Public Health Principal - maternity cover

Our benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we're transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You'll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

Are you passionate about improving people's health and wellbeing? Are you looking for a new challenge?

We are seeking an experienced and motivated public health professional to join North Northamptonshire Council's friendly and forward-thinking Public Health team as a Public Health Principal. This is a full-time fixed-term maternity cover post (12 months).

This is an exciting opportunity to lead our high-profile Inclusion Health portfolio, encompassing public mental health, substance misuse, gambling-related harms and serious violence, while contributing to wider public health priorities across North Northamptonshire. Working within our dynamic, knowledgeable and supportive Public Health team, you will play a key role in reducing health inequalities, improving health outcomes and influencing population health across our communities.

We are looking for someone with broad public health expertise who can provide strategic leadership, system knowledge and technical advice across a range of public health priorities. We are particularly keen to hear from candidates with relevant public health experience who can quickly establish themselves in the role, provide leadership across the Inclusion Health portfolio, and ensure continuity across key work streams.

The closing date for this role is Sunday 6 September 2026
. Face-to-face interviews are currently expected to be held during the week commencing 21 September 2026
. Applicants are advised to keep this period available where possible.

As a Public Health Principal, you will be responsible for:

• Providing specialist public health knowledge across multiple areas of public health, including public mental health, substance misuse, gambling-related harms, and serious violence
• Contributing to the regular assessment and identification of health needs, and working with local communities to ensure the prevention/promotion agenda is at the forefront of key strategies and programmes
• Leading the development and delivery of public health strategies, programmes and projects, including service planning and budget management across the portfolio
• Using your influencing skills and working with all partners across the Integrated Care System (ICS) to develop initiatives and services in a way which aims to reduce health inequalities and improve the health and well-being of communities across North Northamptonshire
• Translating complex evidence, research and population health data into high-quality reports, presentations and practical recommendations for decision-makers
• Providing day-to-day management for members of the Public Health Team and leading them in the delivery of improvements across key public health outcomes. You will take an active role in training, workforce development and research.

Applicants will normally have professional specialist knowledge gained through a relevant degree and postgraduate qualification, such as a Master of Public Health (MPH) or relevant master's level study. Applicants with demonstrable equivalent experience who are currently working towards a postgraduate qualification in a public health related field will also be considered.

You will have:

• Substantial experience in public health practice, including a broad understanding of population health, health inequalities, health improvement and the wider determinants of health, together with experience of managing teams and leading large programmes of work
• Excellent…