Senior Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Manager

Delivering an effective environment for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) requires building, developing and maintaining excellent relationships with diverse groups of patients and carers, patient and carer organisations, third sector organisations, faith organisations, and other stakeholders in the local and national health and social care economy, as well as a wide range of academic and clinical partners. Building on the legacy of previous UHB activities putting patient and public voices at the heart of clinical innovation, as well as working closely with the wider portfolio of existing PPIE activities across university and NHS partners to build capacity and capability for our researchers and public contributors, the PPIE Manager will facilitate and coordinate the activities to ensure patients and the public have meaningful and rewarding involvement in research studies at UHB.

You will be part of the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub based at the University of Birmingham, however, you will be providing dedicated support for PPIE to University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB). By being a member of the Hub, you will be part of a team of experienced PPIE professionals, benefiting from their knowledge, experience and support, and have access to a vast array of PPIE related resources, networks, and opportunities. As part of the Birmingham Health Partnership, the hub model reduces duplication across research organisations in the region, encourages collaboration and sharing of best practice to support meaningful public involvement in research leading to better research outcomes for the organisation, patients and the public. You will also be a key member of the Research Delivery team within the College of Medicine and Health Research Office, which oversees a number of high-profile programmes, including the Health Data Research UK Midlands Community, NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration and major portfolios of work around areas such as women's health, traumatic brain injury and global surgical networks.

You will guide and mentor researchers in patient and public involvement and engagement activities and contribute to activities in the wider Hub community.

The role will be primarily based in the Institute of Translational Medicine which is situated near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, although you may be required to work across the various UHB sites as needed.

Main Duties:

- Ensure patients and the public have meaningful and rewarding involvement in research studies at UHB.

- Engage with diverse communities to tackle historic issues around under-representation in the development of future health and social care research and co-develop inclusive approaches to PPIE.

- Co-develop communications, events, collaborative approaches and other activities to promote patient and public involvement, as well as implementing and contributing to current and future initiatives from the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub and wider stakeholders in health and social care research around good practice in PPIE.

- Create and maintain regional and national PPIE networks, working closely with existing initiatives, creating an inclusive and supportive environment for mutually beneficial collaboration and involvement of the public.

- Co-design and deliver learning, training and development activities related to PPIE, drawing on specialist knowledge and expertise. Activities should be tailored to the audience – noting that our aspiration is to develop 'community-ready researchers' as well as 'research-ready community partners' through effective support – ensuring that participants are motivated, enthused and equipped with relevant skills to involve the public, or to be involved in research.

- Work closely with the existing community of PPIE practitioners through the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub (and wider throughout the region) to strengthen collaboration and joint working as part of the One NIHR initiative. This should also extend to work with the University's dedicated central Public Engagement team.

- Build and maintain relationships with members of the UHB's wider community of researchers and research delivery teams, particularly across the Birmingham Health Partnership, to facilitate shared learning and promote good practice across UHB. Where relevant, to provide mentorship to develop capacity on public involvement in research.

- Support research themes/projects to improve, implement and evaluate innovative approaches to PPIE, delivered through UHB and partner organisations.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications and Experience:

- Relevant professional/educational qualifications, including project management experience (in large and/or complex initiatives relevant to PPIE), or substantial relevant experience evidencing the qualities required in this role.

- Authoritative knowledge of the work practices, processes and procedures relevant to the role, with broader sector awareness – including work with faith, voluntary, charity and social enterprises.

- Familiarity and experience with UK Standards for Public Involvement to develop working practices relevant to PPIE.

- Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly for a variety of audiences, and to produce and analyse source material and other relevant data.

- Proven ability to meet targets, with minimal supervision to deadlines.

- Substantial experience of engaging, and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders.

- Proven analytical and problem-solving skills that will help to identify and implement improvements and efficiencies across the project or projects you work on.

- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate effectively with a range of stakeholders.

- Experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning and forecasting.

- Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office suite. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.

- Excellent people management skills, with some experience of leading, motivating and managing teams.

- High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure.

- Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.

- Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.

- Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.

Benefits:

The University of Birmingham offers 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. There are three high quality subsidised day nurseries on campus. The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston with excellent transport links, a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, an art gallery, museum and botanical gardens. Staff have access to the Birmingham Professional programme for development opportunities.