Public Health Policy and Strategy Officer

Communities & Skills

Collaborative, open, inclusive and fair - we work with and through partners to ensure Londoners can shape healthy, empowered and productive lives. Communities and Skills is led by Executive Director, Tunde Olayinka and is comprised of the following units: Civil Society & Sport, Communities & Social Policy, Group Public Health Unit, Skills and Employment and Health, Children and Young Londoners.

About the team

London has the potential to become the world’s healthiest global city. The Mayor wants all Londoners to have the best opportunities to live a long life in good health. If we are to achieve this, we all need to play our part in tackling the causes of poor health, and we all need to commit to making London a healthier, fairer city, where nobody’s health suffers because of who they are, or where they live.

The GLA Group Public Health Unit is a shared service, established to ensure the GLA Group plays its part in keeping Londoners safe from threats to heath, preventing ill health, and reducing health inequalities. The Unit is hosted by the GLA and serves the Mayor, Assembly and GLA, TfL, MOPAC and VRU, LFC and OPDC. It works closely with the Health, Children and Young Londoners Unit to support the Mayor’s voice on health, underpinned by the Mayor’s statutory duty to develop a health inequalities strategy for London. The Units supports health in all policies and health resilience across the Mayor’s strategies, mandates and delivery plans for the capital.

About the role

We are looking for an outstanding public health policy and strategy officer to support a portfolio of work that improves the health and wellbeing of Londoners.

Your role will support the Public Health Consultants, each of whom will have their own portfolio of work with GLA group functional body stakeholders delivering the Group’s agreed priorities, including the GLA Group ‘Health in All Policies’ (HiAP) programme and relevant Mayoral commitments.

This post will be primarily focused on housing and planning related activity. Whilst experience in this area is an advantage, it is not a requirement. You will lead on drafting required documentation and briefings, developing, maintaining and ensuring delivery of project plans, planning and setting up meetings, liaising with a wide range of senior colleagues across partner organisations.

We are a small team and you will also work closely with the GLA Group Director of Public Health and the wider team to deliver the Mayor’s priorities this includes contributing to the health in all policies skills programme and health resilience work.

This role is based at London Fire Brigade’s Head Office (Union Street SE1 0LL).

What your day will look like

1. Support the implementation and embedding of the GLA Group Public Health function, including contributing to planning and project management of work.

1. Lead, contribute to and coordinate input from others to projects and briefings, on behalf of the public health team, as relevant to the Public Health Consultants’ portfolios. This could include identifying, monitoring, analysing and interpreting data and information from a wide range of sources under the managerial guidance of the consultant.

1. Be responsible for the scoping and development of other related public health projects identified in response to changes in Mayoral policy and ambition, GLA Group priorities, government policy direction, changes in the health and care system, public health needs or in other relevant areas of public policy.

1. Coordinate and contribute to various corporate processes, developing, maintaining and ensuring delivery of project plans as appropriate, planning and setting up meetings, liaising with a wide range of senior colleagues and, as part of a virtual team, working with partner organisations as required.

1. Realise the benefits of London’s diversity by promoting and enabling equality of opportunities and promoting the diverse needs and aspirations of London’s communities, particularly in the context of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on some of those communities.

Skills, knowledge and experience

To be considered for the role you must meet the following essential criteria:

• An understanding of the issues associated with working in a complex political environment and the ability to negotiate and broker consensus within an organisation.

• Understanding of the public health system and public health principles and practice is desirable, although applicants with strong transferable skills and experience will be considered.

• Substantial experience of co-ordinating work across a number of stakeholders working in a partnership environment, which could include public sector agencies, voluntary and community groups and the private sector.

• Good drafting skills, with the ability to produce or contribute to the production of concise, clear papers (in Word and PowerPoint format) for a range of meetings, committees and Boards.

• Experience of working in multiple-project programmes and ensuring they deliver results on target and within budget, with first-hand experience of negotiation and monitoring issues and risks and effective monitoring and evaluation processes/ systems.

• A qualification related to public health, or equivalent related experience, is desirable.
  
  

The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA Competency Framework

How to apply

If you would like to apply for the role you will need to submit the following:

• Up to date CV
• Personal statement with a maximum of 1500 words. Please ensure you address how you demonstrate the essential criteria outlined above in the advert.

Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement have a maximum file size of 1.5MB each and upload your Personal Statement to the ‘CV and Cover Letters’ section’ of the form, ensuring you address the technical requirements and competencies in your Personal Statement.

Word or PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement are saved with the job reference number as part of the naming convention (E.g., “CV – applicant name - 012345)

As part of GLA’s continuing commitment to be an inclusive and equal opportunity employer we will be removing personal identifiable information from CVs and Personal Statements that could cause discrimination.

If you have questions about the role

If you wish to hear more about the role, the hiring manager Janani Arulrajah Consultant in Public Health GLA Group Public Health Unit, will be holding information sessions on Thursday 4th Sept 3-3.45pm and Tuesday 9th Sept 12-12.45pm. Please contact Susan.Crisp@london.gov.uk to attend.

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, contact the glaopdcrecruitment@tfl.gov.uk who support the GLA with recruitment.

Assessment process

Once you have submitted an application, your details will be reviewed by a panel.

If shortlisted, you’ll be invited to an interview and assessment.

The interview and assessment dates will be in week commencing 13th October 2025.

A written test will be emailed to shortlisted candidates Monday 13th October in the morning for completion within one hour. Interviews will be later that week, in-person.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

London's diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London's diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share.

Please note we are a Disability Confident Employer so for candidates who wish to be considered under the scheme and meet the essential criteria, they will automatically be invited to interview. Please note, should you require any adjustments through the process, we will accommodate as much as possible. Please contact the recruitment team for further information if required.

Benefits

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. As part of this, you will need to split your time between home working and coming into the office.

In addition to a good salary package, you will be paid every four weeks, providing frequent salary payments. We also offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.

Additional Information

Please note, all candidates will need to confirm that the information provided in this application form is true and correct. Should a candidate deliberately give false information, including the use of AI software, they understand that this would disqualify them from consideration.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record (DBS) check but some roles may require additional security screening.

More Support

If you have a disability which makes submitting an online application form difficult, please contact resourcingteam@london.gov.uk.

The GLA is proud to be a Level 2: Disability Confident employer. We are committed to becoming a more inclusive and accessible organisation and creating a truly inclusive and accessible workplace and culture for our disabled staff. We have named Disability Equality as a key corporate priority within our EDI Strategy. We welcome and encourage applications from disabled applicants. Should you wish to opt into the scheme, please let us know during your application.