Description

Public Health, Somerset Council, Taunton, TA1 4DY

Consultant in Public Health (2) 

1 FTE / 37 hours per week

Salary: AfC 8d plus 5% uplift for out of hours/on call

Following the appointment of a new substantive Director of Public Health (Alison Bell) in July, the Somerset Public Health are looking to strengthen their senior management team.

Alison is keen to recruit two full time Consultants in Public Health to be a part of our friendly, experienced public health team, within a Unitary Council which was established in 2023. Public Health is embedded within the local authority and will be instrumental in the transformation that the council is about to begin. This is a great opportunity to improve the population’s health and tackle the health and social inequalities that exist across the county. 

One individual will be recruited to lead the Health Improvement portfolio and the other individual will be recruited to lead the Health Inclusion portfolio. The interview will be against a generic FPH approved job description; if you have a preference for either portfolio it would be good to express this prior to interview; where possible this will be accommodated

You will need to be a confident, politically skilled and highly credible technically sound professional who is flexible and used to working in partnership across organisation boundaries and have experience in commissioning of services.  

Applicants must meet the following criteria for this role (essential):

• Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List/UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists
• If included in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List in a specialty other than public health medicine/dental public health, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health medicine practice
• Public health specialist registrar and specialist trainee applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List in dental public health/UKPHR must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview; all other applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the GMC/GDC/UKPHR specialist registers

Somerset Council covers a large geographical county with urban centres and market towns as well as vast rural areas; it is the second largest Unitary authority by population and the third largest by geography.  This represents unique challenges and opportunities.

The post is a hybrid position and office time will be expected on a weekly basis, as well as a number of meetings which are held face to face. The post will also require the successful candidate to be part of the out of hours rota and have independent means of travel. 

Interviews will be held in person at the Council offices in Taunton, Somerset.

Closing date: Friday 24 October 2025

Interviews: Friday 14 November 2025

For an informal discussion about these roles, please email Alison Bell (Director of Public Health) at [email protected] with your details and someone will contact you.