Research and Development Officer

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Working for the Programme Director and Programme Manager (ICS Global Partnership Programme) and closely with NHS England Global Health Unit, you will be involved in research and evaluation activity related to West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership. Specifically, you will be responsible for conducting a bespoke evaluation of work the West Yorkshire ICB Global Partnerships Programme, drawing upon appropriate methodologies to answer project objectives. Therefore, experience of and exposure to programme and project evaluation will be of benefit to applicants for this role.

Communications & Relationship Skills

Establish and proactively maintain constructive relationships and two-way communication with key internal and external stakeholders, such as academic institutions, service leads and operational staff, agencies, and suppliers

Active participant in related internal/external working project groups, services and initiatives that align with Global Health Partnerships Research and Development programmes

Develop relationships with relevant journalists working on careers, employment, or workforce issues with the need to communicate complex information such as training pathways for health professions

Use existing and new networks and develop mechanisms to share and spread best practice.

Acting as the first point of contact for the Global Health Partnerships Research and Development Team dealing and responding effectively with queries from suppliers and stakeholders.

Develop, nurture, and maintain key relationships and networks (including national) both internally and externally with a wide range of different stakeholders with complex and conflicting requirements.

Develop effective links with other functions to address interdependences and alignment with work areas.

Involves and engages users of the service and others in discussions about service direction, improvements, and the values on which they are based.

Communicates effectively and calmly in difficult situations and with potentially challenging people e.g., disputes between two or more suppliers working on a project or disagreements on a decision.

Analytical & Judgmental Skills

Make autonomous decisions on the best approach to the delivery of set objectives or most appropriate action if e.g., the most appropriate marketing communications tactics for specific groups.

To utilise appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methodologies To independently conduct surveys and qualitative interviews, develop appropriate and secure data management practices

To conduct research analysis and make recommendations to a range of stakeholders

To respectfully engage health and social care professionals in the evaluation process, adjusting style and accessibility to be inclusive of the international workforce

Planning & Organisational Skills

Takes ownership of self and others, including suppliers and external/internal stakeholders in the management of a range of projects, being prepared to be held accountable for team delivery.

To develop and implement literature search strategies as part of critiquing and creating research literature

Organise and align the work of the programme team to complete evaluation processes effectively and in a timely fashion

Proactively collect and manage evidence of activities

Organise, capture, disseminate, and report key information to project stakeholders for further monitoring and evaluation

Policy and Service Development

To provide service improvement through administrative support, and continuously strive to improve and streamline processes.

Enables and encourages others to suggest change and the likely impact of changing policies, strategies, and procedures on practice. Also encourages team to consider changes within own area and how to improve effectiveness

Ensure the evaluation of Global Partnership collaboration between NHS England and WY ICB provides evidence and recommendations that influence the future direction and objectives of international recruitment collaboration and other global partnerships within the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.

Takes on new work and make changes to own work where a need is identified

Financial and Physical Resources

To assist the Global Partnerships Programme Manager and NHS England Research & Development Manager in the monitoring of the budget associated with programme evaluation.

To evaluate the spending of the Global Programme budget against ICB and NHS England Global Partnership objectives.

Human Resources

Provide supervision to staff in team through matrix management

Establishes a culture of teamwork and co-operation

Responds positively to change, and supports colleagues in understanding why is important and making agreed changes to their work

Seeks feedback from others about work to help identify own development needs

Information Resources

Ensure that information is kept securely and accessible to a range of people.

Develop and use Microsoft Sharepoint as a data management platform, ensuring accessibility by both WY ICB and NHS England Global teams

Collation, interpretation, and presentation of information allowing them and others to make mindful decisions e.g., decisions around procurement/tenders and communications decision on how best to present careers information to certain audiences e.g., young people, teachers.

Responsible for designing, evaluating, and maintaining one or more information management systems

Research and Development

Working with Senior Leads and work stream teams to prioritise evaluation programmes which support Global Health Partnerships Research and Development strategy

Developing and designing monitoring and evaluation programmes agreed with the Head of Function and Leadership Team

Data collection and analysis of agreed and prioritised programmes

Produces written and oral papers and reports for sharing to Global Health Partnerships, NHS England, and external stakeholders

Leading Global Health Partnerships research and evaluation activities where appropriate to measure impact of projects and activities which may include undertaking surveys and other research relating to service delivery e.g., focus groups, interviews

This job description is not meant to be exhaustive. It describes the main duties and responsibilities of the post. It may be subject to change in the light of developing organisational and service needs and wherever possible change will follow consultation with the post holder. The postholder may be directed to complete other tasks according to the skills and requirements for individual roles. These duties will always be reasonable and deemed within the expectations of your position.

Skills & behaviours

Essential

• Computer literate with an ability to use the required systems/Microsoft IT office packages.
• Has attention to detail, able to work accurately, identifying errors quickly and easily.
• Able to exercise independent judgement where appropriate and problem solve.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in written and spoken English that can be adapted to suit a range of audiences and styles e.g., for academic papers, for professional/service reports,
• Ability to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct the activities of others
• Ability to complex problem solve and respond to sudden unexpected demands
• Ability to understand a broad range of highly complex information quickly and make decisions where opinions differ or there is no obvious solution or where a range of possible actions may be available
• Able to maintain concentration and work effectively in a climate where there is an expectation that work patterns may have a large degree of unpredictability
• Demonstrable skills in working independently, using initiative, and managing workload to meet agreed deadlines
• Ability and willingness to work and travel flexibly nationally and internationally
• Ability to work and make decisions autonomously supported by well-developed organisational and management skills
• Ability to be assertive and to drive the work forward and link to staff at all levels through a programme of collaboration.
• Ability to develop further skills in Research & Development where required.

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of delivery and development of high-quality evaluation educational programmes and materials
• Postgraduate research experience or equivalent experience in a research and development-based role, including taking the lead on some or all aspects of monitoring, research, and evaluation activities
• An understanding of ethical issues involved in working with Global Health care focused research
• Knowledge of project and programme principles, techniques, and tools e.g., PRINCE, APMP, MSP or willingness to develop and learn these skills rapidly
• Experience of managing risks and reporting, or understanding of the processes involved in managing risks and reporting if no direct experience
• Experience of supporting programme teams to complete evaluation processes effectively and in a timely fashion
• Experience of proactively collecting and managing evidence of activities
• Experience of organising, capturing, disseminating, and reporting key information to project stakeholders for the monitoring and evaluation
• Experience of implementing monitoring and evaluation frameworks including assisting in the use of logic frameworks, dashboards, indicators, evidence and data collection and evaluation protocols
• Knowledge and experience of developing and implementing literature search strategies as part of critiquing and creating research literature
• Knowledge and experience of utilising qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
• Knowledge and experience of developing and conducting surveys
• Knowledge and experience of conducting qualitative interviews.
• Knowledge and experience of data management and analysis
• Knowledge and experience of maintaining confidentiality and implementing data protection legislation requirements including information governance

Qualifications

Essential

• A degree at undergraduate level or significant experience working within a research and development, benefits realisation, or evaluation focused role

Desirable

• A relevant post-graduate research degree or equivalent level of Research & Development experience or significant experience gained working within a research and development, benefits realisation, or e

Additional Requirements

Essential

• Able to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service and ensure a customer focused response.
• Able to regulate behaviour even when challenged.
• Enthusiastic about area of work and achieving results
• Has a responsive, solution focused approach to addressing issues and barriers.
• Committed to the equalities agenda and the ability to work across and understand the geographically, economically, and culturally diverse communities across the partnership.
• Highly resilient individual with the ability to cope under pressure within a continually changing environment
• Able to flex style when the need arises to achieve successful outcomes in a timely manner
• Able to balance competing priorities and make difficult decisions
• Flexible Working - The willingness and ability to work flexibly. Able to work from home with access to Wi-Fi when required to meet business needs.