Intergrated Health Research Assistant/As

Salary:  

Research Assistant:  £33,951 - £35,608 per annum, pro rata

Research Associate: £36,636 - £46,049 per anum, pro rata

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 26 May 2026

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced health services researcher to contribute to research in the important area of patient safety, as part of the NIHR Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration. You will work with stakeholders from local authorities, across primary, secondary and voluntary sector settings and with patient and public groups. You will be tasked to explore the key challenges that exist at the individual, organisational and system level and work in collaboration with stakeholders and patients and the public to identify the priorities and strategies towards improving and innovating health and social care for patients with MLTCs. We will be taking a keen focus on working with and improving care for patients who are recognised as experiencing health inequalities.

A key project will be to contribute to the evaluation hospital-based services. This will involve qualitative data collection in different clinical based areas and working with the wider research team to ensure consistency of data collection across all participating sites. You will be required to collect qualitative data using both interviews, focus groups, and observational based methods. 

Main duties of the job
•    To support the Research Lead in carrying out data collection, analysis and report writing for various research projects within the NIHR Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration
•    To assist with study set up and protocol design
•    To assist in designing and piloting suitable methods for data collection
•    To schedule data collection, data analysis and writing up for one or more concurrent research studies
•    To collect data using appropriate qualitative or quantitative, according to the relevant study protocol. Some flexibility in working hours may be required
•    To design appropriate databases for the management and analysis of data

You will join a vibrant team of researchers within the Newcastle NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC). This post is an appointment to the ‘Safer integrated health and social care environments for patients with multiple long-term conditions’ theme. Research within this theme will focus on:     
1) understanding the behavioural and digital landscape of health and social care delivery 
2) understanding the current evidence for integrated health and social care 
3) using this knowledge and evidence to inform the design, delivery and testing
of strategies and interventions to improve the safety and effectiveness of care or patients with MLTCs  

This post is part time for 16 hours per week, fixed term until 31th March 2028.  

For informal enquiries contact: matthew.cooper2@ncl.ac.uk

For informal enquiries about the Newcastle PSRC contact: Professor Andy Husband PSRC Director on andy.husband@newcastle.ac.uk

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/ 

Find out more about our Research Institutes here:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/

For more information about the PSRC, please visit:
https://psrc-ncl.nihr.ac.uk.

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Key Accountabilities

•    Although working under the general guidance of an academic or Principal Investigator, the postholder will contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of the study, thus providing substantial 'added value'
•    Working in a clinical/ hospital environment with patients and staff
•    Recording qualitative data, interviewing and observing practice
•    Working as part of a national team and collaborating with other researchers
•    Undertake and contribute to public/patient involvement/engagement (PPIE) to support the study
•    Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques and equipment as outlined in the personal requirements 
•    Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations
•    Contribute to the writing up of their research for publication and dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications
•    Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
•    May be involved in the supervision, with guidance, of final year undergraduate research projects and in providing support to postgraduate research students or Research Assistants 
•    Will need to work with the support staff and, on occasions, with undergraduate and postgraduate students, and interact intellectually with other academic members of the Institute
•    May contribute to events celebrating the public engagement of science/social sciences/humanities
•    Develop an awareness of University structures, policies and procedures and relevant issues in the higher education, research, social and political environment
•    Experience and/or understanding of public/patient involvement/engagement in research
•    To ensure compliance with secure handling of data
•    Work with data engineers to understand and inform functionality and patient usability and accessibility of digital tools and interfaces that facilitate safe integrated care

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

Essential
•    Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills
•    Detailed methodological knowledge of qualitative research including interviews and ethnography
•    Experience of ethnography or observational research 
•    Advanced skills directly related to the research study 
•    High level of analytical and problem-solving capability 
•    Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and to encourage the commitment of others 
•    Experience of research with clear transferable skills and some experience or awareness of the research environment 
•    Presentations at conferences and/or high-quality publications 
•    Working knowledge and appreciation of effective patient and public engagement and involvement strategies in research and quality improvement
•    High level of skills in literature reviewing and systematic synthesis methodologies, e.g., systematic, scoping, realist reviews, etc.

Desirable

•    Experience of research using behavioural/implementation science 
•    Working within clinical settings
•    PhD in a health/social/care topic

Attributes and Behaviour

Essential
•    Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative
•    Flexibility and ability to multitask
•    Consistent and appropriate approach to staff and situations
•    Use of feedback for process improvement and staff development
•    Team player, self-starter and able to manage complex workload
•    Ability to respond enthusiastically and positively to students

Qualifications

•    Honours degree in relevant subject (for appointment at Assistant level)
•    Demonstrative skills in qualitative research whether through a training record, or through active projects or dissemination outputs using this as a methodology

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29255