Public Health Principal - Social Housing

We’re recruiting a Public Health Principal – Social Housing to help improve the health and wellbeing of people living in social housing across Milton Keynes.

Working where public health and housing come together, this rewarding role will help us and our housing partners tackle health inequalities and achieve better outcomes for residents.

Leading joint programmes of work, you’ll use evidence and local insight to shape our approach and focus resources where they can make the greatest difference.

Strong relationships across the council, housing associations and other partners will be central to sharing good practice and finding new ways to improve residents’ health.

As a senior specialist, you’ll bring advanced theoretical, practical and procedural knowledge and experience of social housing and public health.

Programme or project management experience will also be important, along with the ability to lead cross-sector workstreams with support, manage risk and political challenges, and engage effectively with a range of stakeholders.

This role may be suitable for home working, following an assessment. Home‑based roles require a minimum of one day per week working from the office or site

Interviews for this role will be held on 26th November 2026 and will be held in Person

At Milton Keynes City Council, we aim to make a difference every day. We’re dedicated, respectful and collaborative. We act as one council, and we work hard to create cleaner, safer and healthier communities while tackling inequalities and supporting people to thrive.

We take pride in our supportive work culture and try to go that extra mile when it comes to investing in our colleagues.

Find out more about working with us here: www.mkcounciljobs.org.uk

• Lead the development and delivery of joint public health and social housing programmes designed to improve residents’ health and reduce health inequalities.
• Plan and manage projects, monitor outcomes and performance, and use data and local insight to target interventions effectively.
• Influence the development, commissioning and delivery of public health services and work with housing partners to embed health considerations into their services.
• Review research, evidence and case studies, sharing good practice locally while contributing to relevant regional and national networks.
• Identify, secure and manage grant funding of up to, or in excess of, £1 million to support work that improves the health of people living in social housing.
• Share your specialist knowledge with colleagues and provide supervision or matrix management where required.

Contract: Permanent

Working hours: 37

Pay frequency: Annual

• You’ll be a fully qualified professional specialist with postgraduate experience or training, with advanced expertise in public health or social housing. For a public health background, this would normally include a Master’s qualification; for social housing, you’ll need equivalent senior-level expertise.
• Confident working with complex information, you’ll be able to analyse and bring together data and evidence to inform decisions, policy, practice and evaluation.
• Your programme or project management experience will help you lead work across different organisations, manage risk and navigate differing priorities.
• With strong knowledge of social housing and health, you’ll keep up to date with developments and understand social housing regulation or a comparable regulated environment.
• An effective communicator, you’ll be comfortable adapting complex or technical information for residents, councillors, colleagues and external partners.
• Dedicated, respectful and collaborative in your approach, you’ll build productive relationships, take ownership and work with others to achieve better outcomes for Milton Keynes.

To be successful in this role, you’ll need a full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle. If we offer you the role, we’ll ask you to provide evidence of your driving licence and vehicle insurance, including cover for business use. We’re unable to confirm an appointment until these documents are received.

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of benefits including:

• Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
• Excellent pension - everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
• A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support.
• Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
• Salary sacrifice car scheme - eligible employees can lease an electric or low-emission vehicle at a reduced cost through salary sacrifice, subject to National Minimum Wage and other eligibility requirements.
• Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.

Why join us? Along with more on our Benefits, discover why Working at the City Council could be the right move for you here Working at the Council | Milton Keynes

Roles are either ‘site based’ or ‘home based’.

Site based roles are mainly based at the workplace, with the option to work from home for up to two days a week, depending on service needs.

Home based roles are mainly based at home, with the expectation of attending the workplace up to one day a week.

The working arrangement for each role is set by the manager, based on service requirements.

Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.

We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference. 

We’re very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever your background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.

We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it’s time for a new role.

If you’d like to know more about how we do things and what matters to us, take a look at our short booklet What makes us Milton Keynes City Council.

Please note that this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must already have an independent and unrestricted right to work in the UK, without the need for employer sponsorship now or in the future.

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