Job summary
Employer heading
Research and Development Officer
NHS AfC: Band 6
Our Organisation
The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play.
As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.
As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity for two research officers to join the Global Health Unit Research & Development (GHU R&D) team at NHS England.
The successful candidates will work as part of a dynamic team, contributing to high-quality evidence generation, programme evaluation, and decision-making support across the Global Health Unit.
They will be responsible for delivering measurable, impactful research and analysis that strengthens our international partnerships and health workforce initiatives. The roles will involve developing and implementing research strategies, conducting mixed-methods analyses, and producing insightful reports to inform future strategic initiatives.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be expected to support the business needs of the Global Health Unit and contribute to the development and implementation of the wider Global Health Unit Research & Development strategy.
Working as part of a dynamic team, the successful candidate will deliver high-quality research and evaluation services to support Global Health Unit programmes and projects. They will generate and translate evidence to inform decision-making, ensuring that findings are timely, relevant, and impactful. The role involves developing and implementing research strategies, analysing complex data, and producing reports for both internal and external stakeholders.
Working for our organisation
The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
- Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
- Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
- Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
- Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
- Delivering value for money.
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
NHS England hold a Sponsor Licence; this means that we may be able to sponsor you providing the Home Office requirements are met. To be eligible for sponsorship through the Skilled Worker route you’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher. You can find more information on the Government website.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful candidates will:
- Generate and translate high-quality evidence to support Global Health Unit activity
- Ensure timely, relevant findings feed into Global Health Unit and programme decision-making
- Take responsibility for programme and project monitoring and evaluation activities
- Contribute to the wider Global Health Unit R&D strategy
- Develop the evidence base to support activities and prioritisation, collecting, analysing, and interpreting data to a high standard with a clear audit trail
- Identify, access, review, synthesise, and report literature relevant to Global Health Unit programmes, writing programme/project reports for internal and external stakeholders as well as papers for publication
- Ensure programme/project monitoring and evaluation are in line with agreed timescales, informing Senior/Programme leads of progress and issues pertinent to future progress
- Demonstrate knowledge and experience of some of the following; mixed methods analyses, development of valid and reliable measures used in surveys and other tools, designing and implementing innovative qualitative research strategies such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic studies, analysing complex qualitative data using techniques such as discourse analysis or grounded theory, and Developing economic models to assess the cost-effectiveness of our programmes
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- A degree at undergraduate level
- Evidence of delivery and development of high-quality evaluation educational programmes and materials
- A relevant post-graduate research degree or equivalent level of R&D experience
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge and experience of developing and implementing literature search strategies as part of critiquing and synthesizing research literature.
- Knowledge and experience of utilising qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
- Postgraduate research experience, including taking the lead on some or all aspects of monitoring, research, and evaluation activities
- Knowledge of project and programme principles, techniques, and tools e.g., PM3
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and experience of developing and conducting surveys.
- Knowledge and experience of conducting qualitative interviews.
- Knowledge and experience of maintaining confidentiality and implementing data protection legislation requirements including information governance
- An understanding of ethical issues involved in working with Global Health care focused research
- Experience of managing risks and reporting
Skills, Capabilities and Aptitudes
Essential criteria
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in written and spoken English that can be adapted to suit a range of audiences and styles e.g. for academic papers, for professional/service reports, for academic and non-academic audiences
- Ability to complex problem solve and respond to sudden unexpected demands
- Ability to understand a broad range of highly complex information quickly and make decisions where opinions differ or there is no obvious solution or where a range of possible actions may be available
- Demonstrable skills in working independently, using initiative and managing workload to meet agreed deadlines
- Ability and willingness to work and travel flexibly nationally and internationally in a way that optimizes the progress of R&D within the directorate
- Ability to work and make decisions autonomously supported by well-developed organizational and management skills
- Ability to be assertive and to drive the work forward and link to staff at all levels through a programme of collaboration.
- Ability to develop further skills in R&D where required.
Desirable criteria
- Ability to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct the activities of others assuming line management responsibilities for a business area
- Able to maintain concentration and work effectively in a climate where there is an expectation that work patterns may have a large degree of unpredictability
- Excellent administrative skills and ability to pay attention to detail
Values and Behaviours
Essential criteria
- A high degree of self-motivation
- Works in a way that complies with legislation & NHSE policies and procedures on health, safety & risk management
- Uses plain language when carrying out duties
- Aware of the impact of own behaviour on others
- Constructively challenges and accepts constructive challenge from others
Desirable criteria
- Demonstrates both professional and personal credibility
- Interprets equality, diversity, and rights in accordance with legislation, policies, procedures and good practice
- Seeks feedback from others about work to help identify own development need
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Andrew Hammond
- Job title
- Research and Development Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07872816092
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