Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPI/E) Manager

Salary: £33,966 to £36,024 with progression to £44,265 per annum pro rata

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 22 October 2023

The Role

Working with the Director, Academic Lead for PPIE and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), you will manage and deliver the patient and public involvement and engagement (PPI/E) strategy and activity of the BRC, NIHR Newcastle In-Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative (MIC) and NIHR Newcastle Clinical Research Facility (CRF).

You will work in partnership with the patients, the public and local communities to ensure they have a positive and meaningful influence on the relevance, shape and impact of the research undertaken. An important part of your role will be helping researchers respond to the challenges and opportunities for effective involvement, engagement and participation including ensuring diversity of those involved, developing effective governance and demonstrating the impact of this work has on improving

health and care research. 

You will also work collaboratively with other patient/public and community involvement teams to provide effective coordination and join up in Newcastle and the Region. You will project manage day to day operations and proactively identify engagement opportunities for the future development of the NIHR BRC PPI/E programme.  

We are looking for someone with experience of working and engaging with a wide range of the public through University research, charities and community and voluntary groups or local NHS Trusts.

This is a full time post fixed term until 30/11/2027,  however applications for part time/flexible working will be considered, please state your desired working arrangements in your application.   

For further information please contact Mr Martin Dixon, Chief Operating Officer, Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre – martin.dixon@ncl.ac.uk

For more information about the Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, please click here.

Key activity will include: 
•    Building capacity and expertise in PPI/E across the NIHR BRC, MIC and CRF and in specific research themes
•    Managing, monitoring, reporting and evaluating PPI/E activities and associated learning, including capturing impact case studies
•    Working collaboratively and in partnership with other NIHR Infrastructure PPI/E leads, as part of the “One NIHR” joined up approach to PPI/E
•    Work collaboratively with the wider BRC, CRF and MIC teams to deliver on the PPI/E strategy and link to key priorities including communication, training and industry engagement
•    Developing relationships and collaborations with key external stakeholders including the public, patient groups and wider voluntary and community sector

Key Accountabilities
•    Project Manage the day to day operations and proactively identify public involvement and engagement opportunities for the future development of the NIHR BRC PPI/E programme, and the associated programmes of the MIC and CRF, to deliver outstanding and exemplary PPI/E

•    Responsible for liaising with and building strong external relationships across relevant local, regional & national NIHR infrastructure, NHS and patient groups/organisations, voluntary and community sector to support PPI/E in the NIHR BRC, MIC and CRF

•    Responsible for liaising with and building strong relationships with public contributors, including acting as point of contact, supporting their attendance at meetings, provision of training as needed and providing guidance on remuneration

•    Work closely with researchers to develop evaluation processes to enable assessment of PPI/E impact for reporting purposes and oversee their implementation across the Themes’ activities

•    Responsible for the provision of project management for the NIHR BRC, MIC and CRF PPI/E programmes. Proactively identify PPI/E opportunities and lead the development and delivery of a programme of awareness-raising to deliver PPI/E for the BRC, MIC and CRF

•    Develop, deliver and manage on streamlined processes and effective communications to facilitate a co-ordinated and join up approach to PPI/E

•    Plan and deliver a programme of conference, training, events, meetings and workshops within the scope of the PPI/E programmes. Manage the capture, reporting and dissemination of regular feedback from events to ensure continuous improvement

•    Take an active role in local, regional & national PPI/E networks, including relevant patient groups/organisations, voluntary and community sectors to share learning to support best practice

•    Work with public contributors to develop publicity materials and reports, website content and other written materials to ensure optimal external visibility of the NIHR Newcastle BRC, MIC and CRF

•    Manage the PPI/E budget and provide effective financial management in support of PPI/E activity. This will involve developing budget plans, costing and forecasting

•    Provide line management of any administrative staff employed to support the BRC PPI/E activity, including recruitment, induction, performance management, training and development

•    Increase awareness and appreciation of the role of patient and public involvement and engagement in research among clinicians and researchers as well as the wider community

•    Implement and further develop resources to facilitate reporting, monitoring and evaluation of PPI/E activities, including delivery of PPI/E content for BRC, CRF and MIC annual reports to NIHR. Implement, maintain and develop data capture systems to monitor PPI/E requirements and activity with a particular focus on demonstrating and recording impact

•    Liaise with other national BRC, MIC, CRF PPI/E Leads and attend meetings and teleconferences as required

•    Facilitate patient and public contribution to dissemination activities relating to BRC research, including papers for presentation at national and international conferences and other meetings

•    Be aware of and comply with current data protection legislation; and ensure that all activity, data collection and management comply with these demands

•    Any other relevant activities required by the Director or COO of the BRC

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

•    Sound knowledge and experience of project management
•    Experience of public engagement networks and patient involvement   
•    Excellent communication and interpersonal skills relevant to interaction with, and dissemination of information to, mixed audiences (via verbal, written and other media)
•    Ability to use initiative, prioritise and a has creative approach to problem solving
•    Ability to work flexibly and co-operatively with others, but also to work independently
•    Experience of working with patients or public in developing processes and practices to achieve agreed objectives.
•    Chairing skills
•    IT skills
•    Experience of facilitating collaborative working
•    Experience of working as part of a multi-professional team
•    Experience of working across several projects
•    Experience of meeting project milestones and producing high quality outputs  
•    Experience of working across several projects
•    Experience of engagement event organisation and management
•    The ability to communicate verbally and in writing to a range of audiences
•    Able to work flexibly with regard to hours of work including occasional evenings.

Attributes & Behaviours 

•    Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively
•    Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two way communication process.
•    Works continually towards achieving excellent service delivery through understanding and meeting / exceeding the expectations of stakeholders.
•    Gathers a broad range of relevant information from internal and external sources making this information widely available.

Qualifications
•    Educated to degree level or equivalent, plus extensive relevant experience

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 26141