Job Title: Consultant in Infection
Agency: UK Health Security Agency
Location: Salisbury, United Kingdom
Salary/Rate: 94,356 to 150,569 £ / Year

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Job summary

The Rare & Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) provides frontline clinical specialist diagnostics and advice for rare, imported or hazardous infections. The RIPL clinical/science team has 19 staff (16 whole time equivalent) including medical consultants, a clinical scientist, senior scientists, and registrars/clinical fellows. Operational management and dedicated diagnostic development support are provided by associated units on the Porton site. A key programme is the national Imported Fever Service, a joint venture between RIPL and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (part of UCLH) and the Royal Liverpool Hospital’s Tropical and Infectious Disease Unit. RIPL is also the National Laboratory for Lyme disease and provides a specialist clinical advice service.

RIPL provides a reference diagnostic services for a wide range of zoonotic, imported, and dangerous pathogens including viral haemorrhagic fevers, the arbovirus group, hantaviruses, rickettsia and coxiella, anthrax, leptospirosis, tularaemia and other biothreat agents.

RIPL team members are highly research-active and work closely with wider research teams across UKHSA, including on biosafety and containment, diagnostics, vaccine and therapeutic development, and public health research studies.

Main duties of the job

UKHSA Porton hosts an environmental laboratory testing samples for a range of pathogens from potentially contaminated sites. The site also includes facilities for studies on disease pathogenesis, and testing vaccines and therapeutics against dangerous infectious diseases, and there is a small vaccine production unit. The post-holder is also expected to work closely with the relevant teams at Porton and at other UKHSA sites.

The RIPL team also contributes to the UKHSA Rabies service, which is a cross-directorate, cross-group service delivered by multiple groups. The aim of this post is to consolidate some of the rabies activities in line with the development of testing services at Porton.

The postholder will also contribute to the wider work of RIPL and will be expected to develop experience in risk assessment and management for the other RIPL-relevant infectious agents, as well as aspects of preventing contamination, environmental sampling and decontamination. They will provide expert consultant support for RIPL and the Imported Fever Service and will be a key part of the team offering advice on diagnosis, management, and infection control for these agents.

• Lead the development of the clinical service for Rabies virus, including working with APHA and key laboratory personnel in UKHSA to improve national testing capabilities, oversight and clinical governance.
• Lead on development of national guidelines as required.

Please refer to Job Description for full outline of duties.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered medical practitioner, with full General Medical Council (GMC) registration and a license to practice
• If on the GMC Specialist Register in a specialty other than infectious diseases, medical microbiology or virology, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience
• UK trained applicants must hold a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in a relevant speciality (Microbiology, Virology, Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine) or be within six months of award of CCT by the date of interview. Applicants who are non-UK trained will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT
• Clinical training and experience equivalent to that required for gaining UK CCT or its recognised equivalence in any relevant combination of Microbiology/ Virology/Infectious Diseases/Tropical Medicine

Desirable

• Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists or equivalent
• Diploma in Tropical Medicine
• Further qualifications in microbiology or virology (PhD, DPhil, MSc etc)

Experience

Essential

• Experience in Microbiological/virological aspects of infection control in hospitals, public places, and the environment
• Experience relevant to RIPL pathogens during training or prior roles, for example DTM&H or tropical medicine experience

Desirable

• Experience of people management, training and mentoring
• Experience of project management
• Peer reviewed scientific publications, presentation of papers at conferences, seminars, etc

Skills and Ability

Essential

• Ability to offer an expert clinical and clinical laboratory opinion on a range of problems relating to Microbiology & Virology in primary care, inpatient and tertiary referral settings
• Excellent oral and written communication skills (including dealing with the public and the media)
• Ability to respond appropriately in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances.
• Computer literate

Desirable

• Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics and health care evaluation

Behaviours

Essential

• Commitment to team-working and respect and consideration for the skills of others
• Self-motivated, pro-active, and innovative
• High standards of professional probity

Closing Date: 8 September 2026

How to Apply;

Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online for this job

Disclaimer

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