Position Details

School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £29,762 to £32,411 with potential progression once in post to £36,333

Grade 6

Part Time, Fixed Term contract up to January 2027

Closing date: 4th June 2023



Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The post-holder will lead and develop the involvement of young people in the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and will be responsible for further developing existing youth involvement activity. Alongside Birmingham and Oxford, other sites in the BRC theme include Bradford, Liverpool, Reading, and York Over 5 years, we aim to build an active and engaged national PPI network of young people and parents/carers, supporting and facilitating young people to develop roles in PPI and co-production in mental health . This role requires the post-holder to build and maintain excellent relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters where necessary, and they should be committed to equal opportunities. Ideally the successful candidate will have lived experience of mental health difficulties or of supporting someone with mental health difficulties.

The post-holder will develop, support, and facilitate various methods for involving young people and their families in the work of the BRC so that their input shapes the activities of the Mental Health in Development theme. This will be achieved in partnership with young people and will also draw on good practice in involving the public in research.

Role Summary

The post holder will work collaboratively and provide essential liaison to support the active involvement of children, young people and young adults, and parents/carers. The role will involve working closely with researchers from across the Mental Health Development theme in Birmingham, Reading, Oxford and beyond. In particular, the research team led by Dr Anna Lavis and Prof Kam Bhui have an exciting programme of work with a focus on innovation in involvement and research methods that prioritise experiences of children, young people and their families. The role will also involve collaborating with other PPI facilitators, particularly in Oxford and in the University’s Institute for Mental Health, and will report directly to the School of Psychology Operations Manager. The post-holder will deal with people at all levels of University staff and external affiliates of the IMH.

Key elements of this role will include:

• Ensuring children, young people, parents/carers and families with experience of mental health difficulties have meaningful and rewarding involvement in the work of the BRC.
• Co-designing and co-producing communication, events, collaborations and other activities to promote children, young people, parents/carers and families’ contribution to mental health research.
• Further developing the existing infrastructure to support children, young people and parents/carers and families to be actively involved in the work of BRC.
• Working collaboratively with other groups involved in youth participation to promote opportunities and share learning.

Main Duties

• Supporting the development of an Involvement Strategy; outlining the BRC’s strategic aims for involvement of children, young people and families in its activities and a delivery plan.
• Supporting the co-ordination and organisation of monthly research development meetings between young people and researchers.
• Supporting the involvement young people in the BRC’s activities (e.g. recruitment, dissemination, governance)
• Being the main point of contact for young people, and supporting influential, meaningful and rewarding involvement in the work of the BRC.
• Helping to identify and develop progression routes for interested young people to empower and enable them to become future leaders in mental health science.
• Assist in the development of support and training activities related to involvement in research design and delivery, and contribute to delivery of these.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders within the BRC.
• Work with external organisations to ensure that the youth involvement and participation agendas are linked, and that groups are working together to capture the views and contributions from young people across partnerships.
• Contribute to the development of good practice in research, enhancing co-production, co-design, involvement in governance and fostering research led by young people.
• Support the communication and promote awareness of activities being undertaken by local research initiatives to improve youth engagement with research.
• Disseminate information to researchers and ensure benefits of service user involvement are published to as wide an audience as possible.
• Ensure that young people are engaged in decision making processes, and that their voices are heard across the BRC.
• Identify barriers to public involvement and develop inclusive strategies to overcome these barriers.
• Develop and maintain a strong and up-to-date knowledge of developments in service user involvement and disseminate information to members of various research initiatives, as deemed appropriate.
• Represent the IMH/Oxford Health BRC at regional events
• Inform regular reporting activities for PPI activity within the Mental Health in Development theme.

Person Specification

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications). Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
• Practical experience in a similar role, particularly working with children/young people.
• Experience of working within the Mental Health field (desirable).
• Experience of using project management tools.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the wider MS Office suite of programmes including excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to understand policy, processes and procedures, but also to recommend improvements and implement changes.
• Excellent analytical skills used to produce reports, identify issues and resolve them decisively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The postholder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and provide excellent service at all times. In particular, the postholder must be adept at engaging with a diverse group of children, young people, and families.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

DBS required

Pre-employment DBS

The University is committed to safeguarding and we promote safe recruitment practice, therefore all associated pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.

Informal enquires to Stacey Smith, email: S.J.Smith.2@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working .