Research Project Manager (104602-1021)

Vacancy Type/Job category
Management & Professional
Department
Warwick Medical School, Health Sciences
Salary
£31,406 - £40,927 per annum
Location
University of Warwick, Coventry
Vacancy Overview
Full-time, Fixed Term Contract until 31 October 2024
You will join the Warwick Medical School Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit as a Research Project Manager for the NIHR-funded project “Transforming access to care for serious mental disorders in slums: the TRANSFORM project”. TRANSFORM is a three-year project with partners in Nigeria and Bangladesh.
The project aims to increase access to care and improve outcomes of serious mental disorders (SMDs) in slums in Bangladesh and Nigeria, through the development of an innovative collaborative care model involving traditional/faith healers, mental health professionals, primary care practitioners and community health workers (CHWs).
The project is led from Warwick Medical School (PI Professor Swaran Singh), which also has overall management responsibility for the TRANSFORM project.
You will have experience and qualifications in a medical, public health, global health, health-related social science, together with experience of project management, and research using mixed methods – qualitative and quantitative. As a Research Project Manager, you will be expected to lead on the administrative tasks within the TRANSFORM study and carry out research within the TRANSFORM project.
You will have specialist knowledge and significant experience in global mental health or health services research, together with excellent oral and written communication and collaborative skills. Previous experience of supporting research teams, and of planning work to meet tight deadlines is necessary.
You must be willing and able to travel internationally for meetings, and to organise such meetings. You will have an ability to produce high quality progress and final reports and other project outputs, and to present and publish work. Knowledge and skill in literature searching and use of electronic databases together with Microsoft Office and Review Manager, Endnote or equivalent are also essential.
Job Description
Job purpose
As a member of the Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit in the Division of Health Sciences, the postholder will be responsible for the day-to-day administrative project management of TRANSFORM, for delivering specialist research within the project, and for supporting the Senior Research Fellow, and Professor Singh in the overall delivery of the project.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. To undertake the day to day administrative management for delivery of the TRANSFORM project.
2. To work with WMS staff and other partners via formal group/committee work, informal networks, and one-to-one liaison, to undertake work for the TRANSFORM project.
3. To liaise with all TRANSFORM partners in a timely and effective manner to ensure that all project milestones and deliverables are achieved.
4. To work closely with WMS staff and partners to obtain relevant ethics approvals
5. To provide support and training for Research Assistants at all TRANSFORM sites in the project.
6. To produce the highest quality progress and final reports and other outputs on the TRANSFORM project, to present work at national and international meetings and to publish work in international high-quality peer reviewed journals.
7. To attend departmental meetings and to participate (where necessary) in other committees and working groups within the department, the faculty, and the University.
8. To undertake any specific departmental roles and management functions as may be reasonably required by the PI.
9. To develop and deliver specialist research within the TRANSFORM project
The duties and responsibilities outlined are not intended to be an exhaustive list but provide guidance on the main aspects of the job. The postholder will be required to be flexible in their duties.

Person Specification

The Person Specification focuses on the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications required to undertake the role effectively. This is measured by (a) Application Form, (b) Test/Exercise, (c) Interview, (d) Presentation.

Essential Criteria 1
Educated to degree level with a 2:1 (or equivalent experience) (a)
Essential Criteria 2
Specialist knowledge and significant experience in mental health or health services research (a), (c)
Essential Criteria 3
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex concepts and to collaborate with a range of people including those at national policy level (a), (c)
Essential Criteria 4
Project management qualification (or equivalent experience) (a)
Essential Criteria 5
Experience of working in a healthcare research environment in either a University or NHS organisation (a) (c)
Essential Criteria 6
Experience of managing complex projects running over multiple sites (a) (c)
Essential Criteria 7
Experience of interpreting and adhering to detailed and precise requirements (a) (c)
Essential Criteria 8
Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate authoritatively and well at all levels, both internally and externally (c)
Essential Criteria 9
Ability to successfully negotiate, influence and persuade at a senior level (c)
Essential Criteria 10
High level of accuracy with excellent attention to detail and a thorough, methodical, and flexible approach (a) (c)
Essential Criteria 11
Excellent standard of written and spoken English including a demonstrable ability to prepare written reports and application documents (a) (c)
Essential Criteria 12
Meticulous ability to manage and organise workloads from a diverse client and project portfolio over a range of timeframes (c)
Essential Criteria 13
Competent in using a broad range of computerised systems, databases and data sources to support project management, improved communications, information and data dissemination (a) (c)
Essential Criteria 14
Ability to prioritise workload and plan work to meet tight deadlines (a) (c)
Desirable Criteria 1
Experience working in relevant geographical area (especially Nigeria and/or Bangladesh). (a), (c)
Desirable Criteria 2
Experience of web site development (a) (c)
Further Particulars
NIHR RIGHT call 2 project: Transforming Access to Care for Serious Mental Disorders in Slums
A UK and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) research partnership to increase access to care and improve outcomes of serious mental disorders (SMDs) in slums in Bangladesh and Nigeria, through development of an innovative collaborative care model involving traditional/faith healers, mental health professionals, primary care practitioners and community health workers (CHWs).
Slum populations in low- and-middle-income countries (LMICs) have high rates of serious and enduring mental disorders (SMDs) and very poor access to professional medical mental health care. Sufferers and their families often choose traditional and faith-based practices since these are more accessible, considered affordable, and are in tune with their cultural beliefs and traditions.
Faith-based and traditional healing can play an important part in delivering care in LMICs, but those with SMDs require additional biomedical treatment and follow-up. This projects’ primary objective is to improve access to care and improve the outcomes for people with SMDs, through fostering cooperation between traditional/faith-based healers and professional medical services. The work focuses on two specifically identified slum populations, one in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and one in Ibadan (Nigeria).
The researchers will:
1. investigate each communities’ awareness and understanding of SMDs, including working with CHWs and traditional/faith-based healers to understand who seeks and receives care from these healers and how those processes could be linked to medical care.
2. Develop training packages to support community health workers and traditional/faith-based healers to identify SMDs that require referral to medical care, and create a mechanism for referral to medical care and other support services.
3. Develop street theatre performances and documentaries to reach and engage the relevant communities to raise awareness and reduce stigma, and share information on how to access care for SMDs.
4. The overall output from the work is an innovative collaborative care model involving traditional/faith healers, mental health professionals, primary care practitioners and community health workers (CHWs) in Nigeria and Bangladesh.
For further details about the post and/or the project, please contact Professor Swaran Singh, [email protected]
Warwick Medical School
For further information about the department, please visit the departmental website
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Right to work in the UK
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Diversity and Inclusion
The University of Warwick provides an inclusive working and learning environment, recognising and respecting every individual’s differences. We welcome applications from individuals who identify with any of the protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010.

Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy

As an organisation using the (DBS) Disclosure and Barring Service to assess applicants’ suitability for positions of trust, the University of Warwick complies with the DBS Code of Practice and undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a Disclosure on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed. More information is available on the University’s Vacancy pages and applicants may request a copy of the DBS Code of Practice.

Closing Date
26 Oct 2021