Pancreatic Cancer UK

Job Description

Title: Services Officer

Accountable to: Information and Development Manager

Location Head Office in Vauxhall, London

Contract Permanent

Salary Circa £25,000

Hours 35 hours per week

About Pancreatic Cancer UK

Pancreatic Cancer UK is the only national charity fighting pancreatic cancer on all fronts: Support, Information, Campaigning and Research.

Following our Study for Survival in 2011, Pancreatic Cancer UK launched the Campaign for Hope which sets out two ambitious goals:  to double five-year pancreatic cancer survival rates within five years  to change the NHS experience of pancreatic cancer patients from being one of the worst to one of the best.

We provide an expert, personalised support and information service, with the ultimate aim of enabling patients to enjoy an extended, happy and fulfilled life, bringing hope to them and their families.

We fund innovative research that makes the most impact with limited resources and leverages additional investment - and development of new talent - through our own research expenditure.

Working closely with patients and their families and carers, clinicians and other healthcare professionals, researchers, politicians and policy makers, we seek to increase awareness of the disease and campaign to bring about change in order to achieve our Campaign for Hope goals.

Pancreatic Cancer UK - Support and Information Service  We run a confidential Support Line for anyone affected by pancreatic cancer. Our Support Team provide individual specialist information about pancreatic cancer, treatment options and managing symptoms and side effects. We also listen to concerns and provide support.  We run online discussion forums for pancreatic cancer patients and carers and families to enable them to share experiences, information, inspiration and hope -http://forum.pancreaticcancer.org.uk  We run online live chat sessions where people affected by pancreatic cancer can chat to each other in real time.  We provide easy access to the best and most up-to-date information on pancreatic cancer through our website and a growing range of printed materials – www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk

The Post

This is an exciting new post within the Information and Support Team to support the development and delivery of services which provide information on pancreatic cancer, emotional and practical support and bring people affected by pancreatic cancer together.

The post holder will be act as an initial contact for services users, co-ordinate smooth running of service activities, co-ordinate the distribution of information, maintain the support and information webpages and help to monitor and evaluate the services. The post holder will also be involved in research activities to support the work of the team including carrying out literature reviews, evaluating research evidence and conducting and analysing user research. They will also be involved in helping to market and promote services to the NHS and public and to provide event administration to the health professional training programme.

The other members of the services team are home based and come into the London office every Tuesday. Therefore the post holder will be the main representative of the services team within the London office and must be able to work on their own initiative and to establish working practices which enable them to support a team that is based off site.

Main Responsibilities

Services Support

 Provide initial contact for Support Line users and online services users.  Maintain and develop infrastructure (e.g. IT, telephone and database systems) for service delivery working with the Information and Development Manager.  Develop and implement information distribution and stock control systems.  Moderation of online discussion forums.  Analyse service usage data and provide monthly and annual reports for Information and Development Manager.  Support monitoring and evaluation of services including survey design and analysis.  Ensure service activity records conform to data protection legislation.  Maintain and develop Information and Support Section of the website.  Provide events administration for external training programme.  Support the Information and Development Manager in investigating any new areas of service delivery.  Provide support to the Information and Development Manager and other members of the services team.

Research  Provide horizon scanning for the services team on new developments in pancreatic cancer treatment and care and NHS policy.  Conduct searches for high quality research on pancreatic cancer.  Carry out literature reviews on pancreatic cancer topics and evaluate evidence.  Carry out user research on the needs of people with pancreatic cancer.  Attend relevant conferences, seminars and training courses on pancreatic cancer.

Marketing and Promotion

 Work with the Information and Development Manager on the promotion of information and services to the NHS and public.  Co-ordinate promotional mailings to the NHS.  Research marketing opportunities for services.  Maintain health professional network database and facilitate contact between members.  Edit, design and distribution of health professional bulletin.  Support development of new services marketing materials.  Co-ordinate external promotional activities e.g. stands at external conferences.

General Requirements

To: • give consideration to cost efficiency at all times. • ensure all appropriate information is kept up to date and to maintain accurate records. • prepare and present written reports and information as required. • maintain confidentiality regarding client and supporter information at all times. • adhere to the policies set out by the organisation.

Person Specification E = Essential criteria D = Desirable criteria

Education

A high level of literacy and numeracy (E) Educated to degree level (E)

Knowledge & Experience

 At least 2 years experience of working for a Charity, NHS or services organisation (E)  Experience of working with people affected by cancer or another health condition (E)  Experience of carrying out quantitative and qualitative research (E)  Experience of conducting literature searches, literature reviews and evaluating evidence (E)  Experience of analysing data and producing reports on the data (E)  Experience of marketing a product or service (D)  Understanding of NHS structures (D)  Some experience of managing projects (E)  Experience of providing administrative support (E)  Excellent working knowledge of a range of IT packages, including Microsoft Office (eg word, excel, outlook, PowerPoint etc.) (E)  Experience of using databases (D)

Skills/ Personal Attributes (all Essential)

 Ability to have empathy with service users.  Ability to build, develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including service users, healthcare professionals and researchers.  An interest in online information and service provision and willingness to undertake training and develop skills in IT programmes used to update our website, run the discussion forums and provide the live web chat service.  Excellent verbal and written communication skills.  Ability to prioritise and organise own workload and meet deadlines.  Great attention to detail.  A self starter, able to work on own initiative and anticipate problems.  Ability to work in a team environment.  Highly motivated with the ability to learn to manage a wide range of projects.  Ability to show tact and discretion when dealing with sensitive and confidential information.  A flexible approach, prepared to work on tasks and projects at a wide range of levels, including data entry when necessary.  Willingness to learn about pancreatic cancer.  Belief in and commitment to the work of Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Flexibility: In order to work effectively in a changing environment, flexibility is required from the post-holder. Any other tasks that may be requested will be at the same level of responsibility and terms and conditions of employment.

As our live chat service is run in the evenings, the post-holder most be prepared to work during the evenings on some occasions. To support the work of the charity the post-holder must be prepared to travel throughout the UK and to occasionally work at weekends.