Research Assistant, Neuroscience

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust; Warrington; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in Warrington seeks a dedicated individual for a vital role in mental health research. The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary team focused on neuromodulation research for mood disorders. Key responsibilities include participant recruitment, data collection, and protocol delivery. Ideal candidates will possess a neuroscience background, strong interpersonal skills, and a commitment to patient care. Flexible working arrangements are available.

Qualifications

• Experience with Neuromodulation techniques like TMS or EEG.
• Ability to interview and assess service users sensitively.
• Demonstrable knowledge of confidentiality and safety issues.

Responsibilities

• Recruit research participants and collect data for studies.
• Deliver TMS and EEG research protocols.
• Perform analysis of EEG data.

Skills

Organisational skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Data entry skills

Adaptability

Education

Degree in Neuroscience

Tools

Microsoft Word

Job description

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Job overview

The post holder will have a vital role in the delivery Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre M-RIC as part of research team, the post-holder will join a newly formed multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals and researchers committed to launching and developing the neuromodulation research for mood disorders as part of M-RIC research programme.

The post holder be responsible for delivering TMS, EEG research protocols, evidence-based standardised outcome measures. Maintaining good working relationships with service users, carers, clinic staff and other stakeholders will be key to the success of the role.

The successful candidate should have neuroscience background, well organised, capable of independent work, with strong interpersonal skills and a good awareness of the spectrum of mental illness.

Main duties of the job

Key responsibilities will include:
• The post-holder will join a newly formed multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals and researchers committed to launching and developing the neuromodulation research for mood disorders as part of M-RIC research programme.
• The post holder will recruit research participants and collect data for research studies and trials in the clinic, including TMS and EEG, evidence-based standardised outcome measures e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7 and a range of other measures.

The post holder will deliver TMS and EEG research protocols and perform analysis of EEG data.

Working for our organisation

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further details of this role or contact the recruiting manager for more information.

Person specification

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to interview and perform assessments with service users in a safe, sympathetic and courteous manner.
• Able to respond sensitively to emotional distress.
• Be aware of stigma & discrimination of persons with mental health difficulties.
• Demonstrable knowledge of confidentiality issues.
• Demonstrable knowledge of patient and staff safety issues.
• Ability to converse with internal & external services & able to accept & convey telephone messages in a precise & courteous manner.
• Clear & unambiguous written communication skills.
• Organisational & prioritisation skills.
• Excellent data entry skills.
• Ability to use Microsoft Word to produce reports.
• Ability to file effectively.
• Sufficiently adaptable to learn and use new technology.
• Ability to travel across Trusts sites.
• Willingness to adapt working hours to match the needs of the project.
• Requirement to travel to various sites/ locations across the NW region, therefore you must have the means to travel to these sites in a timely manner.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• A degree (2:1 or above) in Neuroscience/ Clinical Neuroscience or related discipline.

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience with Neuromodulation e.g. TMS or Neuroimaging techniques e.g. EEG or fMRI.
• Good awareness of a range of different mental illnesses.
• Familiarity with undertaking structured and semi- structured interviewing.
• Understanding of research governance and ethics.

Desirable criteria

• Familiarity with a range of research methods.
• Experience of engaging different demographic groups in research.
• Experience of working with people with mental health difficulties

Values

Essential criteria

• Continuous Improvement
• Accountability
• Respectfulness
• Enthusiasm
• Support
• High professional standards
• Responsive to service users
• Engaging leadership style
• Strong customer service belief
• Transparency and honesty
• Discreet
• Change oriented

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust's guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.

Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email [e-mail] to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or email [e-mail]) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 400.4KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 360.6KB)
• OH Risk ID Form (PDF, 90.1KB)
• A Great Place to Work (PDF, 2.1MB)
• Our People Promise and Charter (PDF, 5.8MB)