About the role
Under the direction of the principal investigator, you will organise and support the delivery and coordination of community engagement and outreach activities and events.
The role contributes to a research programme focused on improving inclusion in dementia research among underserved communities. The programme works in partnership with community organisations in Brighton to co-design culturally appropriate approaches to engagement and to connect community participation with healthcare and research pathways. This role is central to developing and implementing a model that integrates community engagement, primary care pathways, and research participation.
You will enjoy working with a variety of tasks that will evolve as the research develops. Core tasks will include:
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Lead the co-design and delivery of community engagement activities in partnership with organisations such as the Brighton & Hove Black and Minority Ethnic Community Partnership (BMECP)
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Independently plan, organise, and deliver workshops, focus groups, and outreach activities in community settings
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Develop and implement participant recruitment strategies through trusted community networks
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Act as the primary liaison between the research programme, community organisations, and healthcare/research partners
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Manage the documentation, evaluation, and reporting of engagement activities, including synthesis of qualitative feedback
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Support the integration of community engagement activities with primary care and research delivery pathways (e.g. NIHR Research Delivery Network)
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Contribute to the development of communication materials and dissemination of findings to both community and academic audiences
The role sits within a broader programme of research led by Dr Mahmoud Maina, focused on understanding dementia across diverse populations. The work builds on international research programmes and aims to develop new models for inclusive and globally relevant dementia research.
About you
You will be an organised, proactive, and confident professional with experience in community engagement, public involvement, or outreach, ideally within health or research settings involving underrepresented groups.
You will be comfortable working with diverse communities and sensitive topics, and able to build trust with community partners and participants.
You will be a confident and creative administrator, with strong IT and organisational skills, who is able to engage well and communicate clearly with a range of staff and external stakeholders
You will be able to work independently, take initiative, and manage multiple strands of activity, while contributing to a collaborative research environment.
You will have experience in events management, public engagement and understand the value of patient participation in research.
You will be versatile, outgoing and enjoy working closely with colleagues to deliver a high standard of support while having the freedom to create new systems.
Experience working with underserved or underrepresented communities is highly desirable.
In return you will join a friendly and supportive team, both within the research programme and the wider Faculty community.
About our School
In the School of Life Sciences we strive to understand the mechanisms that drive biological and chemical processes and to develop innovative and diverse approaches to enhance human health, technology and the environment. We undertake multidisciplinary research, teaching and engagement across a wide range of subjects, from Chemistry through Cellular and Molecular Biosciences to Conservation Biology.
The School comprises five Departments: Biochemistry & Biomedicine, Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Neuroscience, Ecology & Evolution and Chemistry. We also house the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre which works to deliver the bench-to-bedside translation of our discoveries. The breadth and depth of our cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practice is delivered by a diverse community who work across boundaries to deliver excellence, engage with real world problems and produce impact.
We pride ourselves on our world-leading research and have a strong research economy, with approximately 50% of our income stemming from research and an active grant portfolio of over £50 million. We host or form part of three University Centres of Excellence: the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Sussex Neuroscience and Sussex Sustainability Research Programme. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, 90.6 % of our Biological Sciences outputs and 84.8% of our Chemistry outputs were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We are proud that in both areas, 100% of our Impact cases were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
The School is committed to the University’s core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion, collaboration and courage. We believe that equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and aim to provide a friendly and supportive environment for all who work, study and visit the School of Life Sciences.
The School of Life Sciences is proud to hold a Silver Athena Swann Award.
The School of Life Sciences is part of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine.
Why work here
Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150-acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five-minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.
Sussex is a renowned, multi-accredited, research-led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it’s our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that.
Find out about our equality, diversity and inclusion.
Further Key Information
Please contact Mahmoud Maina ([email protected]) or Trudy Myers ([email protected] ) for informal enquiries.
The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at Sussex.
The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
Eligibility
Visa Sponsorship Queries: This role does not meet the eligibility for sponsorship due to its part-time nature. Please consult our Skilled Worker Visa information page for further information about Visa Sponsorship.
The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.
