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Immunisation and Vaccine-Preventable Disease Division 

The postholder will take a crucial role in epidemiological surveillance of respiratory viruses including having a key role in the development and implementation of a new hospital based acute respiratory infection sentinel surveillance (HARISS) system. The post is based in the Public Health Programmes Directorate of UKHSA, working in the Immunisation & Vaccine Preventable Diseases Division.  

Vaccines have been identified as a key strategic priority for UKHSA. The Immunisation and Vaccine-preventable Diseases Division (in the Public Health Programmes Directorate of the Clinical and Public Health Group) is responsible for the national surveillance of most vaccine preventable infections and in providing technical support and clinical expertise to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and to the NHS in planning and delivering the national immunisation programmes. These programmes provide millions of vaccines per year, across the whole life course, and are delivered in a range of NHS settings. The division also provides secretariat to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation who recommend any changes to the national immunisation programme and publish 'Immunisation Against Infectious Disease' - the single authoritative source of immunisation advice for health professionals.

The division evaluates the national programme by generating high quality data on disease incidence, vaccine coverage, age-specific immunity, vaccine efficacy and safety and analysis of vaccine policy options (with the statistics and modelling divisions). Surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases and vaccine coverage data are vital components of the evaluation of vaccination programmes in the UK. These data inform the understanding of the epidemiology of different infections and the public health impact of vaccination programmes and help develop and improve control strategies.

The post holder will be part of a dynamic national team responsible for delivering the development, management and coordination of enhanced surveillance systems of vaccine preventable diseases. You will take a lead role in the continued development and implementation of the hospital based acute respiratory infection sentinel surveillance (HARISS) system which monitors RSV and other ARI disease admissions in older adults. Other aspects of the role will include cross cover of other surveillance systems in the immunisation department such as sero-surveillance. You will work closely with other members of the respiratory virus team, and work under the support and management of a senior epidemiologist and the consultant epidemiologist.

The hospital based acute respiratory infection sentinel surveillance (HARISS) system was developed in 2023/4 within UKHSA with NHS and University partners, with plans to expand the surveillance system network in 2024/5. The surveillance system monitors RSV and other ARI disease admissions in older adults. It aims to strengthen understanding of the burden of RSV, influenza and COVID-19 associated illness requiring hospital admission in older adults and is a platform for estimating he effectiveness of vaccines in preventing hospital admissions and severe outcomes. It also provides a source of sample material from hospitalised patients for virological characterisation of influenza, COVID-19 and RSV.

HARISS is closely linked to the UKHSA Respiratory DataMart System (RDMS), a sentinel network of NHS and public health laboratories which provides case-level virological surveillance. The post holder will work closely with, and cross cover as required, the RDMS scientist. 

Contribute to the development of enhanced surveillance systems and research studies of respiratory diseases, including coronavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. This post requires an individual with an understanding of respiratory disease epidemiology and surveillance, preferably in a UK context.

Specific responsibilities: 

• Take a lead role in the continued development and implementation of the hospital based acute respiratory infection sentinel surveillance (HARISS) system.
• Liaise with clinicians, surveillance/research nurses and laboratory teams within NHS Trusts in the HARISS surveillance network.
• Work closely with informatics teams at UKHSA and at HARISS contributing laboratories.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders and partners.
• Actively engage in meetings with internal and external colleagues.
• Planning, managing and delivering on a range of projects requiring potentially complex analytic input, including negotiating and agreeing the most appropriate data output, initiating and planning workloads and setting delivery timescales.
• Identify potential problems and seek to resolve.
• Support the national surveillance of respiratory viral infections, including RSV. The post holder will be expected to support and cross cover other disease specific areas, depending on need.
• Analyse and interpret complex data and undertake statistical analyses.
• Use common statistical/database tools such as R, SQL, Access and Stata in routine reports, surveillance activities and the development of solutions.
• Undertake complex analytical and programming tasks using common and specialist software packages to support data extractions, analysis and validation.
• Contribute to regular routine reports and peer reviewed publications on the surveillance and epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases.
• Supporting the analytical work of other members of the Immunisation Division.
• Use and develop database queries and spreadsheets to undertake complex analysis.
• Check for data anomalies prior to and during analyses, considering corrective action or bringing to the attention of principle analysts as required.
• Carry out quality assurance of data prepared by others. Take a lead in developing and promoting quality assurance procedures.
• Liaising where necessary with colleagues concerning issues of data quality and effect on analysis. 
• Communicate analytical/statistical matters to non-analytical/statistical professionals.
• Have expertise in presenting findings of your own analyses to internal and external colleagues.
• Attending local and national meetings with key stakeholders including health intelligence analysts, health improvement and protection colleagues, and partner organisations for UKHSA.
• Actively supporting and participating in networks for public health intelligence specialists.
• Ensuring personal (and promoting team) compliance with corporate policies in relation to security, confidentiality and release of information.

Other responsibilities

• The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by the Directorate.
• The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation.

Essential Criteria:

• First degree in a science subject or equivalent experience in the subject matter
• MSc or PhD in epidemiology, public health or allied discipline
• Postgraduate experience in epidemiology, public health or allied discipline, including a sound knowledge of the principles and practices of disease surveillance
• Relevant experience of information and data management including complex and/or sensitive health data analyses with understanding of information governance and data security issues in relation to data collection, storage, sharing and research, and proficiency in relevant software or languages.
• Knowledge / experience in performing analytical epidemiology and descriptive epidemiology, including proficiency in statistical and graphical packages (e.g. R)
• Experience of interpreting and evaluating epidemiological data and identifying needs or gaps in knowledge
• Experience of collaborating with other organisations and working with multiple stakeholders.
• Able to build and maintain effective working relationships with people in partner organisations
• Able to convey surveillance and scientific information clearly and concisely in writing and orally
• Experience of successfully managing projects
• Able to prioritise competing demands
• Able to work independently and as part of a team
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of preparing written reports and scientific publishing

• 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%

Job contact :

• Name : Lisa Tweedie
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]