Why Southwark?
Lead change. Improve lives. Shape healthier futures.
Are you ready to use your expertise to tackle health inequalities and drive system-wide change in one of London’s most ambitious and diverse boroughs?
Southwark has achieved substantial improvements in population health; however, significant challenges and inequalities remain. Addressing these requires bold leadership, innovation and systems thinking, with a strong focus on delivery.
Our Public Health division sits at the heart of an ambitious whole-systems transformation programme. Working across the Council, NHS, and wider partners, we influence the wider determinants of health and drive sustainable change at scale.
We serve a young and ethnically diverse population of around 314,000 residents. Our ambition is to improve population health, strengthen system resilience and reduce inequalities across Southwark.
We are recruiting two Assistant Director / Consultant in Public Health roles, each with a distinct portfolio. Both roles sit within our senior leadership team and work closely with the Director of Public Health to shape strategy and improve outcomes.
About the Roles:
1. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / CONSULTANT IN PUBLIC HEALTH/ CONSULTANT IN PUBLIC HEALTH MEDICINE
– Children & Young People and Sexual & Reproductive Health
You will lead work to improve outcomes for children, young people, and families and in sexual and reproductive health. This includes oversight of 0-19 health visiting and school nursing services, CYP mental health and wellbeing, CYP suicide prevention and child death reviews. You will drive prevention, early intervention and equitable access to high-quality services collaborating with the Council’s Children’s Services, NHS and VCS partners and provide leadership to the local and London Sexual and Reproductive Health and GUM systems.
2. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / CONSULTANT IN PUBLIC HEALTH/ CONSULTANT IN PUBLIC HEALTH MEDICINE
– Healthy Places, Food Systems & Public Health Workforce
You will lead on the wider determinants of health, including working across Council divisions on the built environment, housing, employment, and the local economy. You will have oversight of the healthy food systems including Southwark’s ambitious school meal transformation, the holiday food and activity programme and sustainable healthy food work. You will lead on public health workforce development and create public health capacity across the Southwark system.
Please note: Candidates will be asked to indicate their role preference during the application process.
What You'll Be Doing
You will lead the design and delivery of long-term public health strategies that improve population health and reduce inequalities. You will:
- Apply your skills in intelligence, surveillance and assessment of population health and wellbeing
- Evaluate the impact and effectiveness of health and care programmes and interventions
- Develop academic and research partnerships to support innovation and evidence-based practice
- Strengthen system-wide public health capability and improvement
You will also:
- Work across Southwark Council, the South East London ICB, and key partners
- Collaborate with NHS Trusts, UKHSA, OHID, GLA, DHSC, Metropolitan Police and the voluntary and community sector
- Provide expert advice on service improvement and system development
- Influence strategy and delivery across complex, multi-agency environments
What We're Looking For
We are seeking experienced public health leaders who can operate confidently at scale and across systems. You will bring:
- Specialist registration on the GMC Specialist Register, GDC Specialist List, or UK Public Health Register. Any public health speciality registrar applicants who are currently on the UK public health training programme and not yet on either the GMC, GDC or UKPHR specialist register must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry to a register at the date of interview. Applicants going through the portfolio registration routes (GMC or UKPHR) are not eligible to be shortlisted for interview until they are included on the register. The six-month rule does not apply to these portfolio route applicants.
- Strong resilience and the ability to manage competing priorities
- High-level analytical and intellectual capability
- Excellent influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills
- The ability to work across organisational boundaries without formal authority
- Effective communication skills and the ability to inspire others
- Cultural awareness, tact, and political sensitivity
- A clear commitment to reducing health inequalities
- Experience working within multidisciplinary senior teams
For full details of qualifications and requirements, please refer to the job description and person specification.
Contact Details:
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact the Director of Public Health, Sangeeta Leahy via email at Sangeeta.Leahy@southwark.gov.uk
Further Details:
- Pay scale: Grade 16, £86,652 – £108,462 per annum
- Working hours: 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday
- Contract type: Permanent
- Location: 160 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2QH
- Benefits: Includes a JNC benefits package to the value of £3,503 per annum. Full details available here: https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/
Additional Information
Application Requirements
To be considered for interview, you must upload a CV (including specialist registration details) and a cover letter of no more than two A4 pages, demonstrating how you meet the person specification requirements. Your application should clearly show how your knowledge, skills and experience meet the requirements of the role.
Recruitment Timeline:
- Advert close date: 11:59pm on Wednesday 17th June 2026
- Stakeholder panel: Tuesday 30th June 2026 via MS Teams
- Interview: Thursday 2nd July 2026 at 160 Tooley Street Council Offices
The interview process will include an interview panel, as well as a stakeholder panel. If you are successful in securing an interview, full details will be shared with you at that stage.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications have been received. We therefore strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible.
We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.
Guaranteed Interview Scheme:
As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you will need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:
- Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
- Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
- If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition
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