Senior Engagement Officer (Research)

The role This is an exciting opportunity to work on the prestigious ESPRC-funded "TORUS" Programme Grant, working at the forefront of ground-breaking research that aims to revolutionise the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease. Building on the successes of the SPHERE IRC, the TORUS research programme will develop a cutting-edge platform of sensing technologies, along with an advanced data fusion and machine learning pipeline, to accurately measure changes in mobility-related behaviours over extended periods of time. What will you be doing? As Senior Engagement Officer, you will be responsible for building engagement with community groups, schools, science centres and charities in pursuit of the TORUS diversity, inclusivity and advocacy plans. A particular focus will be working with community partners to build trusted relationships with groups which are under-represented in research, including ethnic minorities. You will also play a key role in establishing and working with TORUS Patient Council, an advisory board of people with lived experience of Parkinson’s disease. New medicines should advantage all in society and therefore the TORUS programme seeks to involve a diverse population of people with lived experience of Parkinson’s disease, engaging them with the project and supporting them to be ambassadors within their own communities. Working in collaboration with esteemed partners such as Newcastle University, as well as the NHS and prominent multinational pharmaceutical companies, this project offers an exceptional opportunity to drive impactful change at the intersection of Engineering, Computer Science, and Health Science. You will be part of a diverse and interdisciplinary team, combining expertise from various fields to tackle one of the most significant challenges in medical research. You should apply if You have knowledge and experience of working in patient, public, and community involvement and engagement, and a passion for involving them in research. You have experience of working with groups under-represented in research. You have exceptional interpersonal skills and demonstrated success of relationship and partnership building. You are an excellent communicator and are able to work with patients and vulnerable groups sensitively with tact and diplomacy. Additional information For informal queries please contact Mae Hazell, mae.hazell@bristol.ac.uk. To find out more about what it's like to work in the Faculty of Engineering, and how the Faculty supports people to achieve their potential, please see our staff blog: https://engineeringincludesme.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/ Interviews are anticipated to be held on 28 March 2024. Our strategy and mission We recently launched our strategy to 2030 tying together our mission, vision and values.  The University of Bristol aims to be a place where everyone feels able to be themselves and do their best in an inclusive working environment where all colleagues can thrive and reach their full potential. We want to attract, develop, and retain individuals with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives – particularly people of colour, LGBT+ and disabled people - because diversity of people and ideas remains integral to our excellence as a global civic institution.