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Senior Public Health Strategist - 12 month fixed term contract

Sutton Council
Sutton
Hybrid Working
Fixed Term
12 months
Full Time
10
36
£58,461 - £67,575 (£69,984 unconsolidated maximum)
Per annum
32 days

23/04/2026, 23:55

June 2026

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Senior Public Health Strategist - 12 month fixed term contract

Are you passionate about improving health outcomes for the population and reducing inequalities? Do you have the vision and skills to help transform public services and realise a shift to prevention?

Sutton’s Public Health team is seeking to recruit a Senior Public Health Strategist on a 12 months’ fixed term basis.

Senior Public Health Strategists develop, manage and review projects/programmes that contribute to the delivery of the council’s objectives and priorities, in particular improving health outcomes and addressing health inequalities. 

They lead by example in modelling and embedding the council’s values and behaviours, working collaboratively with colleagues, partners and other stakeholders to help build a sustainable highly effective organisation and develop our reputation as a successful council delivering great value for its residents.

In this exciting role, you will work across teams to deliver tangible public health outputs and will do this in close liaison with the Head of Public Health and the Public Health Programme Manager. You'll work to ensure effective utilisation of Public Health skills and funding across the council to help embed public health principles and activities in key aspects of council activity. 

Exciting areas of work will include supporting the development of the Annual Public Health Report, which for 2026 is focussing on helping communities manage their blood pressure.

You’ll also play a key role in the Directorate’s Long Term Conditions & Prevention programme by providing public health expertise and understanding of clinical pathways (especially CVD) to shape credible public health interventions and guide the wider project team.

You will build strong relationships with relevant stakeholders to drive the public health priorities within other council services or partner organisations.

During this 12th month fixed term contract you will report to the Head of Public Health Integration.

Knowledge and Experience

Essential 

  • Experience (≥ 3 years) of working within an NHS, local authority or other relevant setting in a public health role. 
  • Experience of undertaking evaluations to effectively measure the outcome and benefit of public health interventions. 
  • Experience of using project management skills to take a piece of work through the project management cycle from a vision to an outcome. 
  • Proven experience of managing and planning budgetary expenditure and income.
  • Experience of working independently with limited supervision. 
  • Experience in managing internal and external stakeholders at senior levels and facilitating/leading meetings. 
  • Experience of using evidence and intelligence to identify, propose and implement service improvements and/or financial efficiencies.

Desirable

  • Clinical experience. 
  • Experience of change management and/or working with groups to facilitate buy-in and ownership.
  • Experience of strong relationship building and influencing with senior stakeholders.

Skills and Abilities

Essential 

  • Knowledge of best practice public health in local contexts.
  • Awareness of the political, economic, financial and organisational complexities of local government and the NHS. 
  • Understanding of the commissioning process, demonstrated by an ability to describe the complexities of the commissioning cycle and public health’s role within this 
  • Ability to quickly assimilate a wide range of information. 
  • Ability to undertake robust and accurate quantitative analysis, to analyse the results and to use the findings to develop coherent arguments and proposals. 
  • Ability to think independently and creatively. Able to argue for solutions on the basis of evidence and to scrutinise and challenge accepted ideas. 
  • Ability to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive, or contentious information, and manage difficult conversations with tact, diplomacy and political awareness. 
  • High standard of communication skills, demonstrated by the ability to present complex oral and written information, in a variety of formats to a variety of audiences. 
  • High standard of report writing skills, demonstrated by the ability to write and contribute to reports of varying length and complexity, for a variety of audiences, in a format where implications of the report are fully understood and inform strategic decision-making.
  • Ability to work in partnership with other organisations and develop trusting relationships, consolidating different perspectives, identifying areas of mutual interest and agreeing joint objectives. 
  • Excellent time management and prioritisation skills, demonstrated by the ability to use own initiative to manage a number of projects simultaneously, ensuring planning, organising and prioritising work load to meet project deadlines and deliver agreed objectives within budget. 
  • Ability to anticipate barriers to delivery and identify innovative ways for overcoming these. 
  • Ability to work in an uncertain and evolving environment. 
  • Strong IT skills. 
  • Commitment to excellent public services. 
  • A ‘can do’ attitude focused on solutions. 
  • Demonstrates honesty and integrity and promotes organisational values. 

Desirable

  • Knowledge of the public health system in London. 
  • Knowledge of the local government improvement agenda including Council performance management functions and improvement methodologies. 

Qualifications

Essential

  • High level qualification in Public Health or equivalent experience.

Desirable

  • Relevant project management qualification/accreditation.
  • Clinical qualification.

Personal Style and Behaviours

  • At all times respects confidentiality and the dignity of others.
  • Effective leader, change manager, organiser, influencer and networker, with excellent negotiation and persuasion skills.
  • Demonstrates a strong desire to improve performance and make a difference by focusing on goals.

About Us

Public Health is a busy and dynamic team. We work with partners from across the health and care system supporting the development of evidence-based services and providing analysis to improve health and reduce health inequalities.

Alongside this work we produce a range of strategic documents, (including the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) and the Annual Public Health report) and provide support and input to teams commissioning PH services, including NHS Health Checks and services to promote healthy lifestyles. 

The Public Health team is part of the wider Public Health and Wellbeing directorate which delivers:

  • Children’s Community Health Services: Health Visiting, School Nursing, Child Safeguarding Nurses, Early Intervention (Children’s Centres, Pre-Schools, Play Service)
  • Public Health Commissioned Services e.g. Substance Misuse, Sexual Health, NHS Health Checks Quality Assurance Health Service Commissioning 
  • Libraries, Culture & Leisure, Transport for Older People, Meals on Wheels, Sutton College, the Social Inclusion Centre and the Life Centre
  • Sutton Registration Service
  • Accountability for Voluntary and Community Services

To thrive in this role, you will be well organised, self-motivated and used to working in a complex and fast changing environment. 

For further information please contact: Clare Ridsdill-Smith, Head of Public Health Integration clare.ridsdill-smith@sutton.gov.uk 

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

  • A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-31 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade 
  • Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
  • Two volunteering days per year
  • Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role) 
  • Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
  • Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
  • Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
  • Interest free season ticket loans
  • Local Government Pension Scheme
  • Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
  • Zip car scheme
  • Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities. 
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. 

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.