Involvement & Engagement Officer - FTC

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 and responsibilities of the role:

·         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.

Additional Information:

Ways of working: As part of our Agile ways of working you will be required to work approximately 2 days a week from the office, which is subject to the requirements of the role and the business needs. Flexibility on where you work can be split between working from home and our office.

Roles that are classed as part of the Agile ways of working are not able to claim any costs for Mileage/Travel on Public Transport, Accommodation and/or Meals.  This includes when attending the office for various meetings/events.

Our Office: Our office is at 3 Riverside, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6AD. 

Salary: Circa £30,000 per annum, plus benefits

Please download the Vacancy Pack on our website for more information.

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.

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.

As part of our commitment to being an inclusive employer and ensuring fairness and consistency in our selection process, we will handle your CV and application with the utmost confidentiality. While we strive to anonymise your CV where possible, there are certain sections, such as the application question, that cannot be fully anonymised. We kindly ask that you remove any personal information, including your name, when answering the application question. The hiring panel will not have access to your personal details, such as your name and address, until you are invited for an interview. Should you require any adjustments at either the application or interview stage, please contact us via our website.

How to apply: Please create an online account using our Online Recruitment Platform which can be accessed through our Job Vacancies page. You will be able to attach your CV to your application and track the status of your application.

About Alzheimer’s Research UK: 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. 

In 2024, we were incredibly proud to be awarded a 3-star accreditation by Best Companies which recognises ‘World Class’ levels of workplace engagement. This is the second consecutive time; we have been awarded a Best Companies 3-star accreditation.

We were also listed in the prestigious Best Companies lists:

·         18th in the 100 Best Large Companies to Work For in the UK.

·         10th in the 50 Best Companies to Work For in the East of England.

·         2nd in the 30 Best Companies to Work For in the Charity Sector.

In addition, we were also shortlisted for a special award recognising the work undertaken on reducing our environmental impact.

In 2021, we were awarded the HR Management award by The Charity Times for our Wellbeing initiatives throughout the pandemic.

In 2020, we demonstrated our commitment to changing the way we think and act about mental health in the workplace and signed the Time to Change Employer Pledge. 

ARUK really does look after its people, where you will be able to add value and make a difference. 

To view further details about working for us and the benefits we offer, please visit Alzheimer’s Research UK