We are recruiting! The National Elf Service requires 2 part-time Elf Coordinators to join our team and support us in the commissioning and editing Mental Elf blogs.
This opportunity will suit a PhD student working in a mental health setting, but may also be of interest to people with lived experience, practitioners or trainees working in the mental health field. We particularly welcome applications from people with knowledge of psychiatric research.
Salary: £260 per day, minimum 2 days per month (flexible)
Start date: as soon as possible
Professional status: Freelance
Location: Remote work
Application deadline: 5 p.m. May 24, 2024
Interviews: date to be confirmed (session June 10, 2024)
Download the job description and application form (Word document).
Introduction to the Mind Elf and the National Elf Service
The Mental Elf is an influential international blogging platform that helps people stay up to date with the latest relevant and reliable mental health research. The independent and inclusive Elf brand is trusted and respected by researchers, doctors, people with lived experience and policy makers. We have website visitors and social media followers in over 180 countries.
The Mental Elf offers over 3,000 free blogs written by over 700 experts (researchers, doctors, people with lived experience). Each blog highlights a new piece of mental health research that is relevant to mental health practice and has important implications.
Thousands of people read Mental Elf blogs every day and our social media campaigns always generate tens of millions of impressions. We have a huge, diverse and loyal following on social media. Our goal has always been to facilitate democratic conversations about mental health research with a diverse audience, using our trusted brand to attract and engage with all important stakeholders.
The Mental Elf also provides paid digital services to a wide variety of clients (universities, NHS, charities, professional organizations etc.). These services include our #BeyondTheRoom live reporting service and a variety of podcast, webinar and video production work.
Our existing team of four part-time Mind Elf coordinators all:
- A good understanding of evidence-based healthcare processes and practice
- A high level of knowledge about mental health research
- Specialized knowledge of a topic in the field of mental health sciences
- Strong science communication and public engagement skills
- Enthusiasm to facilitate democratic discussions about health research with a wide range of people.
Role and responsibilities
There are two new part-time positions vacant in this team, so we are looking for two people who share the above knowledge and philosophy to join us. You want:
A. Take the lead on 6 topics related to mental health. Currently available topics include:
- Arts and culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Complex emotional needs (including personality disorders)
- Dementia
- Economy
- Physical activity
- Psychedelics
- Psychosis
- Secondary care (including hospital care, crisis care)
- Mental health at work
b. Order and edit Mental Elf blogs:
- Finding suitable research articles
- Assign posts to bloggers
- Edit blogs
- Manage deadlines
- Produce 4 blogs ready to publish each month
c. Recruit and lead a network of expert bloggers (clinicians, researchers, people with lived experience)
d. Work with the rest of the Elf team.
Essential requirements
The successful candidate must have:
- Excellent scientific writing and editing skills (including excellent written English)
- Critical appraisal skills in health research
- Knowledge of quantitative research methods
- Familiarity with psychiatric research
- Strong communication skills
- Experience working in a team to produce content or research
- Autonomous and able to manage your own workload.
Desirable requirements
We are particularly interested in hearing from people who also have:
- Previous mental health blogging experience
- Strong social media skills
- Familiarity with project management tools to support remote work
- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in mental health or related field
- Public engagement skills (ability to communicate research in a clear and accessible way to the general public)
- Experience with WordPress content management system.
Inclusive recruitment policy
The National Elf Service team knows that diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equal opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.
We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates currently underrepresented in our team. These include people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, LGBTQI+ people, neurodiverse people and people with lived experience of mental health difficulties.
We also accept applications from international candidates.
Download the job description and application form (Word document).