Salary Circa £30,000 per annum
Contract type Fixed Term
Location Great Abington, Cambridge CB21 6AD (Agile; approximately 2 days a week from our office)
Full Time

Published

Not Published

Closing

in X days

This is a Fixed Term, 12-months, Full Time vacancy that will close in {x} days at {xx:xx} BST.

The Involvement & Engagement Officer will play a crucial role in delivering the new patient and public involvement and engagement strategy for Alzheimer’s Research UK. The role forms part of the Involvement & Engagement team, which sits in the Information and Involvement (I&I) department.

The team acts as a focal point for patient and public involvement at the charity, working to ensure that people with lived experience shape and inform projects and activity across ARUK. You will help to manage a key group of lived experience involvement volunteers, facilitate and deliver involvement activity and set the standards and processes for meaningful involvement.

The team also delivers public engagement initiatives, with the aim of making dementia research accessible and inspiring to the public through events and participatory projects and supporting researchers to deliver engagement. The team also supports fundraising colleagues and activities through helping to embed and enhance ways to engage supporters with dementia research.

The team forms part of the busy Policy, Communications & Involvement directorate and works closely with colleagues both within the directorate and across the charity. The I&I department’s mission is to improve understanding of dementia and the diseases which cause it and encourage and support the public and people affected by dementia to get involved in research.

This is a 12-month fixed term contract to cover a period of maternity leave.

 

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Working with the Involvement & Engagement Manager, implement ARUK’s public involvement and engagement strategy.
  • Facilitate, plan and deliver the work of the Lived Experience Involvement Group, including liaising with members and providing dementia specific assistance, arranging logistics for meetings, responding to queries, liaising with internal stakeholders.
  • Support the recruitment of new lived experience representatives, with a focus on improving representation from people with a dementia diagnosis and those from underserved communities.
  • Responsibility to ensure records relating to involvement work are kept up to date in line with ARUK policies and procedures.
  • Helping to develop and deliver training on engagement and involvement for the Group, colleagues and the research community, working with the Research Involvement Manager.
  • Work closely with the Policy team, sharing knowledge and insights and supporting their work to involve people with lived experience. Collaborate on special projects relating to involvement as appropriate.
  • Act as a champion for public involvement across ARUK, effectively communicating the importance of involvement in the charity’s work and supporting colleagues to effectively incorporate involvement into key projects and initiatives.
  • Working with the Involvement & Engagement Manager to produce ongoing evaluation of the involvement and engagement programme, proactively coming up with suggestions for new initiatives and continuous improvement of the programme.
  • Working with the Involvement & Engagement Manager, deliver Inspire Fund, our public engagement grant scheme. Manage the application and post-award processes, maintain engagement with grant holders and support them in the delivery of their projects.
  • Seek opportunities for public facing activity, that engage people with the topic of dementia and the importance of research, in line with ARUK’s strategic goals.
  • Support colleagues to effectively engage with their audiences, creating and maintaining compelling activities and resources that bring dementia research to life.
  • Keep up to date with patient and public engagement and involvement sectors to identify emerging knowledge and best practice that might benefit ARUK’s work. Take part in groups that support professional development around involvement and engagement.

 

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

  • Coordinating or delivering public engagement and/or patient and public involvement.
  • Project management experience, with the ability to oversee multiple projects simultaneously.
  • Experience of discussing and communicating health or research matters with the public.
  • Experience building and managing relationships with colleagues and external partners.
  • Ability to translate complex science for a lay audience.
  • Strong and effective written and spoken communication skills, ability to tailor to lay audiences.
  • Ability to communicate appropriately with people affected by dementia and their families.
  • Ability to find creative solutions to complex problems.
  • Excellent organisational skills; the ability to coordinate various projects with different deadlines.
  • A confident and friendly manner; would feel at ease representing the charity to a range of audiences to a high level.
  • Creativity, innovation and resourcefulness to identify opportunities and develop initiatives relating to involvement and engagement.
  • Ability to work with independence, intelligence, drive and initiative.
  • Good IT skills.
  • Willingness and ability to travel independently in the UK occasionally and to work outside of regular office hours when needed.

 

The closing date for applications is the 8th December 2024, with interviews likely to be held on the 12th & 13th December 2024. Please indicate in your covering letter if you are unable to attend an interview on a certain date. We would encourage you to submit your application at the earliest opportunity, as on occasion we may have to bring forward the interview date and/or the closing date based on the needs of the business. Although a possibility, this will only happen in exceptional circumstances. Please indicate in your covering letter if you are unable to attend an interview on a certain date.

The Company

The Company has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years. We have a vast number of employees, and provide support to clients from all over the country. Recently, the company has won multiple workplace environment awards and has an outstanding record of employee satisfaction.

Benefit 1

Benefit 2

Benefit 3

Benefit 4

  • Innovation

We are creative and fearless in our work.

  • Accountability

We take ownership of our work and lead from the front.

  • Teamwork

We collaborate widely and build supportive environments.

Alzheimer's Research UK is the UK's leading dementia research charity. Our mission is to accelerate progress towards a cure.  Today 1 in 2 people will be impacted by dementia, either through caring for a loved one, developing it themselves or tragically both. But there is hope. 

There has never been a more important and exciting time in dementia research. With promising new drugs in clinical trials that slow the progression of the diseases that cause it, and revolutionary new ways to diagnose them on the horizon, we are now at a tipping point. Working with the smartest minds globally and across the UK, with industry and academia, Alzheimer’s Research UK is uniquely placed to invest in the very best research identifying barriers to a cure and knocking them down so that there are more and better treatments for everyone with dementia. For the first time in history, we can see a future where people with dementia can get a swift and accurate diagnosis, and effective treatments that could slow or even stop their disease. We stand for everyone affected by dementia. We stand for a cure. 

We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone can be themselves and reach their full potential.  We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.  Any offer of employment is however subject to you having the right to work in the UK.

It is important to offer a range of benefits which are designed to meet both the organisational and individual needs, are market competitive and designed to attract and retain employees.

For more details on working for Alzheimer's Research UK click here.

Holiday entitlement

Healthcare

Sick pay

Pension

Cycle to work scheme

Family friendly policies

Learning & development

Footer Accreditation
Footer Accreditation
Footer Accreditation
Footer Accreditation
Footer Accreditation