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Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
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Architecture and Data
Geography
Information Technology
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About the job
Job summary
Job title Geospatial Officer
Profession– Geography
Directorate Analytics & Data Science
Full Time equivalent – 37.5 hours
No of Roles 1
Contract Type Permanent
Location – Home working
UKHSA offers hybrid working or home working for its employees this means that whilst the role will be based in one of our UKHSA offices, there will be opportunities for an element of working from home. The balance between home and workplace working is to be agreed with the line manager, determined primarily by business need and in line with departmental policy. Some business travel will be required to other UKHSA offices. Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available
Working Pattern Full Time / Part Time / Flexible Working / Hybrid Working
Grade & Salary Grade EO. National banding -£25,976 – £30,264 per annum. Inner London – £29,737- £34,453 per annum. Outer London -£27,722- £32,505 per annum.
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.
The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.
This role is to be appointed under Civil Service Terms & Conditions. Full details on the T&Cs are found https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/.
Closing Date 02/01/2024. 23:55pm. Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered
Interview Date W/C 15/01/2024 and 22/01/2024 Please note, these dates are subject to change.
Introduction
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) seeks a Geospatial Officer to join the Geospatial Team.
As the UKs new health security agency, the UKHSA is relentlessly focused on protecting the public from an ever-increasing range of dangers to our health. The impact of infectious diseases, our changing climate, biological threats and wider health risks have made us all more aware of how important it is to feel health secure.
This is an excellent opportunity to join a geospatial team that is leading on the development of a Geospatial Unified Approach and capability to strengthen public health security and health protection. Geospatial data and analytics are essential in enabling us to achieve our goals and you will have the opportunity to provide technical expertise to a range of interesting and high-profile geospatial engineering, visualisation and analytical projects.
Job Overview
UKHSA is responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases and other health threats. We provide intellectual, scientific, and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage, to make the nation’s health secure.
UKHSA is building on the legacy of the COVID-19 response to ensure the public health system is resilient and scalable to future threats to population health.
You will work in the UKHSA Geospatial Team to support geospatial capability to prevent, detect and respond to national and international health security threats. The Geospatial Team delivers expertise in enterprise geospatial platforms, data visualisation and analytics to strengthen geospatial capability across the organisation. This capability has played a significant role in our response to COVID-19.
The team is now expanding to capitalise on the opportunities and learnings from COVID-19 and to ensure we continue to develop and support an all-hazards geospatial approach.
The objectives of the Geospatial Team are to:
- Lead on development, implementation, and maintenance of a UKHSA Geospatial Unified Approach, working with internal and external stakeholders to develop standardised and impactful geospatial solutions
- Lead on the development, maintenance and application of centralised geospatial data, technology, and tools for surveillance, response and analytics
- Act as a centre of geospatial expertise to support the national and international application of geospatial resources for public health security surveillance and analytics
- Provide geospatial support to standard and enhanced incidents impacting on public health
- Develop the UKHSA Geography Profession and internal and external geospatial networks and communities of best practice
Job description
The role will sit in Data, Analytics and Surveillance, which has recently delivered some of the most impactful analysis in government during the COVID-19 response. This opportunity will expand the geospatial skills of the organisation and leverage pre-existing dataflows and insights.
You will provide administrative and junior operational support to geospatial programmes and projects, with an unparalleled opportunity develop your geospatial career in an exciting and aspirational team.
We are looking for a candidate to:
- Support administrative and operational tasks in support of geospatial projects for UKHSA, by demonstrating excellent team working
- Support tasks related to development of new UKHSA Geospatial Reference Data Model and SDI to support public health surveillance and response, commensurate with grade
- Support senior members of the team to deliver high quality geospatial analytical and visualisation outputs for surveillance and response
- Support senior members of the team to maintain UKHSA geospatial systems, infrastructure and critical services
- Successfully manage your time, working collaboratively and at pace to progress multiple competing tasks
- Excellent verbal communication and written skills
- Work collaboratively using a task-oriented approach
This post offers superb development opportunities and the chance to gain exposure across a broad range of policy areas.
Person specification
Essential skills:
- Experience of working with large geospatial datasets and GIS to draw sound conclusions relevant for policy, and expanding on the so what implications for decision-making
- Experience of supporting geospatial project delivery at pace, in one or more of the following areas:
- Geospatial data and platform engineering
- Geospatial product delivery
- Geospatial data science
- Experience of working collaboratively to deliver impactful geospatial outcomes
- Technical experience using one or more of Esri, QGIS, R/Python, RShiny, GitHub/Lab, JIRA and Confluence, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL/PostGIS technologies
Desirable Criteria
- Skilled in using enterprise geodatabases
- Experienced in delivering geospatial training
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality 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.
Benefits
£7,013 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 average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed and sifted in line with the essential criteria.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours & Experience
Stage 1: Application & Sift
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Statement of Suitability in no more than 750 words providing examples of how you meet the essential criteria. It should also detail what you and your experience can bring to the role. Please note, only information provided within the stated word count will be considered.
This part of the selection process should outline how you consider your skills, experience and achievements, and provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria outlined.
You will also be asked to provide information within the Employer/ Activity history section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history. This will be used in sifting process and will be scored.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview
Stage 2: Panel Interview
All candidates who are successful at the sift stage will be invited to a remote interview via Microsoft Teams. You will be expected to prepare a 10 minute presentation for the interview
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Developing Self & Others
- Managing a Quality Service
Reserve List:
Candidates who pass the interview criteria but are not offered a post will be kept on a reserve list for 12 months and may be contacted if similar roles become available.
If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.
DBS – People working with government systems must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which includes a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed for this role is BPSS however there may be a requirement for this role to be SC cleared and you should familiarise yourself with the criteria of security clearance.
This role is Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants. Appointments to roles within UKHSA will be made in accordance with the Civil Service nationality rules. These can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- Certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
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.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Government baseline personnel security standard
Its important to note that there are currently exceptions to applications being considered if your conviction relates to any of the following:
- life sentences
- arson
- sexual offences
- hate and terror offences
Some departments will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role
Complaint process:
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: Complaints1@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.
Contact Details Sophie.Rigney@reed.com
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : sophie rigney
- Email : sophie.rigney@reed.com
Recruitment team
- Email : hradmin@phe.gov.uk
