PPIE Manager in Newcastle upon Tyne

Salary: £36,636 to £38,784 with progression to £46,049 per annum.

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 15 July 2026

The Role

The NIHR Maternity Disparities Consortium (NIHR MDC) is a £50 million, five-year NIHR investment which brings together a diverse range of organisations with expertise in research, capacity development and working with people and communities to deliver a step change in maternity outcomes and developing future research leaders in this area of need. The research carried out by the consortium will focus on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy. Nine University-led collaborations comprise the MDC. The NIHR MDC is co-ordinated from Newcastle University (Research and Capacity Development) and the University of Birmingham (Research). The postholder will be based at Newcastle University and work closely with the Consortium team at the University of Birmingham. The University operates blended working but it is expected you will spend the majority of your time on site.

The MDC research programme is structured around three themes, two workstreams and two core functions. The NIHR MDC’s research will help answer the most important questions facing policy makers, Local Authorities and service providers. Patient and Public Involvement is a key aspect of the Consortium’s work and the postholder will work closely with the Community Engagement and Coproduction (CECP) core function to ensure that all activities are grounded in lived experience, with people and communities as equal partners in research, governance and dissemination.

The role is to work within the NIHR MDC to co-develop and deliver the patient and public involvement and engagement (PPI/E) strategy and related operational activity. Reporting to the Consortium Programme Manager (Newcastle), you will work collaboratively with the co-leads of the MDC’s Community Engagement and Coproduction core function, supporting the PPI/E activities of the consortium. Ensuring that there is meaningful public and patient representation embedded across all activities in the MDC is a priority. Our themes will be working closely with public contributors to design, deliver and disseminate our research. We aim to provide diverse opportunities for patients and members of the public (especially those from underserved populations) to be involved, making sure that our research is informed by the broadest range of experiences. This is a part time role for 22.2 hours per week. This is a fixed term role until 31/07/2030.

Key Accountabilities

• Contribute to the development and delivery of the Consortium’s PPI/E strategy.
• Proactively identify public involvement and engagement opportunities to support the development of the theme and workstream programmes, to enable delivery of outstanding and exemplary PPI/E activity.
• In collaboration with the CECP core function and Capacity Development and Training Manager, establish a programme of PPI/E training for staff and PPI/E contributors, including design and delivery of workshops and presentations to support learning and promote capacity development.
• Work closely with the Consortium’s co-leads and theme/workstream/core function leads to develop evaluation processes to enable assessment of PPI/E impact for reporting purposes (e.g. Researchfish), and oversee their implementation across the themes and workstreams.
• Responsible for the collation and management of information about our PPI/E activity.
• Monitoring, evaluating and reporting PPI/E of consortium-level activities and impact to both the funder and a range of other audiences including academic and non-academic.
• Support the PPI/E representatives on the Consortium’s Executive Group, Research Leads and Capacity Development Leads Groups.
• Responsible for liaising with and building strong relationships with public contributors across the Consortium, including acting as a point of contact, supporting their attendance at meetings, provision of training as needed and providing guidance on remuneration.
• Take an active role in local, regional and national PPI/E networks, including relevant patient groups/organisations, voluntary and community sectors, to share learning from our activities and maintain up-to-date knowledge of best practice in PPI/E.
• Proactively identify public engagement opportunities and lead the development and delivery of a programme of activities, with a focus on novel and innovative approaches that will promote awareness of maternity disparities among population groups who are underserved by research.
• Provide guidance on the use of accessible language for the website and written materials, such as plain English summaries, patient information sheets and for feedback to public contributors.
• Develop publicity materials and reports, website content and other written materials to ensure optimal external visibility of Consortium, theme and workstream PPI/E.
• Facilitate patient and public involvement in disseminating research findings to a wide range of audiences, including professionals, policy makers, third sector and the public.
• Manage the Consortium’s PPI/E budget working with the Consortium’s programme manager (Newcastle) and provide effective financial management in support of PPI/E activity. This will involve working with the themes/workstreams to develop budget plans, costing and forecasting.
• Be aware of and comply with current data protection legislation, and ensure that all activity, data collection and management comply with these demands.
• Contribute to the delivery of wider NIHR MDC events to support and enable inclusion of patients and public.
• Any other relevant PPI/E activities required by the MDC co-leads.

Knowledge, Skills And Experience

• Experience of developing, implementing and evaluating patient and public engagement and involvement strategies and methodologies, preferably in a research environment.
• Experience of project management, with the ability to work across multiple projects, meeting project milestones and producing high quality outputs.
• Experience of engaging with community groups and voluntary sector organisations.
• Experience of public engagement networks and patient involvement, including working with patients or public in developing processes and practices to achieve agreed objectives.
• An awareness of PPI/E best practice and healthcare funder priorities.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills relevant to interaction with, and dissemination of information to, mixed audiences (via verbal, written and other media).
• Ability to use initiative, prioritise and have a creative approach to problem solving.
• Ability to work flexibly and co-operatively with others as part of a multi-professional team, but also able to deliver work independently.
• Strong IT skills.
• Experience of engagement event organisation and management, including skilled at chairing meetings.
• The ability to maintain confidentiality and to handle difficult or sensitive situations.

Desirable

• Experience of working in a healthcare or HE Research Environment.
• Experience of maternity care research.

Attributes and Behaviour

• Planning and Organising: Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively.
• Communicating: Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two-way communication process.
• Delivering Services: Works continually towards achieving excellent service delivery through understanding and meeting/exceeding the expectations of stakeholders.
• Gathering Information: Gathers a broad range of relevant information from internal and external sources making this information widely available.

Qualifications

Educated to degree level or equivalent, plus extensive relevant experience.

Equal Opportunities and Diversity

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population. At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.