Research Program Manager

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI); Dublin; On-site; EUR 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) seeks a Research Programme Manager to lead governance and coordination for the VISTA project. The role combines management, leadership and administrative duties with involvement in groundbreaking mental health research and implementation science in Ireland.

The successful candidate will liaise with academic partners across Ireland, manage multi-disciplinary teams, and contribute to shaping national mental health policy translation and dissemination.

Qualifications

• PhD in social science/health psychology/nursing or related field.
• Doctoral or post-doctoral experience in mental health research.
• Project and financial management experience.
• Leadership skills in managing multidisciplinary research programmes, preferably within an academic setting.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Motivated, well-organised, and able to work collaboratively in a team.

Responsibilities

• Support the leadership team in the running of VISTA governance and management activities.
• Maintain effective communication, meeting and reporting relationships with all VISTA consortium members.
• Monitor the implementation of the VISTA programme and ensure milestones and timelines are met.
• Engage with and support the VISTA team and liaise with host organisations to coordinate core training activities.
• Support ongoing evaluation of the programme and perform other job-related duties.
• Update the VISTA website and social media with current grant news.
• Coordinate events and gatherings such as training, networking, and annual researcher meetings.
• Prepare and upload reports for the project funder and liaise with hosts to capture inputs.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Event organization

Team collaboration

Education

PhD in social science/health psychology/nursing

Doctoral or post-doctoral experience in mental health research

Job description

Department: Department of Psychiatry, VISTA (Vision To Action for promoting mental health and recovery)

Reporting to: Prof David Cotter

Location: Smurfit Building, Beaumont Hospital or St Stephen’s Green

Contract/Duration: Specific Purpose (up to 18months) - Part-time (0.5FTE)

Remuneration: Up to point 1 of level 3 of the IUA Scale, depending on experience

Closing Date: 9:00 am on Wednesday 16th of September

Summary of Post

The Research Programme Manager post will involve a combination of management, leadership and administration along with opportunities to participate in and contribute to research. The post-holder will play a central role as part of the VISTA: VISion To Action for promoting mental health and recovery. An Implementation Science approach to "Sharing the Vision" - Ireland's national mental health policy - an all-Ireland, cross-disciplinary training and research programme. VISTA is funded through a Health Research Board APRO scheme. The VISTA team is made up of a newly established consortium of leading mental health researchers, experts through lived experience, clinicians, young people and others, all of whom share an interest in improving mental health in Ireland.

‘Sharing the Vision’ (StV) is the new 10-year mental health policy developed by The Department of Health, Ireland and launched in 2021. Our proposal is focused on how recommendations within this policy can best be implemented. Mental health problems are a leading cause of disability globally. StV emphasises the importance of mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention, and recovery, and recognises the need for a whole of population approach. Our proposed research programme VISTA (Vision to Action for promoting Mental Health and Recovery) seeks to progress the translational "policy to practice" pathway of StV’s implementation plan through six work packages. Theoretically informed by Implementation Science, VISTA aims to identify determinants to implementing StV and overcome these through the formulation of tailored implementation blueprints, inclusive of context responsive, feasible and acceptable strategies for the benefit of service users, their family members/carers, and supporters. Given the identified priorities for the State we selected the following 6 topics as key areas for research: (1) social media; (2) physical and sexual health; (3) digital interventions; (4) factors that a person can change to promote self-harm recovery; (5) improving involuntary mental health care; and (6) authenticity and diversity in mental health research and Public and Patient Involvement (PPI). These WPs are integrated through their shared focus on policy implementation, youth mental health, promoting mental health and recovery, and commitment to meaningful PPI. We are a multidisciplinary team comprising mental health professionals (psychiatry, psychology, and nursing), researchers (with quantitative and qualitative expertise), policy experts, sociologists, health economists, PPI contributors, and knowledge translation and implementation science experts. The goal of VISTA is to address international and national recommendations and priorities in mental health policy to facilitate a change in practice and improved outcomes in mental health in Ireland.

Reporting to the Programme lead, Prof David Cotter, the role will involve working with the lead co-applicants and researchers, and PPI partners and contributors. This will include liaison will all Irish academic partners (RCSI, TCD, UG, UCC, UCD, and DCU) and with the project funder, the Health Research Board. The role also involves liaising with various programme stakeholders including clinical and research collaborators, people with lived experience of mental health difficulties and mental illness and training providers. In carrying out their duties, the successful candidate will work closely with team members from other relevant RCSI offices, including, the Research, Communications and Research Finance offices.

Specific duties include:

• Support the leadership team in the running of VISTA governance and management activities
• Maintain appropriate and effective communication, meeting and reporting relationships with all members of the VISTA consortium.

Support Implementation of VISTA

• Monitor the implementation of the VISTA programme and work with the programme team to ensure that the milestones and timelines are met
• Engage with and support the VISTA team
• Liaise with host organisations to establish and coordinate a calendar of core training activities across academic institutes
• Support ongoing evaluation of the programme
• Perform other job-related duties assigned by supervisor or manager

Communication and Promotion

• Update the VISTA website and social media (e.g. LinkedIn) with current news surrounding the grant.
• Utilise existing national and international communications avenues to promote VISTA and publicise outputs
• Coordinate key events and gatherings (e.g. training, networking, annual researcher meetings)

Reporting to Funder

• Prepare and upload reports for the project funder as per grant agreement
• Liaise with local academic hosts and fellows to capture inputs to reports

NOTE: For individuals with a background in research and/or who are keen to pursue an academic career, there will be opportunities for meaningful involvement in VISTA research activity.

Qualifications – (Essential):

• PhD in social science, health psychology, nursing or related field
• Doctoral or post-doctoral experience in mental health research

Knowledge & Experience – (Essential):

• Project and financial management experience
• Leadership skills in managing support for multidisciplinary research programmes, preferably within an academic setting
• Show evidence of ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Show evidence of excellent oral and written communication skills
• Show evidence to demonstrate they are highly motivated, with excellent organisational skills, and able to work collaboratively in a team setting
• An ability to work effectively with staff and management across all levels both internally and externally
• An ability to work with people with lived experience of mental ill-health
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to build consensus and constructively influence situations and partners
• Experience of stakeholder engagement and an ability to develop and maintain a network of contacts
• Demonstrated experience in event organization and management
• Numeracy, accuracy and attention to detail
• Proven ability to prepare high quality reports, presentations and other documentation
• Flexible, cooperative and a proactive approach to achieving work goals

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