About this role
Job summary
Director of Operations / Consultant in Public Health (Medicine)
Provide Community CICLocation: Colchester, Essex with hybrid working arrangementsContract: Full TimeSalary: Senior Management Grade 4 (£97,229 - £116,673 dependent on experience & scope of practice) plus benefits
Interview Date: 16 November 2026 at Provide HQ, Colchester
Main duties of the job
Shape the Future of Community Public Health Services
Provide Community is seeking an exceptional Consultant in Public Health or Consultant in Public Health Medicine to join our senior leadership team in a newly created role that combines operational leadership with strategic public health expertise.
This is a unique opportunity to influence the future of population health across Essex and beyond while working within one of the UK's leading employee-owned Community Interest Companies.
As Director of Operations/Consultant in Public Health, you will lead the operational delivery of a portfolio of public health services whilst providing strategic leadership on health inequalities, prevention and population health improvement across the wider Provide Group.
You will work alongside senior executives and system partners to improve outcomes for communities, reduce inequalities and develop innovative approaches to delivering high-quality, sustainable public health services.
About us
About Provide Community
Provide Community is an employee-owned Community Interest Company delivering health and social care services across East Anglia, Dorset and Northern England. Every surplus we generate is reinvested back into our services and communities, helping us expand our reach and improve the care we provide.
Our values of care, innovation and compassion underpin everything we do, and our ambition is to enrich lives and strengthen communities through high-quality, person-centred services.
Job description Job responsibilities
The role
Reporting professionally to the CEO of Provide Health/Group Chief Nurse, and operationally to the Chief Operating Officer for Provide Health, you will:
Lead and oversee the delivery of a diverse portfolio of public health services, ensuring quality, safety, sustainability and excellent outcomes. Drive improvements in health outcomes and reduce inequalities across the organisation and the communities we serve. Act as the organisation's subject matter expert on health inequalities and population health. Lead business development activity including service redesign, tender submissions, retention bids and acquisition opportunities. Develop strategic partnerships across integrated care systems, local authorities, NHS organisations and wider stakeholders. Support organisational resilience, emergency preparedness and health protection arrangements. Develop Provide Community as a recognised Public Health training location for the East of England. Provide senior operational leadership across a substantial service portfolio and budget. Deputise for the Chief Operating Officer when required. For medically qualified candidates, the role may also include acting as Responsible Officer for the organisation's medical workforce.
About you
You will be a registered Consultant in Public Health with a track record of delivering impact at senior level within complex health and care environments.
You will bring:
Registration on the GMC Specialist Register, GDC Specialist List or UK Public Health Register. Significant senior leadership and operational management experience. Expertise in population health, prevention and tackling health inequalities. Experience of leading change and transformation programmes across organisational boundaries. Strong commercial and business development skills. Experience managing large budgets and delivering services against quality and performance targets. Outstanding influencing and partnership skills, with the ability to work effectively across health, care and local government systems. A commitment to innovation, evidence-based practice and improving outcomes for communities. Why join us?
This role offers an opportunity rarely found in public health careers: the ability to combine strategic public health leadership with direct operational responsibility and organisational influence.
At Provide Community you will:
Help shape the future direction of a growing, innovative health and care organisation. Influence population health outcomes across multiple systems and communities. Work in an employee-owned organisation where profits are reinvested into services rather than shareholders. Join an ambitious leadership team committed to innovation, quality and social value. Receive support for continuing professional development and revalidation. Have the opportunity to contribute to the development of the next generation of public health professionals. Interested?
If you are an experienced public health leader who wants to combine operational delivery with strategic influence and make a lasting difference to communities, we would love to hear from you.
Join Provide Community and help us create healthier communities and better futures.
For an informal chat with the CEO Health (CPH) Professor Lucy Wightman or to find out more, please email [email protected].
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Delivery of successful change management programmes across organisational boundaries Experience of using complex information to explain public health issues to a range of audiences In depth understanding of the health and care system and ability to successfully influence outcomes both within and outside direct control In depth knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, quality improvement, evaluations and evidence based public health practice Strong and demonstrable understanding of interfaces between health, social care and key partners (dealing with wider determinants of health) Understanding of the public sector duty and the inequality duty and their application to public health practice
Desirable
Media experience demonstrating delivery of effective health behaviour or health promotion messages
Qualifications Essential
In line with legislation, inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice/GDC Specialist List or inclusion in the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists at the point of application. Public health specialty registrar applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register, UKPHR register or GDC Specialist List in dental public health must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry to a register at the date of interview MFPH by examination, by exemption or by assessment, or equivalent If an applicant is UK trained in Public Health, they must ALSO be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview. If an applicant is non-UK trained, they will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT
Desirable
Masters in Public Health or equivalent
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Provide CIC
Address Provide CIC
900 The Crescent, Colchester Business Park
Colchester
CO4 9YQ
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.provide.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)