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UK Health Security Agency

About

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will be responsible for planning, preventing and responding to external health threats, and providing intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage. UKHSA will ensure the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to deal with pandemics and future threats.

Contact

Address: 10 South Colonnade; London; E14 4PU

Find out more

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Closed

Ref: 919-JW-61181817-EXT Vacancy ID: 6322328

Business Continuity Manager

Closed for applications on: 10-Jul-2024 00:01

Vacancy status: Closed

Closed for applications on: 10-Jul-2024 00:01

Location

Site: London, Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
Town: London, Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
Postcode: E14 4PU
Major / Minor Region: London

Contract type & working pattern

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Part time
Job share
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week

Salary

Salary: £38,724 - £48,068 per annum, pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Grade: (Civil Service: Senior Executive Officer (SEO))

Specialty

Main area: Business Continuity

The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA’s remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s readiness, defences and health security
Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats and reduce inequalities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Establish, develop and maintain operational systems for effective working within BCT.
Establish, develop and improve team performance and operational reporting.
Manage the development and delivery of high-quality support and time bound coordination and administrative activity, working collaboratively and at pace across all areas of UKHSA.
Manage the development and maintenance of a document management system which aligns to best practice standards.
To plan the delivery of the business continuity planning cycle for each area/division of UKHSA, maintaining a log outlining areas who have business continuity plans in place, their date for renewal, and subsequent engagement activity to ensure plans remain in date, tested when appropriate, and opportunities for improvement are utilised.
Manage engagement and communication activity planning for areas of the Agency to support the understanding and delivery of business continuity planning, requirements and review timelines.
To ensure that business continuity activities in their area of responsibility are delivered in line with best practice such as the ISO22301 standard principles.
Manage the development of partnership with other areas, such as the training and exercises teams, to deliver joint programmes of work across UKHSA. For example, this could involve providing facilitation between the areas where appropriate to support the delivery of exercises to test business continuity plans.
To provide administrative management support for the Business Continuity Network, including organising meetings, secretariat, and general coordination activity
To provide specialist advice and guidance to areas across UKHSA, to support the completion of business continuity planning. Note a training pathway will be developed to upskill the successful candidate(s) if required and appropriate support provided.
Responsible for organising and controlling own workload, and the workload of the team, ensuring deadlines are observed and duties performed efficiently.
Line management of the Team (currently a HEO) noting as this is a new team, the team structure may evolve over time.

This is not an exhaustive list please see Job description document for full list of duties.

Essential criteria

You will be assessed on the below 9 essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description

Hold a recognised Business Continuity qualification (CBCI, ISO22301:2019, or similar) or membership (MBCI etc.) or evidence of working towards this.
Recent experience in the design, delivery, implementation, and management of business continuity capability at organisational level.
Proven experience of managing others in an operational leadership role including performance management, carrying out appraisals and development
Experience of managing and delivering a high-quality advisory service to many stakeholders
Experience of developing, planning and managing communication and engagement across all levels of an organisation (both verbally and in writing)
Able to demonstrate attention to detail and ability to critically evaluate information gathered across multiple sources
Demonstrable experience of managing the coordination of projects/work lines in complex and challenging environments
Delivering at pace, against an environment of changing priorities and working flexibly to meet the demands of the agency.
Good interpersonal skills with the ability to develop effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, collaborating across boundaries with the ability to influence and challenge effectively

Desirable criteria

Recent experience of emergency preparedness, resilience, and response (EPRR) in general, or a good working knowledge of multi-agency preparedness and response activities
Experience of writing or coordinating Business Continuity Plans and/or Impact Assessments within Government Organisations

Selection Process:

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

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

a CV
a 1,500 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 CV and Statement of Suitability will be marked separately, and you must pass both to move forward to interview

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

Hold a recognised Business Continuity qualification (CBCI, ISO22301:2019, or similar) or membership (MBCI etc.) or evidence of working towards this.
Recent experience in the design, delivery, implementation, and management of business continuity capability at organisational level.

Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & 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 (single) remote interview

Behaviours, experience, and strengths will be tested at interview.

You will be asked to do a 10 minute Presentation at interview, with instructions provided in advance.

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:-

Communicating and Influencing
Managing a Quality Service
Leadership
Working together

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Location information  

UKHSA operates 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 locations (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London). 

Eligibility Criteria

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

Security Clearance Level Requirement  

The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

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 welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.  

It’s 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.  

 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 

 Starting salary 

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.  

For further details please refer to the Information Sheet - Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment .

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Link below:

Artificial intelligence and recruitment | Civil Service Careers

This is a Non-Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules. To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.

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) (opens in a new window)
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

For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window)

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change (AfC), most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. For further details, please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment.

For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary.

For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment.  You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay policy. 

Given the nature of the work of the UKHSA, as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, you may be required in an emergency, if deemed a necessity, to redeploy to another role at short notice. You may also be required to work at any other location, within reasonable travelling distance of your permanent home address, in line with the provisions set out in your contract of employment.

Late Applications will unfortunately not be considered.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. 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:  [email protected] 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 here.

Reserve List - If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list.

The panel will assess if candidates meet the requirement of the role first, using a specific benchmark system. 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.

Interview expenses will not be reimbursed.

UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.

If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

Any move to UKHSA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

 Benefits of working at UKHSA include:

Generous annual leave:
-26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service
-28 days after 5 years of continuous service
-32 days after 10 years of continuous service
-Plus public holidays and one privilege day for the King’s birthday
Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving.
Access to a retail discounts and cashback site.
We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours). UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing.
We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.

Hybrid Working

UKHSA operates 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 usually spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted hours (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (approximately 3 days a week pro rata) and the rest of your time working from home.

Disability Confident Scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria at sift to ensure these candidates are invited to interview.   If you wish to be included in this scheme please tick the box on your application form.

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 take into account 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 could be time accrued over that period.

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.

Security Vetting

Please check the Security Clearance needed for the role and follow the link for more information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels

Future location

UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK.

The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.