Senior Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Manager - CMH Research and Knowledge Transfer - 108250 - Grade 8

Position Details

CMH - Research and Knowledge Transfer

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £47,389 to £56,535 with potential progression once in post to £63,606

Grade 8

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to December 2027

Travel may be required for this role

Closing date: 25 November 2026

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background
The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.

Role Summary
Delivering an effective environment for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) requires building, developing and maintaining excellent relationships with diverse groups of patients and carers, patient and carer organisations, third sector organisations, faith organisations, and other stakeholders in the local and national health and social care economy, as well as a wide range of academic and clinical partners. Building on the legacy of previous UHB activities putting patient and public voices at the heart of clinical innovation, as well as working closely with the wider portfolio of existing PPIE activities across university and NHS partners to build capacity and capability for our researchers and public contributors, the PPIE Manager will facilitate and coordinate the activities to ensure patients and the public have meaningful and rewarding involvement in research studies at UHB.

Department Overview
You will be part of the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub based at the University of Birmingham, however, you will be providing dedicated support for PPIE to University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB). By being a member of the Hub, you will be part of a team of experienced PPIE professionals, benefiting from their knowledge, experience and support, and have access to a vast array of PPIE related resources, networks, and opportunities. As part of the Birmingham Health Partnership, the hub model reduces duplication across research organisations in the region, encourages collaboration and sharing of best practice to support meaningful public involvement in research leading to better research outcomes for the organisation, patients and the public. You will also be a key member of the Research Delivery team within the College of Medicine and Health Research Office, which oversees a number of high-profile programmes, including the Health Data Research UK Midlands Community, NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration and major portfolios of work around areas such as women’s health, traumatic brain injury and global surgical networks.
You will guide and mentor researchers in patient and public involvement and engagement activities and contribute to activities in the wider Hub community.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, providing a wide range of local, regional and national healthcare services. The Trust serves patients across Birmingham, Solihull and the wider West Midlands, delivering both routine hospital care and highly specialised treatments. It operates four major hospital sites: Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Solihull Hospital.
UHB is internationally recognised for its excellence in clinical care, research, education and innovation. Working closely with universities, industry partners and local communities, the Trust plays a leading role in developing and evaluating new treatments, technologies and models of care that improve patient outcomes. With more than 20,000 staff, UHB is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate care while supporting the health and wellbeing of the diverse populations it serves.
The role will be primarily based in the Institute of Translational Medicine which is situated near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, although you may be required to work across the various UHB sites as needed.

Main Duties

Delivering an effective environment for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) requires building, developing and maintaining excellent relationships with diverse groups of patients and carers, patient and carer organisations, third sector organisations, faith organisations, and other stakeholders in the local and national health and social care economy, as well as a wide range of academic and clinical partners. Building on the legacy of previous UHB activities putting patient and public voices at the heart of clinical innovation, as well as working closely with the wider portfolio of existing PPIE activities across university and NHS partners to build capacity and capability for our researchers and public contributors, the PPIE Manager will facilitate and coordinate the following activities to:

• Ensure patients and the public have meaningful and rewarding involvement in research studies at UHB.
• Engage with diverse communities to tackle historic issues around under-representation in the development of future health and social care research and co-develop inclusive approaches to PPIE.
• Co-develop communications, events, collaborative approaches and other activities to promote patient and public involvement, as well as implementing and contributing to current and future initiatives from the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub and wider stakeholders in health and social care research around good practice in PPIE.
• Create and maintain regional and national PPIE networks, working closely with existing initiatives, creating an inclusive and supportive environment for mutually beneficial collaboration and involvement of the public.
• Co-design and deliver learning, training and development activities related to PPIE, drawing on specialist knowledge and expertise. Activities should be tailored to the audience – noting that our aspiration is to develop ‘community-ready researchers’ as well as ‘research-ready community partners’ through effective support – ensuring that participants are motivated, enthused and equipped with relevant skills to involve the public, or to be involved in research.
• Work closely with the existing community of PPIE practitioners through the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub (and wider throughout the region) to strengthen collaboration and joint working as part of the One NIHR initiative. This should also extend to work with the University’s dedicated central Public Engagement team.
• Build and maintain relationships with members of the UHB’s wider community of researchers and research delivery teams, particularly across the Birmingham Health Partnership, to facilitate shared learning and promote good practice across UHB. Where relevant, to provide mentorship to develop capacity on public involvement in research.
• Support research themes/projects to improve, implement and evaluate innovative approaches to PPIE, delivered through UHB and partner organisations.
  

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Relevant professional/educational qualifications, including project management experience (in large and/or complex initiatives relevant to PPIE), or substantial relevant experience evidencing the qualities required in this role
• Authoritative knowledge of the work practices, processes and procedures relevant to the role, with broader sector awareness – including work with faith, voluntary, charity and social enterprises
• Familiarity and experience with UK Standards for Public Involvement to develop working practices relevant to PPIE
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly for a variety of audiences, and to produce and analyse source material and other relevant data
• Proven ability to meet targets, with minimal supervision to deadlines
• Substantial experience of engaging, and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills that will help to identify and implement improvements and efficiencies across the project or projects you work on
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate effectively with a range of stakeholders
• Experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning and forecasting
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office suite. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required
• Excellent people management skills, with some experience of leading, motivating and managing teams
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquiries to Claire Wickett, email: c.wickett@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.