Job Description

Details

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Reference number

398078
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Salary

40,661 - 50,472
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
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Job grade

Senior Executive Officer###

Contract type

Permanent###

Type of role

Logistics

Science###

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time###

Number of jobs available

3

Contents

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Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information

Location

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Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London

About the job

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Job summary

The Vaccine and Immunisation Programme Team in Vaccines & Countermeasures Delivery plays a critical role in delivering UKHSA's mission to protect and improve public health. This team oversees the supply and delivery of a comprehensive portfolio of life-saving vaccines and immunisation products across the UK, spanning children's, adults', and seasonal programmes. Drawing on expertise from diverse disciplines, the team ensures the seamless operational execution and optimal supply of regulated pharmaceutical products while adhering to Good Distribution Practice best practices and maintaining the resilience of these essential public health initiatives.


By coordinating and supporting the relevant internal and external workstreams across the UK, the team ensures all nations (where appropriate) are effectively represented and operationally prepared. This includes ensuring supply reaches the right place, at the right time, and in the right volumes, while supporting the mobilisation of those supplies into impactful delivery campaigns. Through extensive collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, suppliers, clinical experts, and data analysts, the team drives continual improvement, fosters knowledge-sharing, and ensures better patient outcomes--all while delivering value for taxpayers.

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Working for your organisation

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

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Job description

We support and provide insights where requested to track and demonstrate performance on both ourselves, our suppliers and nations, striving to be transparent and receptive to feedback and improvements. Employing operational management and our project delivery expertise, the team proactively mitigates supply chain challenges, ensuring stability in dynamic and complex environments. By partnering with suppliers, devolved nations, and enabling functions such as storage and distribution, commercial and finance teams, the team addresses risks, manages contracts effectively, seeks out strategic and operational opportunities and controls unforeseen spending. This collaborative approach maximises value, enhances performance, and explores new opportunities for strategic and, where appropriate, delivery and operational improvements.


The team also leads on the development of business cases for vaccine procurements, integrating insights from clinical experts, finance and commercial partners, operational teams, and data analysts. This ensures evidence-based, strategically aligned proposals that meet public health objectives while adhering to operational and financial feasibility.


As senior leads for UK supply, the team ensures value for money and operational efficiencies are achieved. We maintain critical connections to governance boards and forums at both UK and devolved nation levels, providing regular updates on supply status and escalating risks or decisions through appropriate channels and governance processes.


Our team is built on a culture of engagement, collaboration, and high performance. As credible and respected leaders, we remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard public health, maintain supply chain integrity, and deliver world-class vaccine and immunisation programmes for the UK.


This role is part of the Vaccines Programmes & Operations department and reports into V&I Programme Lead. This role supports the G7 lead in delivering on a set of immunisation programmes for VCD, taking action on the programme of work to contribute to continued supply of vaccine for those specific programmes. They will support the procurement and supply activity necessary.


The main duties will be:

Responsible for the management of centrally procured vaccines within UKHSA control to ensure compliance with business requirements and policies including distribution to the NHS and other providers. Drawing on enabling functions as needed. Management of stockpiles and inbound supply, identifying risks and developing mitigation strategies to avoid both shortages and wastage. This includes feeding into future requirement models to support strategy development and business cases, drawing on enabling functions as needed. Work with the Devolved Administrations to ensure that UK wide supply is maintained where appropriate. To prepare and manage product information and access through ImmForm, to ensure vaccines are available and appropriately controlled and managed. Develop and deliver cost saving approaches to vaccine supplied to the NHS, working with NHS England and Devolved Nations to drive efficiencies and deliver improvements. Resolving supply issues/customer service queries. Helping to develop relevant business cases for approval, coordinating the production of the Economic, Commercial and Financial Cases, and when necessary, liaising with DHSC Investment Appraisals for review and final DHSC Finance sign off. Supporting correspondence, briefings, and other materials on operational and supply issues in addition to keeping senior officials and ministers informed and updated on issues as necessary. Workstream support for wider Programme Governance. Operational Procurement meetings secretariat, briefing and correspondence. Controls: Implement and maintaining systems to enable effective planning and scheduling for the project. Produce project status reports, performance data and research new information. Managing and monitoring compliance of the project in line with UKHSA guidelines and legislation, including Health & Safety, Equality & Diversity, Security. Delivery: Undertaking concise packages of delivery work. Building and maintaining strong professional relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to enable this. Governance: Maintaining the project risk and issues log, working with risk managers to resolve issues and escalating where appropriate. Drafting and signing off correspondence.

Please see the job description for the full list of duties and responsibilities.

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Person specification

Essential Criteria

Educated to degree level in a scientific, clinical, economic, numerate discipline, or equivalent subject, or with equivalent relevant experience. Experience of working with internal and external stakeholders to ensure smooth running of programme operations Demonstrable experience of working in a pharmaceutical/supply chain environment or in a similar role where there is evidence of transferable skills. Ability to maintain comprehensive project documentation, including RAID and decision logs, supporting governance frameworks, and ensuring data-driven reporting to facilitate effective decision-making and process improvements. Ability to lead on the preparation of business cases. Ability to quickly understand the core aspects of the vaccine programs that they are supporting, and how to best access the range of expertise needed across to maximise impact. Ability to demonstrate discretion. Ability to tackle problems and find ways to identify suitable solutions. Ability to work with limited supervision to tight and often changing timescales. An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships.

Desirable Criteria:

Experience liaising with internal and external stakeholders to address supply and policy queries, including oversight of helpdesk interfaces and supporting the coordination and activation of expanded providers. Demonstrated ability to manage vaccine stock and distribution across the NHS and private customers in the UK, ensuring accurate communication, risk mitigation, and timely actions to maintain consistent supply.

Benefits

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Alongside your salary of 40,661, UK Health Security Agency contributes 11,779 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

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Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and experience.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 9 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:

Application form ('Employer/ Activity history' section on the application) 1000 word Statement of Suitability.

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


The Application form and Statement of Suitability 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

Please note that only those meeting all essential criteria will be moved through to shortlisting.


Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on:

Demonstrable experience of working in a pharmaceutical/supply chain environment Experience in collaborating with stakeholders to support future demand modelling and cost-saving initiatives while minimising wastage and shortages.

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


Please do not exceed 1000 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.


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.


Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

You will be invited to a remote interview.


Behaviours and experience will be tested at interview.


The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:

Seeing the Big Picture Making Effective Decisions Changing and Improving Managing a Quality Service Delivering at Pace

Eligibility Criteria

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

Location

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ's in either Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool or London. 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 core HQ's.


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)

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.


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

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone. To help you during the recruitment process, we will consider any reasonable adjustments that could help you. An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.


You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

International Police check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Your application may be rejected and/or you may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence (AI), as your own.

Internal Fraud check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant's personal details - name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.

Careers website

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers



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) 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
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Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .
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.###

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

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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

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Job contact :

Name : Jon Payne Email : jonathan.payne@ukhsa.gov.uk
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Recruitment team

Email : jonathan.payne@ukhsa.gov.uk ###

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints@ukhsa.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk