About this role
Job summary
The Deputy Director role provide strategic leadership and direction across substantial areas of UKHSA business. The postholder will be accountable for delivering cross-cutting objectives, influencing senior stakeholders (including Ministers), and ensuring policy and operational delivery meets Government priorities. The Deputy Director operates in ambiguous and politically sensitive environments, providing authoritative advice, taking decisions with significant implications for public expenditure, policy direction, or UKHSA reputation. The Deputy Director defines the vision for analysis across a whole division. They shape analytical strategy, influence policy at ministerial level and across UKHSA, champion professional standards, and ensure the analytical workforce is capable, impactful, and aligned to government priorities.
For full details, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.
Main duties of the job
Key responsibilities will include:o Providing strategic and functional leadership across the division and directorate.
o Setting the vision, priorities, and culture for excellence.
o Ensuring work underpins agency objectives and priorities.
o Potentially overseeing a civil service profession as UKHSA Head of Profession.
o Representing UKHSA in cross-government meetings and boards.
o Ensuring compliance with government standards for analysis and assessment (where applicable).
o Securing resources, capability, and professional development opportunities.
o Providing senior assurance and accountability for advice to senior officials.
o Provide strategic leadership for analytical standards, methods, and inequalities, ensuring UKHSA's analysis is robust, consistent, and equity-focused.
o Oversee methodological consultancy and expert advisory functions, ensuring high-quality analytical support across AIA and the wider agency.
o Lead analytical governance and quality assurance, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, the Code of Practice for Statistics, and cross-government standards.
o Act as UKHSA's Head of Profession for Government Statistics Service
o Strengthen analytical capability across UKHSA, overseeing tools, training, and professional development programmes that raise analytical quality.
For full details, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.
About us
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.
UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.
Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers
Job description Job responsibilities
Essential Criteria
Bachelors degree with significant analytical content (e.g., statistics, data science, epidemiology, or similar), or at least 6 years of relevant experience in a comparable analytical or health-related field.
Proven experience in strategic leadership across large, complex organisations.
Experience shaping analytical or professional strategies.
Ability to set vision and priorities, aligning work to organisational objectives.
Track record of building high-performing, inclusive teams and fostering a positive culture.
Strong influencing and negotiation skills at senior levels.
Experience representing an organisation at internal and external senior meetings.
Demonstrated ability to manage resources and capability at scale.
Ability to provide authoritative advice in politically sensitive or ambiguous environments.
Proven ability to set and uphold professional analytical standards across large organisations.
Expertise in analytical quality assurance frameworks and compliance with statistical regulations.
Experience driving methodological innovation and reproducibility in analytical outputs.
Ability to lead capability-building initiatives for analytical staff.
Expertise in health inequalities analysis and evidence-based policy development.
Be a badged Government Statistical Group in good standing.
Desirable CriteriaAdditional knowledge of the following is preferable but not mandatory: Masters degree or PhD in an analytical or health-related discipline (e.g., biostatistics, public health, health economics).
Knowledge of public health or analytical professions within government.
Excellent understanding of government standards, governance, and compliance requirements. Evidence of driving innovation and continuous improvement at organisational level.
Familiarity with reproducible analytical pipelines (RAP).
Experience fostering collaboration with academia and external partners.
Knowledge of literature review methodologies and their application in modelling.
This role will influence the following key stakeholders:
Internal
Director of Digital and Data CEO (where appropriate) UKHSA Heads of Functions (e.g. in Chief Operating Officer, Chief Medical Adviser and Chief Scientific Officer Groups) Chief Data Office Directors and Deputy Director peers
External
Government departments and organisations e.g. Government Digital Service, Office of National Statistics Academic leaders and research bodies Devolved Administrations, Departments and Organisations. International bodies and Government Private sector leaders
For full details, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.
ExternalOpen to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
Stage 1: Application & Sift
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of an Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application) a 1000 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 Application Form and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.
Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible.
Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist against the essential criterion of: Bachelors degree with significant analytical content (e.g., statistics, data science, epidemiology, or similar), or at least 6 years of relevant experience in a comparable analytical or health-related field.Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & 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 (single) face to face interview (in exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview).
Behaviours, technical and experience will be tested at interview.
There will be a 5-minute presentation, based on Technical and Experience, the topic of which will be confirmed prior to the interview. Slides will be permitted.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be Leadership Managing a quality service Making effective decisions Communicating and influencing
Interviews are currently planned to be held end of June 2026 TBC. Please note, these dates are subject to change.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
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 Security Clearance.
For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires Security Check (SC).
UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
This role is being offered as hybrid working based at our Core HQ at 10 South Colonnade, London. 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). 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).
Relocation expenses are not available.
If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Application Form & Statement of Suitability
Behaviours Essential
Leadership Managing a quality service Making effective decisions Communicating and influencing
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 UK Health Security Agency
Address 10 South Colonnade
London
E14 4PU
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency (Opens in a new tab)