Internal Applicants Only - Administrative Officer (Research)

at  Cardiff University

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential Criteria

• Ability to communicate in writing clearly, concisely, and effectively to provide detailed advice and guidance surrounding administration and research support functions.
• Evidence of a good standard of numeracy and IT literacy.
• Experience of working in an administrative role or environment and ability to set up standard office systems and procedures, making improvements to these as appropriate.
• Specialist knowledge of:
• Policy and ethical considerations in relation to research grants.
• Support required for trials and/or research studies, particularly those involving vulnerable populations.
• Project management principles/practices.
• Ability to communicate specialist and complex information effectively and professionally to a range of customers with varying levels of understanding, with demonstrable ability to build and maintain high quality long-term working relationships with a wide range of people from varying backgrounds.
• Ability to advise and influence key stakeholders in your area of work.
• Ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service you provide accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.
• Ability to use your initiative and creativity to solve problems, respond to queries and make recommendations, identifying and proposing practical solutions.
• Ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning, setting and monitoring your priorities and those of the team.
• Proven ability to work as an effective team member, providing advice and guidance to other team members where necessary.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working in a similar role or environment, e.g. Higher Education.
• Ability to speak/understand Welsh or a willingness to learn.
• Experience of working with people who suffer from mental health conditions (e.g. Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorders).
• Experience of recruiting NHS patients to research studies.

JOB DESCRIPTION CONTINUED:

Trial-related administration

• Perform a variety of administrative duties to support the research project team, the Wolfson Centre/Child and Adolescent Psychiatry group and Division in general. This will involve:
• Being the primary point of contact for the trial, contacting families and arranging further assessments.
• Maintaining contact through annual newsletters and focus groups, making all logistical and administrative arrangements.
• Providing high-level administrative support as part of the wider project team, which will include some financial support.
• Contact trial participants to book and chase appointments, potentially screening them for eligibility; maintaining oversight of participant progress/timelines.
• Place orders for goods and services for both the Centre and the trial (to include the ordering and issuing of vouchers to participants) and monitor the inventory of study materials.
• Issue participant enrolment letters to GP surgeries, and manage admin processes that follow screening and assessment calls (e.g. sending of signed consent forms).
• Establish clear understanding of all study documents (particularly participant facing documents) and keep up to date with correct versions, ensuring that documents on Teams and issued to participants are kept up to date in line with amendments.
• Handle meeting and room bookings for academic colleagues.
• Take responsibility for the study’s shared mailbox and Calendly (appointment software) and check study phones regularly.
• Liaise with trial team to ensure participant tracker databases are up to date.
• Oversee recruitment and set up of GP PICs (Participant Identification Centres), supporting PICs to run search and mailouts and managing the reimbursement process for costs they may incur.
• Oversee recruitment and set up of schools, colleges, universities, as above.

JOB PURPOSE

To provide comprehensive and professional support to the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health, supporting both the wider Centre’s administrative needs and specifically the Centre workstream entitled ‘Interventions in Adolescents at High Familial Risk’ including supporting a depression preventive intervention that is funded as part of that workstream.
This is a large clinical trial investigating effectiveness of an online group CBT program for the prevention of adolescent depression, and the role will involve providing support and guidance on administrative processes and procedures including those to support recruitment and screening of participants. The role will involve being the primary point of contact for the trial, contacting families and arranging further assessments.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Duties

• Provide detailed advice and guidance on administrative and research support processes and procedures to internal and external customers (staff, students or members of the public), using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action, and contributing to the solving of more complex issues.
• Work with others to make recommendations to improve our ways of working.
• Establish productive relationships with key individuals (University colleagues and external contacts) to help improve the level of service the team provides to its customers. In particular, you will be required to build on relationships with research families identified as suitable for inclusion in the depression preventive intervention described above. Confident and clear communication and an ability to establish good working relationships with a range of individuals from different backgrounds is therefore crucial to fulfilling this role effectively.
• Provide a general support service to the Wolfson Centre’s core administration, operational and research activities.
• Provide assistance and support service to senior members of the Centre including travel arrangements, diary management and meeting organisation.
• Maintain accurate records of financial transactions and monitor ongoing spend vs budget
• Collate, prepare and filter information on publications, grants awarded and other key performance indicators for regular reporting to funders and other stakeholders.
• Instruct and guide colleagues across the University within research support as required.

General Duties

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN PERFORMING THIS ROLE

We want to support and develop you in the role, using a combination of the following to help you reach your full potential.
1. Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.
2. An experienced and supportive team around you.
3. Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager. This could be informal or could be an apprenticeship leading to a formal qualification, such as Business administration NVQ.
4. A staff mentoring scheme.
5. Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills.