Consultant in Public Health in Kingston upon Thames

We are a great borough to live, work, study and visit with rich cultural and creative heritage, strong supportive communities and services that help people who need them most. The communities of the Borough are for the most part strong, healthy and prosperous. That said, there are people who rely on the Council and other public services more than others and, in a Borough where the general standard of living is high, the gap between those with the ability to live independently and those that can’t is larger than it would be elsewhere.

Kingston is a diverse Borough, not just because of this range of needs, but because it is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds. Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK. Found in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its Residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix of modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.

We are passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

About the Role and our Ideal Candidate

You must have a GMC, GDC, or UKPHR Public Health specialist registration, or if currently on specialist training be eligible for registration within six months of interview. Please do not apply if you do not meet this basic criteria. You will be expected to have the skills and experience to lead across the full spectrum of public health and hold a work plan with specific lead areas of responsibility.

We are particularly looking for someone who has strong experience, knowledge and skills in:

• System-wide partnership working
• Leading impactful programmes to address health inequity
• Delivering community-centred approaches to public health
• Creating healthy places
• Maximising health intelligence and research to improve health and wellbeing

You will have experience of senior leadership within public health, and the ability to manage a budget and a team of staff. You will be able to demonstrate experience of delivering strategic public health priorities at the organisational and system level and have experience of working in a political environment.

About Us

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Kingston Public Health Department as a Consultant in Public Health. You will work with the Director of Public Health and other consultant colleagues/heads of service to improve the health and wellbeing of the residents of Kingston upon Thames. You will take responsibility for many of the strategic objectives of the local authority and will act as a change agent to enable delivery of strategic priorities across public health. You will be expected to work with partners across organisations and advocate for change effectively.

You will hold direct managerial and budgetary responsibility for several public health services and programmes, and will also have numerous strategic responsibilities across the council and other agencies. It is proposed that this post holder will lead the team’s work on healthy places and communities, neighbourhood health, health equity, research and intelligence. Please note that specific portfolio areas are subject to change, with an expectation that the post holder will cover other public health areas as required.

Our Offer To You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.

However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.

Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

Important Information - Political Restrictions

This post has been deemed as politically restricted / sensitive and therefore applicants will be required to declare any interests that may be deemed political as part of their application.