Policy & Community Engagement Officer (Public Health)

FTE: 1.0 FTE (Working 37 hours a week)

Duration of Contract: Fixed Term – until 31 March 2028

Salary: UH6 £33,002 pa to £38,784 pa by annual increments on achieving designated skills and experience

Annual Leave: 25 days plus standard public holidays and an additional 4 days including the closure of our office between Christmas and New Year

Main duties and responsibilities

Building on our strong existing partnerships, you will proactively develop networks of key partners in local, regional and national health services, government agencies, councils, charities, etc. You will help to grow and maintain strong relationships in order to identify future opportunities for collaboration, developing a good understanding of partners’ needs in relation to research expertise and input.

In collaboration with teams across the University, you will plan and co-ordinate a range of activities to create and maintain networks and develop opportunities for collaboration, organising and administering stakeholder events, meetings, workshops and other engagement activities, both in person and online.

You will create and disseminate diverse materials that take our excellent research out to those it is relevant to. This may mean creating reports, briefing papers, and other materials suitable for varied audiences, along with helping to maintain our internal and external web pages.

You will maintain and update a database of relevant areas of public health research, working with other members to the Impact Team to ensure this informs our other activities, for example preparation of case studies for the next Research Excellence Framework.

Skills and experience required

We are looking for a candidate who has previous experience of working within a Higher Education Institution, research funder, NHS organisation, charity, or similar organisation OR experience of working within the Public Health sector, and who has experience of stakeholder engagement or convening networks.

You will have the ability to network, build and maintain internal and external relationships, and interact with internal academic and professional staff, public health organisations, public sector institutions, policy makers and community members. A knowledge of current issues in public health is essential for this role, along with excellent interpersonal and presentation skills in spoken and written English, and the ability to draft policy briefings and other similar communications.

Qualifications required

You will be educated with a minimum of a Degree or equivalent, or substantial proven professional work experience in a relevant area to the role.

Please view the job description and person specification for a full list of the duties and essential criteria. Please attach a personal statement showing clearly how your skills and experience match the Person Specification.

Internal applicants – please ensure you apply via your employee self-service portal.

We regret that we are unable to offer UKVI sponsorship for this post; applicants will either hold UK Right to Work or demonstrate access to UK Right to Work before an offer is made.

Contact Details/Informal Enquiries: Dr Peter Gooden, Director of Research and Enterprise Services p.gooden@herts.ac.uk

Closing Date: 31 March 2026

Interview Date: Week commencing 27 April 2026

£33,002 to £38,784 pa by annual increments on achieving designated skills and experience. UH6

Back to blog
Ads

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...