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Research Associate, Medtech Innovation @ Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Warrington, England, GBOnsiteContractJob reference C9350-26-1043
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About this role

Job summary

This role sits within Research and Innovation and is critical to the delivery of robust, ethical and impactful research. It will support a growing programme of research into the medical technologies and digital innovations.

The postholder will have responsibility for the successful delivery of specific projects and activities. They will contribute to mixed-methods evaluations, longitudinal studies, and feasibility research, with a focus on participant recruitment, fieldwork, data analysis, and stakeholder engagement. They will work in close partnership with Industry, and academic collaborators and ensure that the research informs clinical applications of medical technologies and digital innovations for patient benefit and service delivery.

Main duties of the job

The postholder will successfully monitor the delivery of project management tools, techniques and experience. They will ensure programmes/ projects/ activities adapt to changing requirements and that plans are adjusted accordingly so that the deliverables are on time and to specified quality. They will initiate, support and manage the on-going and new development of programmes/ projects/ activities supported by a robust governance structure in order to enhance quality and compliance across the NHS, industry and academic collaborators.

Duties and responsibilities

In collaboration with the Research Team and M-RIC oversee implementation and delivery of the rolling programme of research in medical technology and digital innovation activities.

To support Senior Research Lead with grant applications, evaluation tenders and business planning.

To apply ethical, and inclusive approaches to research and evaluation across mental health and community settings.

To support all aspects of research delivery, including study setup, ethics and governance compliance, and ongoing project coordination and management.

To develop, pilot, and administer quantitative and mixed-methods tools such as statistical analysis, interview schedules, surveys, and observation protocols.

To plan, initiate and project manage the delivery of programmes/projects to time, budget and quality requirements via the application of agreed PMO tools, techniques, and expertise.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further details of this role or contact the recruiting manager for more information.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Postgraduate degree (e.g. psychology, Public Health, Neuroscience, Data Science)

Desirable

  • Research methods training or accreditation in applied clinical research

Experience

Essential

  • Experience in applied research or evaluation roles
  • Expertise within research, underpinned by theory and practical experience
  • Experience using data analysis software (e.g. STATA, R, NVivio)
  • Experience supporting service-user or lived experience involvement in research
  • Experience conducting and reporting on qualitative and/or quantitative research
  • Demonstratable experience in applied research or evaluation

Desirable

  • Experience of research in forensic or mental health settings

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of research in practice, acquired through academic training, plus further management knowledge.
  • Knowledge of research ethics, governance processes, and information security in healthcare settings
  • Knowledge of research ethics and governance frameworks (e.g. HRA)

Desirable

  • Knowledge of NHD ethics application process
  • Knowledge of the criminal justice system, the Mental health system and the Mental Health Act
  • Awareness or knowledge of Government strategy as it relates to personality disordered offenders

Skills

Essential

  • Excellent interpersonal communication skills, able to engage with all levels of hierarchy, both internal to the Trust and across external stakeholder organisations
  • Ability to negotiate, persuade and manage conflict.
  • Competence in interviewing people with mental health/personality related difficulties
  • Good verbal and written communication skills including report writing, presentations and system specifications
  • Ability to work on own or in a group with minimal direct supervision.
  • A flexible and methodical approach to work to meet the needs of the role, adapts to ensure achievement of objectives within changing environment
  • Excellent IT skills, able to use a wide range of software packages including TATA, R, Microsoft Project, PowerPoint, Excel and produce spreadsheets/ formulas with a good working knowledge of information systems and their role in supporting good project management
  • Excellent organisation skills and team leader skills with ability to engage and motivate others
  • Ability to work within a multi-professional team and build rapport with all staff.
  • Self-motivated and able to work autonomously.
  • Ability to project plan and report on performance.
  • Ability to keep accurate and complete records consistent with best practice policies and procedures
  • Ability to extract and analyse complex data from multiple sources with strong analytical and investigative skills
  • Occasional travel across sites for fieldwork, stakeholder engagement or in person data collection. Need to be flexible and willing to travel

Values

Essential

  • Continuous improvement - committed to making improvements to our services for the benefit of all.
  • Accountability - taking ownership to anticipate, develop and deliver high quality care.
  • Respect - how we treat others in an inclusive and supportive way
  • Enthusiasm - demonstrate our passion and pride for what we do and how we do it.
  • Support - actively supporting others with compassion and courage.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Hollins Park Hospital,

Hollins Lane Winwick

Warrington

WA2 8WA

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Skills

Fixed-TermNHSFoundation TrustHealthcare

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