King's College London

About us

The post will be based in the Centre for Implementation Science (CIS) at King’s College London. The Centre is home to a team of expert implementation and improvement science researchers, including health economists and statisticians. This team investigates how best to ‘implement’ evidence-based practice and clinical research within health services in south London, nationally and internationally. The team studies the role of healthcare professionals, managers, commissioners of health services and policymakers as well as organisational structures and processes to try to understand why health services don’t always offer the safest, most effective treatments and ways of working.

CIS is based in the Department of Health Service & Population Research (HSPR) whose main goal is to conduct world-leading research and education using the social and health sciences to better understand and to improve health outcomes, systems, and care, both locally and globally, particularly in disadvantaged and marginalised populations.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated and experienced researcher with expertise in evidence synthesis (mixed methods) and health services.

The appointed researcher will work on a national study in patient safety looking at Epistemic Exclusion and Patient Safety Participation, aimed at improving decision-making in patient safety for a wider diversity of groups and particularly for those from racialised backgrounds, people with mental health challenges or learning disabilities, who are more likely to experience healthcare harm.

Keys tasks will be to conduct empirical scoping reviews in health services research by synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence and publish in high quality journals supervised by Dr Josephine Ocloo (Study PI), with the support of Evidence Synthesis specialist Dr Shoba Dawson and the involvement of peer researchers and an Advisory Group. The researcher will also assist Dr Ocloo in quantitative data analysis and management as part of the research study and working with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England. These boards are statutory NHS organisations, responsible for developing plans for meeting the health needs of the population in a geographical area. Research will be conducted in relation to their patient safety incident reporting and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and how this can be based upon a more public health and patient centred approach for reporting into the new NHS England learn from patient safety events (LFPSE) service. Poor quality data, currently inhibits comprehensive reporting of patient safety incidents by demographics.

The post will be on a fixed term contract at 100% FTE (35 hours per week) for 3 years.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Relevant PhD/DPhil with post-qualification research experience in an academic setting
2. Substantial experience of independently developing and conducting systematic reviews (mixed methods), scoping reviews, rapid reviews or overviews of reviews.
3. Track record of publishing evidence syntheses in peer-reviewed, scientific outlets.
4. Leadership experience on substantial projects or collaborations in an academic setting.
5. A systematic and thorough approach to work with a high level of attention to detail.
6. Excellent organisational and time management skills and willingness to work flexibly.
7. Excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to write for publication, present results.
8. A commitment to team working, professionalism and respect for others.
9. Track record of working with stakeholders in different organisational structures including patients, service users and carers.

Desirable criteria

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.