Research Associate - Refugees Care: Employment Pathways in Northeast England

Salary: Research Associate: £35,608 - £43,482 per annum

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: 17 October 2025

The Role

The role and responsibility of this Research Associate will be to conduct research on the project ‘Refugees Care: Employment Pathways in Northeast England’.

This is an ESRC funded project examining the working lives of refugee healthcare professionals in the northeast of England. We are working to understand the challenges of resettlement and employment that refugees are experiencing. A key focus will be building an institutional partnership between Newcastle University’s School of Medicine, refugee advocacy groups and NHS funders to support the recertification of migrant healthcare professionals. We will also be making a documentary film highlighting the important contributions that refugees are making in the National Health Service.

This project brings together colleagues from the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology (Caleb Johnston, Jen Bagelman), School of Medicine (Clare Guilding), and Culture Lab (Alastair Cole). We are working in partnership with Investing in People and Culture, a refugee-led charity with offices in Newcastle and Middlesborough.  

We are looking for someone to join the research team. The RA will help coordinate project activities, assist with fieldwork (interviews) and co-author outputs.

For informal enquires please contact Matej Blazek (MATEJ.BLAZEK@NEWCASTLE.AC.UK) 

This role is fixed term for Fixed term for 24 months 

Key Accountabilities

• Coordinate and track overall research activities.
• Organise interview schedule.
• Conduct qualitative interviews.
• Facilitate communication between stakeholders.
• Work independently and collaboratively.
• Present academic findings.
• Co-author publications and community reports.
• Develop future career trajectory.

The Person 

Knowledge and skills

• Experience of qualitative research.
• Experience of qualitative analysis using Nvivo software.
• Knowledge of and experience working with refugee and migrant advocacy groups in Northeast England (Tyne and Wear, Tees Valley, specifically).
• Multilingual experience (is an asset).
• Experience of writing reports.
• Experience of coordination between multiple stakeholders.
• Experience in the social service sector in England (is an assest).

Attributes and behaviour

• Willingness to take initiative.
• Excellent organisation skills, with the ability to plan and prioritise work to meet deadlines with good attention to detail.
• Commitment to personal development.
• Ability to conduct fieldwork in Northeast England (e.g., Newcastle, Gateshead, Darlington, Middlesborough) and to travel elsewhere in the UK for shorter periods of fieldwork (Manchester, London).

Qualification

• PhD in human geography or closely related subject.

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 silver 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: 28666