Public Health Careers Weekly | Edition 006
Public Health Careers Weekly: Epidemiology, Sexual Health and Population Health Jobs
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Welcome to the online edition of Public Health Careers Weekly.
Every Friday, we publish carefully selected public health opportunities, sector updates and practical career advice to help you build your career in UK public health.
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🌟 Opportunity of the Week
Public Health Specialist
Kent County Council
£55,764 to £62,535
Maidstone | Permanent | Full-time
Closing: 31 August 2026
Kent County Council is recruiting two specialists across separate portfolios:
Sexual Health
Research, Evaluation, Intelligence and Strategic Development
The work includes needs assessments, research and evaluation, programme improvement, partnership working and translating evidence into action.
Why it matters: Applicants can indicate a preferred portfolio, making this particularly relevant to professionals from either health improvement or intelligence and evaluation backgrounds.
💼 Featured Opportunities
Public Health Officer
Kent County Council
£41,782 to £46,606
Fixed term until March 2027
Closing: 16 August 2026
Support a £16.8 million sexual health portfolio through needs assessments, research, data analysis and project delivery.
Why it matters: A strong opportunity for someone ready to apply public health knowledge to practical local-authority programmes.
Epidemiology and Information Scientist / Data Surveillance Scientist
UK Health Security Agency
£33,422 to £40,731
Liverpool, Preston or Manchester
Closing: 16 August 2026
UKHSA is recruiting across two roles involving surveillance, epidemiological intelligence, health data analysis and reporting.
Why it matters: This is a valuable opportunity for early-career analysts, epidemiologists and healthcare scientists seeking applied health-protection experience.
Public Health Programme Lead: Sexual Health
London Borough of Bromley
£50,867 to £54,584
Permanent
Closing: 24 August 2026
Lead sexual health prevention work, strategy development and partnerships to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
Why it matters: A good fit for experienced programme managers or health-improvement professionals ready to lead a defined public health portfolio.
Public Health Assistant
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
£25,760 to £27,476
Permanent
Closing: 23 August 2026
Support families with children aged zero to five through the Healthy Child Programme in community settings.
Important: The vacancy is restricted to employees of specified Kent and Medway NHS organisations.
Why it matters: For eligible applicants, this provides an accessible route into prevention, family health and community public health delivery.
📰 This Week in Public Health
Scotland updates its mpox guidance
Public Health Scotland published version 2.1 of its mpox guidance on 5 August. Changes include updated case definitions, contact-tracing arrangements, reporting processes and isolation guidance.
Why it matters: Health-protection professionals must be able to interpret changing guidance and translate it into consistent operational practice.
Scotland publishes new walk-in centre data
Nine GP walk-in centres had opened by the end of June, with 6,792 patient contacts recorded since the first centre opened in February. A national evaluation will examine effectiveness, appropriateness and cost.
Why it matters: New services create public health work in evaluation, access, health inequalities, patient pathways and service planning.
New Scottish cancer treatment data published
Public Health Scotland has released updated data on systemic anti-cancer therapy activity across NHS Scotland.
Why it matters: Routine service data helps analysts and planners understand demand, capacity and pressures within cancer services.
🎓 Learning Opportunity
Population Health Management
This free NHS e-learning course introduces the data and analytical approaches used to understand population health, including needs assessment, segmentation and data visualisation.
Why it matters: It is particularly useful for anyone interested in health intelligence, epidemiology, commissioning or population health roles.
💡 Career Insight
Needs assessment is a highly transferable public health skill
Three vacancies in this edition involve using evidence to understand population needs and shape services.
Relevant experience might come from a dissertation, service evaluation, evidence review, stakeholder consultation or analysis of population data.
Do not dismiss academic work automatically. Explain the process you followed, the conclusions you reached and how the findings could inform action.
✍️ Application Tip
Show the scale of your work
Instead of writing:
“I supported a public health project and worked with stakeholders.”
Write:
“I coordinated a six-month project involving four partner organisations, analysed service data and presented recommendations to the programme board.”
Where relevant, add context such as the population covered, number of partners, programme value, project length or number of people reached.
🗺️ PHCH Resource of the Week
Public Health Career Roadmaps
Public health vacancies can sit across councils, the NHS, government agencies, universities and charities.
The PHCH Career Roadmaps explain different specialisms, common job titles and the experience employers typically look for, helping you search beyond one familiar job title.
Public Health Careers Weekly is published every Friday to help you find relevant opportunities and make more informed career decisions.