Band 6 Community Connexions Development Worker

Job overview

***This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested***

The Research and Innovation team is looking for a vibrant candidate to work in Community Connexions. Community Connexions is a public engagement programme that will build relationships amongst local groups particularly in underserved communities to support healthcare priority setting and research and innovation engagement and address health inequalities. Primary steps include i)engagement ii) priority setting iii) co-creation of new research. Healthcare professionals are welcome to apply, along with individuals with extensive community engagement or public health experience.

The successful candidate should have a good knowledge of general healthcare, have the skills to approach and work with a variety of communities, be articulate and communicate well and have the ability to record accurate notes and provide regular reports. The post holder will work across BCHC and engage with other healthcare providers and community groups across the West Midlands, This may involve working with faith groups, community groups, setting up coffee mornings in supermarkets or visiting individuals in their homes. Engagement will be conducted for a number of different projects, so project management skills and the ability for self-organisation are crucial. Bid writing and report writing are also useful skills.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate should have a good knowledge of general healthcare, have the skills to approach and work with a variety of communities, be articulate and communicate well and have the ability to record accurate notes and provide regular reports to the funder at the Clinical Research Network. The post holder will work across BCHC and other NHS Trusts across Birmingham and the Black Country, as well as other providers, such as the local authority, community and voluntary organisations, in a range of settings to build engagement and support health research. This may involve working with faith groups, community groups, setting up coffee mornings in supermarkets or visiting individuals in their homes. Engagement will be conducted for a number of different projects so project management skills and the ability for self-organisation are crucial.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Responsible for community engagement, liaising with Community Leaders and organising events online, in person and by questionnaire and generating new contacts.
• Represent Community Connexions at local meetings and provide reports to R&I, the Clinical Research Network Equality Diversity & Inclusion Public Research Champions Group and the Community Connexions Steering Committee plus other relevant forums.
• Identify challenges/ barriers to engaging in research, alongside identifying strengths and resilience of underserved communities.
• To work closely with academic colleagues, e.g. Aston University to develop a framework agreement for community engagement and be instrumental in the development and implementation of community engagement policy using previous policy experience to work in what is a new area for the Trust.
• To work with the Research and Innovation (R & I) Team, Trust’s Equality & Diversity Team, Patient Engagement Team, and partner organisations to gather and analyse information about research engagement.
• To use data sets to gather information and have the ability to draw conclusions from feedback. For example, demographics, public views on particular topics, to identify areas where the public have indicated priorities.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.