Programme Senior Officer (Communities)

GR5 £36,371 - £44,624

Full Time 36.50 hours per week

Fixed Term until  31^st March 2023

For existing employees this opportunity is being offered as a secondment, subject to eligibility criteria 

Birmingham City Council aims to improve the quality of life for the people of Birmingham today, tomorrow and always. Our vision and outcomes are to create a city that provides:

• An entrepreneurial city to work, learn and invest in.
• An aspirational city to grow up in
• A fulfilling city to age well in
• A great, clean and green city to live in.
• Birmingham residents gain the maximum benefit from hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games
• A city that takes a leading role in tackling climate change

The Public Health Function is an important contributor to this vision and outcomes, responsible for developing the Council into a ‘Public Health Engine’, which actively promotes population good health and enables all Birmingham citizens to make healthier choices.

This will be achieved through the continual championing of the health and wellbeing of all people across the city, but especially the most vulnerable.

The delivery of an effective intelligence-led approach based on a set of agreed principles will require significant cultural and structural change – where the citizen is at the heart of what we do, and every member of the Public Health workforce willingly and actively takes responsibility for their actions.

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our multi-disciplinary Public Health Division in a Public Health Programme Senior Officer role.

This is a rare opportunity for a highly skilled individual to join Public Health within the largest Local Authority in the country and lead work that contributes to Birmingham being a great city that enables people to live healthy and active lives.

The Public Health Division is engaged in a dynamic and diverse range of innovative work at a local, regional, national and international level.

This fixed term position will be covering for maternity leave within the Wider Determinants team.

This team leads on public health action to address the wider determinants of health such as: Communities (localism, community development); Place (built environment, licensing, physical activity and obesity); People (mental health, violence prevention, justice and health, health and wellbeing at work); and Inequalities (poverty, inclusion health).

The team is the key partnership bridge into the wider Local Authority, third sector, private sector and Birmingham’s communities.

This fixed term will be based within the Communities theme of the Wider Determinants Team of Public Health.

It will provide support to Communities colleagues in the development of evidence-based projects and approaches to reduce health inequalities for communities in Birmingham and project support to colleagues in the Communities theme, including monitoring of KPIs, placing orders, administering payments and monitoring expenditure, including the interrogation and reconciliation of financial and other systems.

Reporting to the Public Health Service Lead within Communities.

The post holder will work with the Council Collaboration Manager by playing a lead role in a team to support the work of the strategic Combined Authority and Future Council. The post holder’s activities will involve delivery and reporting on a range of key delegated Council functions. The post holder will be undertaking assurance and compliance duties as directed by the Manager. This role will undertake activities related to identified opportunities across the Council for Public Health to influence policy and strategy as well as support a variety of initiatives as required. The post holder will also play a lead role in building community partnerships and taking action to identify and solve wider health and social care issues. This role also focuses on a variety of activities that include delivery of behavioural change approaches, intelligence dissemination, innovation and evidence gathering of best practice. The post holder will carry out research into identifying new insights and develop innovative solutions to health and wellbeing problems. The post holder will, as directed by the Manager, work  in partnerships to test out new approaches in managing demand and reducing costs. In addition, the post holder will ensure that citizens and communities are actively engaged in shaping new approaches to address health problems. The post holder will work closely with commissioning colleagues across NHS and Council in helping identify best practice. The post holder will supervise staff and contribute to project teams as lead or member as appropriate.

Interviews for this post will take place virtually via video conferencing. Shortlisted candidates will be provided with further information.

Please upload a Supporting Statement via the attachments on to your application. This is required, you need to describe how your experience and skills fit the essential criteria for the role as specified in the Person Specification; please note that we do not accept CVs.

For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact:

Rhys Boyer within Public Health via email on rhys.boyer@birmingham.gov.uk or via mobile on 07470110637

Or Joseph Merriman, Programme Senior Officer within Public Health via email on joseph.merriman@birmingham.gov.uk or via mobile on 07718201197, or

Ricky Bhandal, Service Lead within Public Health Birmingham via email on Ricky.Bhandal@birmingham.gov.uk or via mobile on 07723018576

Ref: BCC190

Please note: CVs will not be considered.

When applying, you are strongly advised to pay particular attention to the person specification and job description.

We welcome applications from people with caring responsibilities, and flexible working options will be considered.

Closing date 07 August at 12.00 noon

Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed. Non-UK applicants (excluding Ireland) may need to apply for a visa from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and may require a Certificate of Sponsorship from Birmingham City Council for a skilled worker visa (if the job is eligible).

Job Description and Person Specification