Job Description

Faculty of Medicine and Health SciencesDepartment of PsychiatryMental Health Information Centre of Southern AfricaPart-time (5/8) Administrative Officer A1 (Job Level 10.1)(One-year fixed-term contract without benefits)(Tygerberg Campus)Verw. TGB09/259/0924Duties:Service delivery:Call / contact centre management: providing internet, telephone, and email information to callers and referral services with a 24 hour turn-around period.Maintaining the MHIC website, service provider database, Facebook, X (previously known as Twitter), updating the content by adding new posts on a daily basis, and verifying and registering new mental health professionals on the MHIC database.Media liaison: compiling and distributing press releases, assisting journalists in writing mental health (MH) related articles, and arranging interviews with MH professionals for radio/TV.Liaising with local, national and international mental health role players, such as SAFMH, Cape Mental Health, CPMH, SADAG, the DANA Alliance for Brain Initiatives, WFMH, NIMH, and IBRO.Liaising with Health24 and SA Healthinfo to review, update, or write new information for their websites.Collaborating with research, academic, government, non-governmental, and consumer bodies.Marketing and promoting MHIC services and products (liaising with different stakeholders such as the media, corporate partners, pharmaceutical companies, mental health advocacy groups, other SU departments and international organisations such as the Dana Alliance to increase awareness of MHIC activities).Community interaction:Hosting, coordinating and participating in local mental health awareness campaigns.Administration and funding:Writing funding proposals and sponsorship letters to possible donors/funders/sponsors.Daily logging of call centre enquiries, website and service provider database activities.Archiving MHIC orders and payments.Updating MHIC information brochures (Afrikaans, English, and isiXhosa).Supervising volunteers at the MHIC.Research/academic involvement:Academic year day participation at Stellenbosch Universitys (SU)Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.Attending and presenting MHIC data at relevant workshops.Attending and presenting data at local and international conferences such as the World Mental Health Conference, the World Conference about Psychiatric Associations,PHASA (Public Health Association) Conference, and symposiums such as the SU Community Interaction Symposium.Undertaking research studies and surveys.Assisting with the recruitment of participants for research studies of the MRC Unit on Risk andResilience in Mental Disorders.Assisting with drawing blood / sample collection for different research trials.Ongoing collaborations:Varsity Sports SpeakUp campaign: Prof Lizette Rabe lrabe@sun.ac.zaCrazysocks4docs campaign: Prof Lizette Rabe, SUHope Hike and Bike: Prof Lizette Rabe, SUCaring Universities Project (International Study on Student Health and Wellness): Prof Jason Bantjes jbantjes@sun.ac.zaFrederik van Zijl Slabbert Institute (facilitating and presenting short course Wellness in the World of Work annually): Mr Spurgeon-Haddon Wilson, the Programme Manager for the FVZS Institute for Student Leadership Development. spurgeon@sun.ac.zaTextbook of Psychiatry, SU assisting with coordinating, updating, and grammatical editing.Requirements:An honours / masters degree (in health or social sciences) and a strong background in psychology/psychiatry and mental health services.At least four years experience working in the mental health field.Excellent writing skills in both Afrikaans and English (essential for updates of MHIC brochures, assisting journalists with mental health related articles, etc).Excellent interpersonal skills: the ability to work with people on different levels and from different cultural backgrounds e.g., mental health professionals, media (written, radio, television), public, MH organisations, corporate companies such as pharmaceutical companies, etc.The ability and availability to do radio and television talks and presentations on mental health related topics (including after hours, if need be).The ability to present at conferences / workshops e.g., academic year day at SU, local and international conferences, symposia, etc.Effective daily administration: project planning, time management, working within a budget, compiling funding proposals and sponsorship letters, etc.Knowledge of website building and maintenance, including WordPress.Good working knowledge of all Office applications, including PowerPoint and Publisher, as well as SPSS statistics software.The ability to work under pressure, to prioritise, and to adhere to deadlines.Must be fluent in Afrikaans and English (languages of the majority of callers to the MHIC).Recommendations:Previous exposure to business or project management practices.Research experience in a relevant area.Qualification (and therefore registration with a professional South African body) to do clinical work for research trials, such as drawing blood, collecting saliva samples, or any other clinical work needed by the Unit.Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Certificate.

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