Research Assistant

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

This post will provide a dynamic, driven individual with an exciting opportunity to join an innovative team that works towards improving people’s lives through high quality workforce development and evaluation programmes. Our multi-professional team provide a high performing and fast paced yet supportive environment in which the post holder will be supported to develop professionally while contributing actively to the goals and mission of Maudsley Learning.

This is an unusual opportunity to join a unique team with an ambitious mission and vision for improving people’s lives through mental health education.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work closely with the Senior Organisational Consultant at Maudsley Learning, supporting ongoing and developing new activities relating to the research agenda. This will include contributing to research projects at all stages of development, from conception to publication in peer reviewed scientific journals.

The post holder will use and build their academic research skills and have the opportunity to apply the principles of psychology to their work, as well as further opportunities from working at the UK’s largest mental health provider. Involvement in writing and submitting research and educational grants under direction from the Head of R&D will be required, alongside close collaboration with other Research Assistants in our team.

This will involve collaboration and engagement with our multi-disciplinary team of mental health experts, as well as the application of project management, stakeholder engagement, and applied evaluation skills. Preparing for and supporting the delivery of training programs, as well as their evaluation and activities relating to research and development will also be undertaken.

Working for our organisation

At South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, we believe in providing excellent care which is delivered with pride and compassion. Everything we do is to improve the lives of the people and communities we serve and to promote mental health and well-being for all.

Maudsley Learning is an innovative workforce development team within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, part of one of the world’s most renowned mental healthcare organisations. Our mission is to improve people’s lives through the highest quality mental health and well-being education.

We design and deliver training programmes and education services to meet the continuing professional development needs of individuals in the healthcare workforce, but also to many others including colleagues in social services, policing, schools and in the private sector.

We deliver high quality learning experiences in both traditional and innovative educational modalities thanks to our expertise and agility. Our access to a range of subject matter expertise is second to none via the global centres of excellence in South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and our university partners, the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.

We have published 68 peer-reviewed academic papers and won multiple awards, including British Medical Journal Education Team of the Year 2018.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Supporting the Research and Development Department and programmes, including commissioned research, educational evaluation projects, routine evaluation of training programmes, delivery of workforce development and consultancy projects, and the application of research methods expertise to other projects. Responsibilities as follows for the workstreams outlined below and other duties as specified:

• Contribute to the development of an innovative research agenda, with the clear objective of publishing impactful scientific research.
• Support with research projects such as literature searching, data collection, management and analysis, preparation for publication.
• Manage evaluation projects involving, for example, data collection, analysis and writing up of training scoping and quality assessment work.
• Prepare academic, practical, educational and project report documents to be published, with according to authorship.
• Utilise multiple research methodologies, including mixed-methods approaches and comparison studies.
• Assist with gaining research funding to support the expansion of the research and evaluation agenda and activities within the team.
• Input to submissions for ethical approval for research projects as appropriate.
• Support colleagues to understand and be involved in the research process, supporting their ideas and building their research skills.
• Help to translate learning from the research and evaluation process to trainers and clinical educators to support improved delivery of courses.
• Submit and present research findings at relevant meetings and conferences as required
• Using research and evaluation methods to help trainers with quality assurance processes to maintain high standards.
• Work with key internal stakeholders and Maudsley Learning staff to organize and deliver workforce development programmes that support mental health and wellbeing.
• Manage the organisation and delivery of projects, including project planning, monitoring and reporting.
• Develop subject matter expertise in workforce and organisational change and development to support delivery of our consultancy services.
• Manage applied evaluation and data projects as part of service delivery to clients, using high level skills in data collection and analysis to develop insights.

Person specification

Degree or equivalent experience, including research methods

• must have 1-2 Years experience

• Masters level degree

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’