Purpose of the post
HDR UK are committed to meaningful involvement and engagement where patients and the public are actively involved in shaping our work and decision-making. Reporting to the Senior Public Involvement and Engagement Manager, this is a pivotal role that will be integral to ensuring the patient and public voice is embedded at all stages in key programmes of work, namely the Big Data for Complex Disease driver programme, the BHF Data Science Centre and PEDRI.
You will work closely with public members, research and NHS communities, PEDRI Partners, internal colleagues, charity partners, and funders to develop and implement plans for patient and public involvement and engagement.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who has a passion for meaningful involvement and engagement of patients and the public in research, to shape and influence our work on the safe, ethical and scientifically robust use of data for research into the causes, prevention and treatment of disease.
The successful candidate will have a track record in working with individuals, groups and communities and have the ability to communicate complex information in clear, engaging ways. The post holder will have excellent influencing and negotiation skills, experience of working on complex projects with multiple partners and be comfortable with working at pace. Patient and public involvement and engagement in data-driven research is a growing field. The successful candidate will show a willingness and experience of developing and delivering innovative approaches to involvement where previously opportunities may not have been obvious.
Main responsibilities
PPIE strategy and delivery:
- Lead on the development and delivery of the PPIE strategy for the Big Data for Complex Disease driver programme, with oversight from the Senior PPIE Manager.
- Work with Senior PPIE Manager and PPIE Officer to deliver the BHF Data Science Centre’s strategy for engaging and involving patients and the public.
- Support the Senior PPIE Manager to deliver the strategy for PEDRI.
Embedding PPIE in our work:
- Lead and facilitate meetings with public contributors to integrate meaningful PPIE throughout all aspects of our work.
- Undertake and manage specific involvement and engagement activities, including but not limited to focus groups, engagement events, developing and undertaking surveys, supporting the writing of plain English summaries of projects and their outputs. In collaboration with senior colleagues, support involvement of patients and the public in the governance of our work.
- Review and provide advice on PPIE elements of research applications ensuring adequate PPIE is incorporated, and provide advice where needed to researchers.
- Develop methods to expand reach and ensure diversity of perspectives and work with the HDR UK Involvement and Engagement team to grow involvement of currently underrepresented and underserved groups in health data science.
- Build and manage relationships with colleagues within the BHF Data Science Centre and the Big Data for Complex Disease driver programme, working collaboratively to support and manage involvement and engagement across all areas of work.
- Work closely with the internal communications colleagues to create and disseminate engaging content (e.g. news stories on outputs and impact, videos, infographics, case studies) on our work and involvement and engagement activities using a variety of communication tools.
- Horizon scan and liaise with colleagues across HDR UK for opportunities to increase visibility of the institute’s engagement and involvement impact, i.e. through conferences, festivals, journals and other publications.
- Lead on the recruitment of new public contributors as required. Adapt, develop and provide training for public where necessary identifying training requirements as needed.
Developing PPIE best practice and collaborative working:
- Work with the Senior PPIE Manager to provide briefings for colleagues to share best practice and examples of successful patient and public engagement that could influence our work.
- Collaborate with the Senior PPIE Manager to coordinate public outreach initiatives and other events, ensuring that stakeholders are afforded opportunities to contribute their input and provide feedback. Establish effective working relationships and ‘ways of working’ with strategic partners to maximise opportunities for collaboration in patient and public involvement and engagement.
- Act as an internal and external ambassador for public, patient and practitioner engagement and involvement.
- Monitor and report on performance of PPIE across the Centre, make effective use of digital approaches to maximize the ability to collaborate, communicate and continuously learn.
Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential
Experience
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- Experience of working with patients, carers and members of the public with diverse interests.
- Experience of running patient/public involvement activities
- Experience of developing, implementing and evaluating patient and public engagement and involvement strategies and methodologies, preferably in a research environment
- Experience of promoting the need and value of engagement and involvement to a wide range of stakeholders and acting as an advocate
- Experience of writing / developing content for public and research audiences and delivering presentations
- Experience of demonstrating an understanding of health research and the needs of patients and the public
- Planning and organisational expertise with a proven track record of delivering challenging projects with multiple partners to deadlines
- Experience of organising and facilitating a range of events and meetings including: event preparation, chairing of meetings, delivering presentations, use of tools to gather views and feedback, follow-up communications and evaluation
- An understanding of the public sensitivities of using health data for research
Skills
- Excellent planning and organisational skills, with the ability to manage complex and multiple areas of work with competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Evidence of ability to meet tight and challenging deadlines using a flexible and adaptable approach
- Good influencing and coaching skills.
- Excellent people and interpersonal skills to build collaborative partnerships across diverse groups and the ability to handle sensitive issues positively.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively and confidently with different groups of stakeholders and people at all levels.
- Able to grasp the complexity of work across HDR UK and process complex scientific information to communicate it in a way that is clear, engaging and inspires the public to get involved.
- Strong analytic skills with the ability to frame problems and solutions in a logical manner.
- Ability to work autonomously and make decisions without supervision.
- Ability to work collaboratively and as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
Desirable
- Experience of using software such as Hubspot, Eventbrite and Survey Monkey
- Experience of supporting public campaigns
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
We politely request no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We do not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.
