King's College London

About us

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a leading centre for mental health and neuroscience research in Europe. Research from the IoPPN has made, and continues to make, an impact on how we understand, prevent and treat mental illness, neurological conditions and other conditions that affect the brain. 

The Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences (FANS) is one of Europe’s largest research groups bringing together leading experts in brain development and clinical academics to improve longer-term outcomes for people with neurodevelopmental conditions .

About the role

The post holder will be a key member of the team, providing comprehensive co-ordination and research support for our partnership’s work on the NHS England (NHSE) LeDeR programme.  This is an important initiative to address the health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities and autistic people, with a specific focus on reducing premature deaths. Working with the steering group, and liaising closely with NHSE, the work will involve organising deep dives of relevant topics, overseeing analysis of LeDeR mortality dataset and other work of the partnership, and producing reports to specific deadlines. 

The postholder will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of the work of the partnership. They will be a core member of the project steering group, and help to co-ordinate the work at KCL, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Kingston University and other participating academic and NHS institutions. Working to specific deadlines, the research assistant will oversee the generation of annual reports, as well as contribute to journal publications, supervised by Professor Andre Strydom and Dr Rory Sheehan.

This is a full time post (35Hours per week), and you will be offered  a fixed term contract until 31st October 2026

About you

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD in a relevant field  
2.  Experience of conducting literature reviews and systematic reviews  
3. Experience of data management (including the use of software packages Eg Excel and “R”) and analysis, whether qualitative or quantitative  
4. Excellent written and oral communication skills, with evidence of presentations, reports and publications 
5. Demonstrated ability to work in a multidisciplinary team and with a diverse range of stakeholders 
6. Previous experience of study coordination or project management, evidenced with recent examples 
7.  Ability to travel within London and the UK

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of project / study co-ordination  
2. Knowledge of the health needs of autistic people and people with intellectual disabilities and autism  
3. Experience of research in intellectual disabilities or autism 
4. Proven team working skills  
5. Experience of patient and public involvement (PPI) in research 

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.