Research Officer

Job description

Job responsibilities

The HFEA has a statutory responsibility to keep a Register of information about donors, fertility treatments and children born as a result of those treatments. Established in 1991, the Register is thought to be the largest database of fertility treatments in the world. https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/our-data/

Working as part of the Research and Intelligence team, the Research Officer will be responsible for dealing with intelligence-related patient, public and media enquiries, including freedom of information requests (FOIs) and parliamentary questions (PQs). The postholder will also support the Research Manager in managing intelligence projects using Register data and giving advice internally and externally.

The Research Officer will be a skilled communicator with good analytical skills and have the ability to work as part of a team. A key part of this role will be to act as secretary to the Register Research Panel and to support our growing relationships with researchers to meet the HFEAs strategic objective to promote research.

1. Key responsibilities

Were looking for a proactive and innovative individual to:

1. Liaise with and advise external researchers who are applying for access to Register data for the purposes of research, ensuring business is conducted in line with statutory regulations

2. Act as secretariat to the Register Research Panel, including planning meeting agendas, logistics, drafting and presenting papers, liaising with the Chair and coordinating its work

3. Be responsible for developing and maintaining the processes for responding to intelligence-related enquiries from patients and external stakeholders including FOIs and PQs

4. Support Research and Intelligence colleagues to translate and quality assure data extracts from the Register and other sources into publications and reports for internal and external use

5. Manage small-scale intelligence projects and processes, and project management documents where needed

Person Specification

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of qualitative or quantitative research methodologies
• IT skills including a good working knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent

Desirable

• Qualification in science, health, information management or statistical analysis

Experience

Essential

• Good analytical skills involving large, complex or sensitive datasets
• Ability to draw intelligence from data for internal and external audiences
• Ability to liaise with external audiences, including professionals and handle sensitive patient enquiries
• Good written and verbal communication skills including an ability to support understanding of complex information to a range of audiences
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Experience managing stakeholders and/or handling enquiries from the public

Desirable

• Experience of using Tableau or Power BI
• Understanding of information governance including FOI or GDPR
• Experience of working with committees

Employer details

Employer name

Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority

Address

2nd Floor

2 Redman Place

London

E20 1JQ

Employer's website

https://www.hfea.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)