-specific risks



Work with colleagues across the London Region, and specifically the Business Operations team to develop and maintain robust and resilience business continuity arrangements



Work collaboratively with colleagues, the military, emergency services, government departments, local authorities and others to ensure strategies, policies and plans are aligned, operable, tested and reviewed



Ensure all emergency preparedness activities in their area of responsibility are audited and auditable in accordance with UKHSA's status as a Category 1 responder



Responding to incidents and emergencies



Fulfill in and out of hours duties as part of the regional EPRR duty rota to support emergency response



Deliver, tactical, and operational support to facilitate UKHSA's response to emergencies and incidents in an out of hours



Ensure there is robust, coordinated, secure and resilient communication within UKHSA and with partners and coordinate teams and arrangements to support the response



Lead the review and debriefing of UKHSA's response to incidents, to ensure lessons are identified, shared and lead to future improvements



Education, Training & Exercising



Design and deliver education and training to a range of internal UKHSA and external stakeholders, to improve knowledge, skills and experience in emergency planning, incident response, business continuity and related issues



Contribute to the assessment, design and exercising of response systems, ensuring that UKHSA is fully engaged with and involved in UK, regional and local multi-agency exercises



Contribute to the review of exercises to ensure lessons are learned, shared and improvements made for the future



Contribute to audit and research relating to EPRR responsibilities to capture, refine and disseminate learning



Engagement



Develop strong working relationships and communication with a wide range people and stakeholders, within and outside UKHSA, including:



UKHSA colleagues in London, other regions, the National Response Centre and other directorates



Stakeholders and partners including the NHS, Integrated Care Boards, Local Resilience Fora, Local Health Resilience Partnerships, Local Authorities, DHSC and other departments, and other responders under the Civil Contingencies Act



Represent the UKHSA at multi-agency meetings, such as Local Resilience Fora and Local Health Resilience Partnerships, to share information, contribute to risk assessments and strategy development, and facilitate cross-agency collaboration



Team working



Work flexibly and collaboratively as part of the London Region EPRR team to deliver expert, high-quality EPRR, business continuity and response function to support the London Region



Work with UKHSA and London EPRR colleagues, as part of an EPRR network, providing mutual aid across regions and teams where appropriate



Where appropriate, manage any Emergency Preparedness Officer(s) in the team



Carry out any other duties, reasonably required by your line manager



Personal And Professional Development



Participate in organisational and professional appraisal and revalidation, as required under UKHSA and professional policy



Take responsibility for your own CPD, including maintaining any statutory and mandatory training, developing your personal development plan and seeking opportunities to improve your knowledge, skills and experience with the support of your line manager



This is not an exhaustive list.



Essential Criteria



Degree, NVQ level 4 or equivalent level vocational expertise in an emergency planning discipline or significant experience of working at a similar level in an emergency planning role



Knowledge of emergency and resilience planning methodologies



Ability to work independently and as part of a team



Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with people from a wide variety of personal and professional backgrounds



Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required



Experience of creating and giving presentations to a varied group of internal and external stakeholders



Ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources



Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making



Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures



Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resources requirements accordingly



Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures



Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales



Experience of working as part of a multi-agency team



Selection Criteria



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

Stage 1:

Application & Sift



You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:



an application form ('Employer/ Activity history' section on the application)



a 1500 word supporting statement



This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.



Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible. Please do not email us your CV.



The Application form and supporting statement will be marked together.

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:



Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required



Ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources



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



Please do not exceed 1500 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.



Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2:

Interview



You will be invited to a remote interview.



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



You will be required to prepare a 5 - 10 minute presentation as part of the interview. The title of the presentation will be " Describe the approach to developing new, or reviewing existing arrangements, for responding to a scenario-specific incident, in which a piece of national guidance related to the scenario had been recently updated, to ensure that plans and personnel are robust to respond ".

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:

Seeing the Big Picture



Changing and Improving



Making Effective Decisions



Communicating and Influencing



Working Together



Working at Pace



Interviews will be held weeks commencing 17th & 24th November 2025 . 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 Canary Wharf.



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).



Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).



Eligibility Criteria



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



Security Clearance Level Requirement



Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.



Successful candidates will require Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) as a minimum with willingness and capability to work towards Security Check (SC) clearance.



You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years to obtain Security Check (SC) clearance. UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting at this higher level and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.