Academic Specialist, Recruitment and Engagement Lead

Location: Parkville
Role type: Full time; Fixed-term for 12 months
Faculty: Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Department/School: Department of General Practice, Melbourne Medical School
Salary: Level A – $77,171 – $104,717p.a. plus 17% super

The University of Melbourne would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated, the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung Peoples, the Yorta Yorta Nation, the Dja Dja Wurrung People. We acknowledge that the land on which we meet and learn was the place of age-old ceremonies, of celebration, initiation and renewal, and that the local Aboriginal Peoples have had and continue to have a unique role in the life of these lands.

About – The Department of General Practice

www.gp.unimelb.edu.au

With an increased profile within the Melbourne Medical School, the Department has utilised its growing network of general practitioners (GPs) and primary health care providers in the community to ensure that University of Melbourne medical students are provided with quality community-based medical education. The Department delivers postgraduate training for primary care nurses, and research training for medical, honours, masters (4) and PhD students (18).  For more than 20 years, the Department has run a very successful General Practice academic registrar program where doctors who are training to be GPs (GP registrars) undertake a half time special skills post in academic medicine to experience an introduction to research and university teaching. We average around three academic registrars per year.

The Department has a successful Primary Care Research Unit (PCRU), including a Trials Unit with a practice-based research and education network (VicREN), which comprises our community-based general practices (600+) and other primary care providers who contribute to and drive teaching and research. A proportion of our VicREN members are a part of our Data for Decisions (D4D) Community of Practice. In this D4D program general practices have an agreement with the Department to share their electronic medical record (EMR) data for research and policy advocacy; participating practices have also undertaken a process with their patients to opt out if they do not want their data shared. The EMR data is de-identified before it leaves the practice and is stored in a secure data repository managed by the Department, called Patron. Patron has a management group and an independent governance group with representatives who are consumers, GPs, practice managers, researchers, IT technical, and legal experts.

Central to our work is understanding the patient and practitioner experience and through co-production methodologies involving them in identifying the challenges and designing and testing solutions. Using clinical data analytics, we explore patient pathways through health care and describe the epidemiology of health and disease in primary care. With a focus on primary care innovation, we develop, test and implement simple and complex interventions including digital technologies, such as a range of risk stratification and point-of-care decision making tools. The Department also has successful research programs in specialised areas in Cancer; Children and Young People’s Health; Clinical Data Informatics, Data Driven Quality Improvement, Integrated Mental Health; Sexual Health, and Abuse and Violence.

About the Role

The position will be based within the Primary Care Mental Health Team in the Department of General Practice, and will work with the research investigators to engage and recruit general practices and patients into two complex, randomised controlled trials.  You will be required to coordinate the close communication needed with the project stakeholders and provide regular project updates for participants and investigators. Experience in communication of research information to different groups is key.

Primary duties will include the coordination of primary care site, General Practitioner and patient recruitment; assisting the Research Fellows to efficiently project manage the engagement and recruitment of primary care practices, ensure safe data practices are adhered to and may conduct some interviews with patients.

Responsibilities include:

• Recruit Primary Care sites and participants to two clinical trials, including intra state site visits and possible interstate visits, contract negotiation electronic medical record screening, eligibility assessment screening with participants.
• Coordinate the close communication needed with the multiple project stakeholders and provide regular project updates for participants and investigators, keeping lead investigators informed of Recruitment progress.
• Prepare and assemble materials for team meetings and report writing, including writing participants update newsletter for communication and engagement.

About You

This challenging role will suit a researcher with experience in recruitment and engagement to trials and with an interest in applied healthcare research.

Key Selection Criteria:

1. Achieved a Bachelor’s Degree with Honours, or above in a relevant field.
2. Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with an ability to build and maintain relationships with multiple key stakeholders (internal and external) and work collaboratively.
3. Motivated to work with general practice and community health centres and some experience engaging with complex stakeholder groups.
4. Willingness to conduct research visits independently and complete participant screening and assessments where required.
5. Experience of independent and/or team-based medical research and/or clinical trials.
6. Knowledge and experience of mental health and primary care related research studies, including requirements for ethics and governance processes.

Please note: To be considered for this role you must have current valid work rights for Australia.

About the University

The University of Melbourne is consistently ranked amongst the leading universities in the world. We are proud of our people, our commitment to research and teaching excellence, and our global engagement.

Benefits of Working with Us

In addition to having the opportunity to grow and be challenged, and to be part of a vibrant campus life, our people enjoy a range of rewarding benefits:

• Flexible working arrangements, generous personal, parental and cultural leave
• Competitive remuneration, 17% super, salary packaging and leave loading
• Free and subsidised health and wellbeing services, and access to fitness and cultural clubs
• Discounts on a wide range of products and services including Myki cards and Qantas Club
• Career development opportunities and 25% off graduate courses for staff and their immediate families

To find out more, visit https://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/staff-benefits.

Be Yourself

We value the unique backgrounds, experiences and contributions that each person brings to our community and encourage and celebrate diversity.  First Nations people, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, females, people of all ages, with disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse people are encouraged to apply. Our aim is to create a workforce that reflects the community in which we live.

Join Us!

If you feel this role is right for you, please submit your application including a brief cover letter, your resume and your responses against the key selection criteria^ (numbered 1-5 above).

^For information to help you with compiling short statements to answer the selection criteria and competencies, please go to http://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/selection-criteria

We are dedicated to ensuring barrier free and inclusive practices to recruit the most talented candidates. If you require any reasonable adjustments with the recruitment process, please contact us at hr-talent@unimelb.edu.au.

Applications close: 01 Mar 2023 11:55 PM AUS Eastern Daylight Time

Position description: 0051475_Recruitment and Engagement Lead_PD.pdf