Canberra Health Services (CHS) is focused on the delivery of high quality, effective, person-centred care. It provides acute, sub-acute, primary and community-based health services to the Australian Capital Territory and the surrounding ACT. More information can be found on the CHS website.

The CHS palliative care services are based at the Canberra Regional Cancer Centre at the Canberra Hospital and Clare Holland House (CHH) and provide high quality consultation, inpatient and outpatient and community palliative care to the patients from the ACT and surrounding regions. The Palliative Care Research Unit is based at CHH but functions across the health service.

The research officer position provides key support and coordination of clinical research projects undertaken by the Palliative Care Research Unit at Canberra Health Services. Current projects that this is responsible for includes the multi-site iSupport for carers of people with dementia trial, and the “Getting Ready” education for death-literacy for the ACT pilot but other work including collaborative studies with the Palliative care clinical studies collaborative (PaCCSC) and Cancer Symptom Trials (CST) collaborative groups. The main responsibilities of the research officer will be to act as a support for all aspects of the planning, conduct, implementation, and management of a clinical research including ethics approvals, and contractual and regulatory management and collaboration with other research and clinical staff. The research officer will act as a contact person responsible for ensuring milestones are achieved and conduct of research is compliant with Good Clinical Practice. His/her work is under the Director of Palliative Care and Palliative Care CNC.

1. Support the research unit head and other Investigators in the planning and conduct of research unit projects to ensure compliance with the protocol and legislative and policy requirements in line with Good Clinical Practice.
2. Preparation of documentation and budgets for ethics and governance submissions and the preparation of study materials, such as information sheets.
3. Assisting the team with development of recruitment strategies and recruitment of participants.
4. Liaison with study participants, including scheduling of meetings, interviews and follow-up where required.
5. Collaboration with individuals and teams related to the conduct of the research units projects including clinical trial sponsors, monitors and associated healthcare staff, community organisations, research services and other internal and external departments with reference to the National Clinical Trials Governance Framework and the plans associated with existing projects.
6. Preparation and maintenance of clinical notes and data entry into electronic case report forms and updating relevant databases.
7. Willingness to develop within the research officer role, by continuing professional education and attending research and investigator meetings.
8. Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

• Communicative responsibilities for stakeholder engagement including liaising in relation to project or unit requirement and responding to inquiries to community members, research team members, funders, and clinicians.
• Administrative responsibility for applications, reporting and communication requirements of the research unit including roles in generating ethics applications and drafting reports to funders with supervision.
• Administrative responsibilities for supporting key process of the research team including scheduling meetings, maintaining awareness of unit milestones, developing agendas for meetings, and recording minutes with guidance from the team regarding priorities.
• Administrative responsibilities for some aspects of team budgeting including completion and verification of payment and invoices relating to project work with supervision.
• Regulatory responsibilities for supporting and maintaining adherence of project work to regulatory requirements including GCP and for site assessments.
• Technical responsibilities for conducting research activities with support and supervision including administering surveys and conducting interviews, accruing research data, and conducting data analysis.
• Technical responsibilities for designing and developing research plans and products with support and supervision including planning projects to meet research aims and outcomes and developing tools and processes for use within research projects.
• Technical responsibilities for roles in writing project outputs and disseminating findings from projects in collaboration and with support from the research team.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following.

Essential

• Tertiary Qualification or related qualification in relevant health professional area, in medical science, or appropriate research qualification.
• Current Good Clinical Practice certification.

Desirable

• Have an understanding of how relevant National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines align with this role.
• Completion or commencement of a higher degree in research or a plan to enroll in a HDR program.

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to the following.

Essential

• Prior experience in working in research projects or working in a project officer capacity.
• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.
• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in alignment to the CHS Exceptional Care Framework and all other related frameworks.

Desirable

• Prior experience in conduct of clinical trials will be highly desirable.
• Prior experience in direct conduct of projects using qualitative methodologies, and quantitative methodologies will be highly desirable.
• Prior experience with use of IT platforms related to research work such as Microsoft forms, excel, power point, word, red cap, SPSS, or NVIVO.

• Pre-employment National Police Check.
• Current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 is required.

Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.

All employees are required to:

• adhere to the Canberra Health Services Values and the ACT Public Service Code of Conduct
• act in accordance and comply with all relevant Safety and Quality policies and procedures.

CHS is leading the drive to digitally transform health service delivery in Australia through the implementation of a territory wide Digital Health Record. Computer literacy skills are required which are relevant to this role as you will be responsible for completing required documentation and becoming a proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems; once proficient, you will need to remain current with changes, updates, and contingencies.

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your resumé and experience.

1. Understand the key principles of good clinical practice.
2. Demonstrated ability to communicate verbally and in writing with patients, the research unit team and Multidisciplinary Groups, and establish relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
3. Experience in research project planning and project management, delivery of outcomes, goals, deliverables, assessing work priorities and managing conflicting deadlines.
4. Demonstrated capacity to work, learn and grow within a multi-disciplinary team environment.
5. Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, Work Health and Safety and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful, and kind.

The following work environment description outlines the inherent requirements of the role and indicates how frequently each of these requirements would need to be performed. Please note that the ACT Public Service is committed to providing reasonable adjustments and ensuring all individuals have equal opportunities in the workplace.

Administrative	Frequency
Telephone use	Frequently
General computer use	Frequently
Extensive keying/data entry	Frequently
Graphical/analytical based	Frequently
Sitting at a desk	Frequently
Standing for long periods	Occasionally

Psychosocial demands	Frequency
Distressed People e.g. Emergency or grief situations	Occasionally
Aggressive & Uncooperative People e.g. drug / alcohol, dementia, mental illness	Occasionally
Unpredictable People e.g. Dementia, mental illness, head injuries	Occasionally
Restraining e.g. involvement in physical containment of clients/consumers	Never
Exposure to Distressing Situations e.g. Child abuse, viewing dead / mutilated bodies; verbal abuse; domestic violence; suicide	Never

Physical demands	Frequency
Distance walking (large buildings or inter-building transit)	Occasionally
Working outdoors	Never

Manual handling	Frequency
Lifting 0 - 9kg	Frequently
Lifting 10 - 15kg	Occasionally
Lifting 16kg+	Never
Climbing	Never
Running	Never
Reaching	Occasionally
Kneeling	Never
Foot and leg movement	Frequently
Hand, arm and grasping movements	Frequently
Bending/squatting	Occasionally
Bend/Lean Forward from Waist/Trunk twisting	Frequently
Push/pull	Occasionally
Sequential repetitive movements in a short amount of time	Frequently

Travel	Frequency
Frequent travel – multiple work sites	Frequently
Frequent travel – driving	Frequently

Specific hazards	Frequency
Working at heights	Never
Exposure to extreme temperatures	Never
Operation of heavy machinery e.g. forklift	Never
Confined spaces	Never
Excessive noise	Never
Low lighting	Never
Handling of dangerous goods/equipment e.g. gases; liquids; biological.	Never
Slippery or uneven surfaces	Never