• Details

Reference number

399794

Salary

£31,997 - £43,552

Per annum, Pro rata

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

Higher Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

COO - Commercial, Vaccines and Countermeasures Supply

Type of role

Administration / Corporate Support

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

2

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and London (Canary Wharf)

About the job

Job summary

The wider Directorate is pivotal to UKHSA’s mission, overseeing the comprehensive delivery of commercial, contract management, and business development functions. It manages a vast commercial portfolio, ensuring the agency has the resources to address health security threats. The directorate leads the procurement, storage, and distribution of vaccines and countermeasures for national immunisation and emergency response programmes. It fosters industry partnerships, drives strategic market engagement, and builds supply chain resilience. Additionally, the team is responsible for investment governance, dispute management, and building commercial capabilities. They also develop and execute strategies for income generation, leveraging UKHSA’s expertise and facilities to secure funding and commercial opportunities.
This role is part of the Vaccines Programmes & Operations department and reports into the Vaccine Programme Operations Lead.
This role supports the G7 lead, and SEO, in delivering on a set of immunisation programmes for VCD, taking action on the programme of work to contribute to continued supply of vaccine for those specific programmes. This role will support the procurement and supply activity necessary.

• Responsible for stock management and supply of vaccines for use in the NHS, across the UK, forecasting and ensuring risks are mitigated by timely actions.
• To assist, ensuring the supply & distribution of vaccines & other medicinal products to the NHS, across the UK and a number of private customers in liaison with various internal and external stakeholders.
• Supporting the development of business cases.
• Manage interface with ImmForm helpdesk to authorise day to day stock management, supply, ordering and supply policy issues.
• Manage NHS facing supply and policy queries (mailbox)
• Support activities with piloting expanded providers, taking the lead to coordinate and monitor their set up and activation.
• To support and feed into correspondence, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and briefing on vaccine supply.
• Manage the administration of a project/programme with Regular RAID reviews with key stakeholders, attending and recording notes. Maintain the Risk, Issues, Assumptions and Dependencies log.
• Support the Governance and Reporting of a project/programme with data gathering from stakeholders to enable reporting and decision making, using standard templates. Maintain the project/programme Actions and Decisions log. Maintain a central repository of current and historic documentation in relation to projects and programmes being supported.
• Support project and project/programme team by facilitating process sharing, meetings, note taking and governance.

Professional development

• Identify, discuss, and action own professional performance and training / development needs with your line manager through appraisal / individual development plan. Attending internal / external training events
• To participate in all mandatory training as required, i.e. fire safety, information governance and all other mandatory training.

Key working relationships

The post holder will develop working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal and external to UKHSA. This will include;

Internal
• Commercial team administration, for organisation of meetings and process on procurement of vaccines across programmes they support.
• ImmForm team (Technical and Business Services) administration and middle management relationships to ensure ImmForm delivery across programmes they support.
• DHSC finance administration to liaise on process for Investment Appraisals of business cases.
• NHSE Vaccine team administration and middle management relationships to co-ordinate supply with deployment for programs and to respond to queries.
External
• Vaccine supplier administration to assist co-ordination with companies producing vaccines relevant to their portfolio.

Person specification

Essential role criteria:
• Demonstrable experience of working in a pharmaceutical/supply chain environment or in a similar role where there is evidence of transferable skills.
• Ability to maintain comprehensive project documentation, including RAID and decision logs, supporting governance frameworks, and ensuring data-driven reporting to facilitate effective decision-making and process improvements.
• Ability to support with the preparation of business cases.
• Ability to quickly understand the core aspects of the vaccine programs that they are supporting, and how to best access the range of expertise needed across to maximise impact.
• Ability to demonstrate discretion.
• Ability to tackle problems and find ways to identify suitable solutions.
• Ability to work with limited supervision to tight and often changing timescales.

Desirable role criteria:
• Experience liaising with internal and external stakeholders to address supply and policy queries, including oversight of helpdesk interfaces and supporting the coordination and activation of expanded providers.
• Demonstrated ability to manage vaccine stock and distribution across all customers in the UK, ensuring accurate communication, risk mitigation, and timely actions to maintain consistent supply.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,997, UK Health Security Agency contributes £9,269 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 8 essential criteria and this will be in the form of a:

• Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• 1000 word Statement of Suitability.

There are 2 desirable criteria (which will only be assessed in the event of a strong field of candidates and as a second stage after all essential criteria have been considered),

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

Statement of Suitability and Application form will be scored together.

Longlisting:

In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

In order to be shortlisted you must meet all essential criteria.

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

• Demonstrable experience of working in a pharmaceutical/supply chain environment or in a similar role where there is evidence of transferable skills.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment

Please do not exceed 1000 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview (success profiles)

You will be invited to a remote interview.

Interviews will be held from the week 12/5/2025 please note these dates are subject to change.

Behaviours will be tested at interview.

The Behaviours and Experience tested during the interview stage.

The Behaviours will be:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decision
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Location

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ’s. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using 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 core HQ’s (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London) Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.

Reasonable Adjustments

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 it could be time accrued over that period.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Your application may be rejected and/or you may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence (AI), as your own.

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.

Careers website

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

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)
• 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

Further information on nationality requirements

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 .

Apply and further information

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

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Gareth Davies
• Email : gareth.davies2@ukhsa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : rosie.ogrady@ukhsa.gov.uk

Further information

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: Complaints@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: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk