Public Health Engagement Officer

Team: Public Health Engagment

Job Family: Supporting- CBG7
Salary: £28,598- £31,022 per annum
Hours: 3 FTE permanent, 1 Fixed Term FTE (12 months). All posts full Time, 37 hours per week

Location: You will be expected to attend Central Bedfordshire, Bedford Borough or Milton Keynes offices and community locations as often as needed to carry out your role and join the Central Bedfordshire Council Public Health Team at the Priory House Office each Tuesday.

Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent x 3 posts / Hybrid - Fixed Term for 12 months x 1 post

Closing Date: 26th October 2025

Interview Date: W/C 10th November 2025

About the role

Central Bedfordshire Council has an exciting opportunity for an experienced and enthusiastic officer to work as part of the Choose You service (Quit smoking, lose weight and feel healthier - Choose You), on behalf of the Shared Public Health Service across Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes.

You will be part of a small team of Engagement Officers who will be responsible for building strong relationships with key partners and communities to ensure that the Choose You service is embedded in our local authority areas. You will act as the key contact for stakeholders and will develop an in-depth understanding of the accessibility of Choose You across our communities, including barriers and blockers to accessing support.

Working under the Public Health Training and Engagement Practitioner you will deliver outreach and engagement activity that will play a key role in connecting stakeholders – including residents, council teams and primary care - with Choose You; share and update information, promote health and wellbeing, reduce inequalities, and encourage access to the service. 

Through your understanding of the needs of our partners, you will manage and facilitate access to training to enhance capacity across the partnership to deliver the aims and objectives of the Choose You service.

This is an ideal opportunity for an individual who is passionate about public health, collaboration with key stakeholders, supporting healthy lifestyles and reducing health inequalities.

This role is a hybrid role, with requirements to attend Priory House weekly to enhance working relationships across the Choose You, and Shared Public Health Team across Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes. There will also be requirements for evening and weekend working as needed in line with engagement activity.

Responsibilities will include: 

• Developing strong relationships with key partners across the local authority areas
• Establish effective relationships with communities across the local authority areas, focusing on key areas facing greater health inequalities.
• Effectively manage daily workload and demonstrate efficient time management. 
• Proactively identifying opportunities for development through key relationships to improve the quality of the service. 
• Communicate effectively with the Training and Engagement Practitioner and SM team. 
• Provide accurate event reporting to inform and support all aspects of engagement development. 
• Collaborate effectively with the wider Choose You team, to provide consistent practice.
• Develop and agree objectives with Training and engagement Practitioner for ongoing development. 
• Ensure that Choose You and public health information is disseminated, adapted and updated systematically in collaboration with key stakeholders, including resident communities.

• Represent the wider public health team at relevant engagement events.

Qualifications and Experience 

We want to hear from you if you are passionate about improving outcomes, committed to enhancing service delivery and have:  

• A relevant degree or equivalent knowledge, with at least 2 years’ experience in public health or a related organisation.
• Demonstrable experience of effective relationship management
• Experience of working with a range of stakeholders, including service users, to support services and drive improved outcomes for residents 
• Experience in community engagement, outreach or similar within a health setting
• Previous experience leading and co-ordinating events
• Understanding of health inequalities and experience working with diverse populations, including ethnic minorities and individuals from deprived areas

Please note, this role requires travel; you must be able to drive, have access to a vehicle and hold a full valid driving licence with relevant insurance for business use.

Our Offer

We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.

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You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.

Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack.

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Lilli Peters at  lilli.peters@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 8309

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To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.

Our National Careers Service team offer a free monthly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours.   Please book your place here.

More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council