Research Design Methodologist (SRA)

Salary: -  £46,485 - £55,295 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: 12 January 2025

About the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health 

The NIHR aims to increase the generation and use of public health research in non-NHS settings and has made substantial investment of >£22 million to Newcastle University as part of a larger £30M NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) Specialist Centre for Public Health to support this. The Centre has a national remit and is hosted in the Population Health Sciences Institute at Newcastle University.

Established in October 2023, the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health (SCPH) provides national research support for public health research happening outside the NHS. Funded for five years, our vision is to support the development of infrastructure, capacity and capability to support practitioners and researchers to carry out high-quality research to produce robust evidence to inform policy and practice to improve public health and reduce inequalities. 

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) Specialist Centre for Public Health (SCPH) delivered by Newcastle University and Partners, hosted within the Population Health Sciences Institute, at Newcastle University.  

The vision of the SCPH is to develop the infrastructure, capacity and capability to support practitioners and researchers to carry out high quality public health research, outside the NHS, to produce robust evidence to improve population health and reduce health inequalities. 

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the SCPH’s pre-award research design team and be the first point of contact for both established and aspiring researchers wishing to carry out public health research outside the NHS.  Researchers will be from a range of organisations, including local authorities, higher education institutions and the voluntary sector and with varied research experience.  

As a Senior Research Associate, you will provide advice on the design and delivery of public health research.  Your role will be pivotal in developing best practices, fostering collaboration with public health practitioners and enhancing research design and inclusivity.  You will be able to develop and apply your knowledge in public health research and research design methodologies. 

This role offers a unique chance to advance your own research programme while making significant contributions to the SCPH.

The role is available on a full-time basis, fixed term until 30 September 2028.

For informal enquiries, please contact Louise.Hayes@ncl.ac.uk 

Interviews will be held on the 28th January 2025

Key Accountabilities 

•    As part of the SCPH, provide a central point of contact for researchers and aspiring researchers wishing to develop research proposals, including for submission to a range of funding bodies
•    Alongside other methodologists (including statisticians, epidemiologists, health economists, qualitative researchers, evidence synthesis specialists, PIE/EDI specialists), and representatives of other stakeholder organisations, provide high quality design advice and research collaboration to researchers including on research questions, methods, and impact
•    Work closely with the Research Design leads (PRA) to deliver the SCPH pre-award research design service, in support of SCPH strategic aims, ensuring ongoing development, and identifying and mitigating risk to ensure successful delivery of the NIHR contract
•    Develop research proposals and funding bids to carry out your own research and/or contribute to ongoing research projects and programmes
•    Plan and lead high quality research, project managing the research activity, supervising and taking responsibility for the research team.  Plan the research to be undertaken, as a self-contained item or as part of a broader programme. Complete research projects to a high standard, on time and within budget
•    Disseminate research findings through appropriate media to advance knowledge in the field and enhance the University’s reputation for high quality research. This will include authoring or co-authoring papers for publication in high quality academic journals and dissemination of findings at conferences nationally and internationally, as well as other dissemination methods to maximise research impact
•    Attract and supervise PhD students to successful completion of their studies
•    Embed Public Involvement and Engagement, Research Inclusion and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in all activities
•    Attend SCPH triage meetings, working with the support team to allocate workload to SCPH Methodologist advisors that matches their expertise and capacity
•    Co-ordinate and chair meetings with researchers and methodologists to ensure these are constructive and efficient and that actions are clear
•    Ensure that SCPH activities are achieved to agreed quality standards and deadlines and that data are recorded in an accurate and timely manner in the SCPH research design database.  Provide feedback on quarterly basis about clients, and as part of NIHR annual reporting process
•    Remain up to date with SCPH and NIHR Research Support Service initiatives and national developments, including being the lead expert on the requirements for specific funding programmes, ensuring details are shared with researchers and Centre colleagues.
•    Make recommendations and develop SPCH and NIHR Research Support Service training and development resources relevant to your specialist methodology for use on Team intranet and other channels agreed with communications lead. Take part in and provide input to Specialist Centre staff induction and training programmes
•    Represent the SCPH at local and national events, including leading discussions or chairing sessions at conferences playing a prominent role in driving forward SCPH’s national work programme and helping increase uptake of the centre’s services
•    Deputise for the SCPH Research Design leads (PRA) at national forums as appropriate

The Person
 
Knowledge, Skills and Experience

•    Substantial experience of undertaking successful public health research to inform your own research and the ability to advise SPCH researchers regarding theirs, as evidenced by grant applications, international quality publications, methods development, presentations etc.
•    Significant knowledge and experience in an area of research methodology relevant to public health research. (e.g. systematic reviews, mixed methods, realist methods and qualitative research) and hands on experience of designing and delivering research projects
•    Proven knowledge of the funding environment in public health research including a track record of successfully preparing and securing external research funding as lead or co-investigator
•    A significant publication record in peer-reviewed journals, showing evidence of work of at least national/international quality.
•    Extensive knowledge of the processes and requirements of conducting public health research
•    Experience of peer reviewing grant applications or as a member of an awarding body panel, or academic journals or experience of addressing peer review comments as an applicant
•    Strong interpersonal, communication, planning, team working, negotiation and problem-solving skills, alongside the ability to work efficiently and independently under pressure and to multiple deadlines
•    Ability to understand and interpret complex ideas and communicate these simply to broad audiences
•    Experience of managing, mentoring or supervising less experienced researchers

Attributes/Behaviours

•    Self-motivated and proactive
•    Enthusiastic, innovative approach to challenges
•    Ability to provide leadership in multi-disciplinary settings
•    Coaching and mentoring skills to help researchers develop research ideas into project and programmes
•    Ability to provide constructive feedback in a sensitive manner, in particular to inform people to delay applications or wait for later deadline when their application will be more competitive
•    Ability to work with colleagues from a wide range of professional and research backgrounds and roles, and to contribute to the wider team
•    Ability to manage own workload and prioritise a complex set of responsibilities

Qualifications

•    PhD or commensurate professional experience in public health research, health research or a related discipline e.g. health services research, economics, psychology, human nutrition, sociology, health technology assessment, statistics, information specialism; evidence synthesis, realist methods; data science, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
•    Training and/or experience in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods and/or PPIE/EDI/Research Inclusion methods

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: 27810