Do you thrive on bringing structure to complex challenges, coordinating across teams and stakeholders to turn high-level recommendations into real-world improvements?
Are you ready to play a key role in strengthening the nation’s outbreak preparedness by supporting APHA’s strategic response to nationally significant audits and inquiries?
If so, we would love to hear from you!
APHA is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions.
We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups.
We have an exciting opportunity for two Audit Response and Coordination Managers to join our new Audit Response and Coordination (ARC) team. As key members of the Contingency Planning Division, you will help coordinate APHA’s strategic response to nationally significant audits and inquiries, ensuring recommendations are embedded into governance frameworks and operational delivery. Working closely with internal colleagues, Defra, devolved administrations, and external partners, you will support delivery of recommendations from the National Audit Office (NAO), Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA), and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), turning audit findings into meaningful improvements for APHA’s outbreak response and business continuity planning.
The ARC team will play a central role in embedding audit recommendations across APHA’s contingency planning and outbreak response frameworks. As part of this small, focused team, you will contribute to stronger planning, clearer decision-making, and improved operational assurance, helping shape the Agency’s readiness to manage exotic disease outbreaks and other disruptive events in line with APHA’s Business Plan, and Delivering Sustainable Futures.
Engagement and Strategic Coordination
Working closely with the ARC Lead and associated SEO you will support coordination across internal departments, Defra, APHA, GIAA, and the NAO. You will be responsible for representing the ARC team at working groups, contribute to governance discussions, and assist in the preparation and communication of updates to senior stakeholders. You will support the development and delivery of a time bound programme plan to implement NAO recommendations, contribute to the audit implementation plan, and help track and progress agreed actions. You will also coordinate APHA’s engagement with Defra counterparts, support departmental coordination for the GIAA business continuity audit, and contribute to APHA’s response to the PAC inquiry, ensuring evidence, responses, and follow-up actions are provided timely.
Governance and Reporting
You will contribute to the preparation of regular briefings for the Executive Committee and the Outbreak Readiness Board. The role will involve supporting progress monitoring, maintaining oversight of audit actions, and assisting in clarifying ownership, deliverables, and timelines across workstreams. You will also ensure that documentation, risks, and decisions are clearly recorded and reported, providing a strong evidence base for progress and accountability.
Team Collaboration and Delivery
Working alongside the ARC Manager and associated SEO, you will help deliver a coordinated programme of work, ensuring consistency and alignment across audit-related activities. You will demonstrate a collaborative approach, support colleagues, and contribute towards a positive, high-performing team culture. You will build valuable relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, adapting communication styles and sharing information to support and embed continuous improvement. You will have responsibility for producing high-quality work within agreed deadlines, whilst managing competing priorities and responding flexibly to changing demands. You will help to maintain pace, accuracy, and momentum across multiple workstreams, by proactively identifying and resolving issues timely whilst effectively delivering outcomes.
The postholder is expected to be part of an out of hour’s rota. On some occasions, out of hours work may be required in the event of an incident, this may also require working unsocial hours (utilising overtime provisions). Travel will be required to attend training courses and meetings.
You may be expected to work on detached duty and out of hours in the event of disease outbreaks or emergencies.
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