Job summary
- Main area
- Research and Development
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21698
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS FoundationTrust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Sussex Education Centre
- Town
- Hove
- Salary
- £26,530 - £29,114 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Clinic Research Assistant (OCD)
NHS AfC: Band 4
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 seeking to employ a research assistant in the OCD Clinic in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust for 15 hours a week.
This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in developing the OCD Clinic and the clinical service for people experiencing OCD in the Trust.
Main duties of the job
You will support with data analysis and reporting, and will also have a small caseload where they will support service users to engage in CBT for OCD. We are hoping that the clinic will be expanding into children and young people’s services and there will be opportunity to support with this expansion.
The lived experience advisory panel (LEAP) for the OCD Clinic is growing and you will have a key role in working with the LEAP to support developments in the clinic.
You will also work alongside clinicians working in the service and will have the opportunity to supervise undergraduate placement students working in the clinic.
Your supervision will be provided by Prof. Clara Strauss, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Deputy Director of R&D.
Working for our organisation
The OCD Clinic is a passionate group of clinicians working in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services and secondary care adult mental health services who are strongly committed to offering effective treatment to people living with OCD. The clinic has a growing and committed Lived Experience Advisory Forum to contribute to developments in the clinic.
As well as working within the immediate clinic team, you will also work within the wider Research Department. You will work closely with your line manager and have regular contact and supervision with them and the other Clinical leads. You will also have group supervision with the other clinic RAs within the Department of Research and Development. This is an informal group of those who have a similar role and a good forum to share experiences and learn from each other.
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part time hours, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Support the daily running of the OCD clinic
- Work with the Lived Experience Advisory Panel in the clinic to support developments in the clinic
- Support service users to engage with CBT for OCD therapy tasks
- Support with data entry, data analysis and report writing to evaluate the effectiveness of the clinic
- Support undergraduate placement students working in the clinic with their learning
- Attend monthly OCD Clinic team meetings to contribute to discussions and to take minutes
- Be involved in the wider R&D department and attend monthly clinic RA working groups
- Support and offer supervision to a Psychology Placement Student within the Clinic
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Diploma or Higher National Certificate in Research
Desirable criteria
- Hold a relevant undergraduate degree at 2:1 or equivalent
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of using SPSS for data entry and data analysis purposes
- Experience of quantitative and qualitative data analysis and report writing
Desirable criteria
- Minimum 2 years administration Experience
- Experience of working with people experiencing OCD or of personal experience of OCD
- Research experience
- Familiarity with NICE guidelines for OCD
- Familiarity with CBT for OCD
- Experience of offering psychologically-informed interventions
- Experience of working in the NHS
Knowledge, Skills, Competencies
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of research methodologies
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and members of the Multidisciplinary Team
Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- A commitment to improving mental health care
- A commitment to co-production and working alongside people with lived experience
- Mobility to travel across sites.
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Evelin Vogel
- Job title
- Research Clinic Project Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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