Job summary
- Main area
- Research and Development
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Contract
- Fixed term: 9 months (Contract ends 31/03/2026)
- Hours
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21667
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Sussex Education Centre
- Town
- Hove
- Salary
- £29,970 - £36,483 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 02/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Youth PPI Co-ordinator
NHS AfC: Band 5
Come and join us
We're looking for people who share our values (compassion, accountability and optimism) to help us provide high quality care to the patients, carers, families and local communities we serve. We specialise in providing NHS mental health and learning disability services.
So what can we offer you in return?
We're an organisation which puts people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. We'll help you learn, acquire new skills and gain further experience to support your career development. And we'll provide the opportunity for you to bring your fresh ideas to work about how we can do things differently and continue improving.
You will also be joining a health and care system committed to working together to do the best we can for the communities we serve. Above all, at Sussex Partnership you'll have the chance to make a difference to the lives of the patients, carers and families across our communities.
As a Trust we are committed in making a difference. Your development is important to us, so don't forget to ask us during interview what opportunities we can offer. We can offer fully funded lifelong learning opportunities such as an apprenticeship from GCSE to Masters level.
If you like the sound of that, then come and join our team.
Job overview
We are looking for a new Youth PPI Coordinator to join our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) team.
The PPI team is lively and creative. We contribute to all aspects of mental health and dementia research in Sussex Partnership foundation Trust. Nationally, we are at the forefront of PPI within research, contributing to national initiatives.
As the Youth PPI Coordinator there will be two main parts to your role:
- The Youth PPI Café
- The Looking forward Project
The Youth PPI Café is a collaborative peer-based network whose aim is to ensure young people (ideally aged between 18-25) are actively involved in decisions on a range of research relating to children and young people. It gives young people the opportunity to share what they feel is important to them, using their unique experience to guide clinicians and researchers to take research forward.
The Looking Forward Project is a trial to test whether a new intervention helps young women who are NEET (not in education, employment or training) aged 16 to 25 years. It involves working through a package of materials that help to teach the skills needed to improve hope, with the support of a mentor. A requirement of this project is that is coordinated by a young female (18-25) with relevant social and / or mental health lived experience (themselves) or supporting others.
Therefore, due to the requirements of both projects, we can only appoint a young woman (aged 18-25) to the role of Youth PPI Coordinator.
Main duties of the job
What are we looking for in the young female (18-25) who will join our team?
You are/have:
- Relevant social and/or mental health lived experience yourself or of supporting others.
- Comfortable drawing upon your experience and able to encourage our Youth Cafe PPI advisors and PIP advisors to do similar.
- Able to engage children and young people, including those who have emotional and/or behavioural needs
- Have experience of involvement / facilitation within Service User & Carer organisations and groups and/or experience of youth groups
- Work well in a team.
- Are flexible.
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on our staff and the care we provide. We are happy to have a conversation with you about flexible working, and if it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
However, please note that the Youth Café is held outside of school hours, so you will need to flexible on those occasions.
Working for our organisation
You will work closely with your own team of young people to deliver and develop the Youth PPI Café. You will also be an important member of the PPI team.
We (PPI) are a small team who work together closely, collaborating with the larger research department at Sussex Partnership. We are all peers with lived experience as service users and / or carers. We know that we as a team make a difference. We hope to be a ‘can do’ ‘why not?’ team.
As the PPI Department, we will:
- Provide a thorough induction process and organise the appropriate training to help you feel comfortable in your role.
- Offer regular team meetings with the PPI Department, and wider research team.
- Ensure regular supervision meetings to ensure that you feel supported in your role.
- Advocate and encourage flexible working hours.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For the Youth PPI Café coordinator part of the role, you will:
- Seek out research for, advertise, recruit to, and lead monthly Youth PPI Café sessions for young people and researchers.
- Oversee and co-ordinate the involvement of young service users in all youth-focused aspects of research activity within the Sussex area.
- Advise and support researchers undertaking studies about ways to meaningfully involve young service users.
- Establish links with youth organisations, universities, charities, and community services and explore areas for potential collaboration.
To work with those young service users enrolled in the Youth PPI Café to shape and co-develop the space. - To co-ordinate a team of young people working within the Youth PPI Café team, supporting those involved to carry out their duties, and to gain experience, and develop skills relevant to their goals and aspirations.
- To lead team meetings with a team of young people working within the Youth PPI Café team.
For the Looking Forward Project, you will:
- Co-ordinate the Public Involvement Panel (PIP) for the Project. This is a panel of young women with lived experience of being NEET.
- Support Peer researchers who will be carrying out interviews and analysing interview data for the project
- Consult with and support the project team as required with issues such as recruitment and sharing information about the project.
Person specification
Qualifications
Desirable criteria
- Educated to degree level (or equivalent)
- Research qualification
Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- Female aged 18-25
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of involvement/facilitation of within Service User & Carer organisations and groups and/or experience of youth groups.
- Relevant social and/or mental health lived experience yourself or of supporting others.
- Dealing with difficult and sensitive information
Desirable criteria
- Active Researcher
Knowledge, Skills, Competencies
Essential criteria
- Able to engage children and young people, including those who have emotional and/or behavioural needs.
- You can recruit and develop strong working relationships with researchers, community, and clinical services.
- Good communication skills, including the ability to write text that can be understood by young people,
- Ability to work effectively remotely and occasional travel to Sussex locations.
- Flexibility to work some irregular hours if required - the youth café is held outside school hours.
- Sound IT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office) Excellent time management skills
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Sam Robertson
- Job title
- Lead for Service User & Carer Involvement
- Email address
- [email protected]
List jobs with Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust in Administrative Services or all sectors