MemberWise Jobs are pleased to support the Royal College of Surgeons of England to find a dynamic and highly organised Engagement and Outreach Assistant to join their thriving team.

Overview

Looking for a role that will be a key representative in an influential and important Royal College? As the Outreach Assistant, you will provide effective administrative support to the Outreach team’s membership engagement activities across London and the southern regions. You will be responsible for arranging and providing administrative support for meetings and committees, a programme of presidential visits, and recruitment and engagement of regional representatives. The Outreach Assistant will represent RCS England at events and assist with the delivery of key careers activities such as national surgical conferences, workshops for school students and the annual Grassroots in Surgery scheme. You will also support the Head of Outreach with the management and coordination of the Outreach team’s strategic objectives, and act as the central point of contact with internal and external stakeholders. This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to develop a wide-range of skills in administration, event organisation, project management, and communications.

You should have GCSE English and maths or equivalent; demonstrable experience in a support, outreach or engagement role; experience of project coordination, and a proven track record in networking and relationship building. 

Job summary
The purpose of this role is to support The Royal College of Surgeons of England’s (RCS England) engagement activities for members and potential members at every career stage. The Outreach Assistant (Membership Engagement) will provide effective administrative support to the Outreach (South) team and support the coordination of local activities.

This role involves travel throughout the UK, overnight stays and out of hours working.

Specific duties and responsibilities

The role will involve the following specific areas:

1. Engagement, recruitment, retention of members

• Provide administrative support for the programme of engagement activities across London and the south for members and potential members
• Provide administrative support for RCS England representation at regional and national conferences
• Coordinate the programme of Presidential Visits in London and the south
• Support the Head of Outreach and Outreach Officers with the delivery of key careers activities including the national surgical skills competition, Future Surgeons Forum, school and college workshops, Interview Skills Workshops and other external facing events
• Represent the College at events and exhibitions, building networks and relationships with key stakeholders locally

2. Supporting local and national governance

• Arrange and provide administrative support for the Regional Committee and Regional Boards meetings
• Ensure regional representatives receive regular communications about College standards and guidance, policy updates, and relevant local events and activities
• Support the organisation of events, meetings, inductions and appraisals for the South hub and local representatives, e.g. Regional Directors
• Maintain accurate records of key contacts on the RCS England CRM database
• Support the recruitment of Surgical Tutors in collaboration with trusts and the Schools of Surgery

3. Outreach strategic objectives

• Provide administrative support to the delivery of the Outreach team’s strategic projects
• Support the Head of Outreach with the administration, planning and delivery of the diversity project streams, particularly engagement with medical school students and the Grassroots in Surgery Scheme

4. Coordination of the South Hub

• Be the central point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, dealing with phone, email and postal enquiries in the South Hub
• Manage team members’ diaries, travel and accommodation, and timely processing of all stakeholder expenses
• Raise purchase orders and ensure prompt payment and receipting of invoices on RCS England financial systems, including sponsorship requests
• Liaise with support services (e.g. IT, finance) and collaborating with the wider Membership, Marketing and Communications and Outreach (North, Midlands and Scotland) teams to ensure there is appropriate support for regional stakeholders

5. Other duties

• Maintain up to date knowledge of all RCS England activities
• Coordinate and manage information and promotional materials stock
• Comply with data protection requirements
• Provide project management and administrative support to the Head of Outreach
• Any other reasonable duties required by the Head of Outreach

This job description will be subject to review in the light of changing circumstances and may include other duties and responsibilities as may be determined. It is not intended to be rigid or inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works.

Person specification

Essential 
Qualifications

• GCSE English and maths or equivalentExperience and skills
• A demonstrable achievement in a support, outreach or engagement role
• Working collaboratively with senior colleagues and dealing with internal and external stakeholders
• Working collaboratively and flexibly across teams
• The discretion to handle confidential or sensitive information appropriately in line with high standards of information governance
• Experience of establishing and maintaining administrative records
• Experience of arranging and managing events/meetings/committees
• Experience of coordinating projects to agreed timescales and budget
• Using information systems to obtain and disseminate information
• A good working knowledge of all Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, Teams)

Desirable

• Content Management Systems (CMS) experience
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)/database experience)
• Previous experience of supporting a Board/ high-level Committee(s)

People and interpersonal skills

Essential 

• Excellent organisational skills, methodical approach to planning and attention to detail
• Ability to use own initiative and prioritise workload and manage own and others conflicting priorities while meeting deadlines
• Flexible approach to working
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to communicate effectively with both internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent team player, with the confidence to contribute to projects and share experiences and expertise with colleagues

The post holder will also need to demonstrate the following values:

Collaboration: We embrace our collective responsibilities working collaboratively and as one college.

• We work together, using our collective expertise and experience to effect positive change
• We are open, honest and transparent, straightforward in our language and actions, acting with sincerity and delivering on our commitments
• We take our responsibilities to each other, to patient care and to the environment seriously and we act with this in mind across our work

Respect:  We value every person we come into contact with at the College as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand and meet their physical and wellbeing needs.

• We treat everyone we meet with kindness and integrity and we seek to promote these behaviours in others
• We actively seek a range of views and experiences across our work, and we listen to, and make everyone feel, a valued part of the team

Excellence: We aspire to excellence and success. We share learning from our experiences, apply feedback into practice, and commit to continual improvement.

• We work hard to be the best at what we do, recognising and celebrating effort and achievement, and reflecting on our work, so we can learn and improve
• We value and invest in research, education and training to drive excellence and put improvements in surgical practice, dentistry and patient care at the heart of our work
• We always seek to learn and discover more, valuing knowledge and scientific evidence, basing our decisions on insights, fact and experience

The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We are open to all talent and we actively ensure that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regards to race/ethnicity, national origin, religion, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age and disability.