THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT

FACULTY OF BIOLOGY, MEDICINE & HEALTH

SCHOOL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

DIVISION OF NURSING, MIDWIFERY & SOCIAL WORK

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

VACANCY REF: BMH-025994

Salary: Grade 6, £36,024 to £41,732 per annum, depending on relevant experience

Hours: 1 FTE

Duration: Fixed term available from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2027

Location: Oxford Road, Manchester

____________________________________________________________________________

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Professor Susan Kirk
Email: sue.kirk@manchester.ac.uk

_________________________________________________________________________

Overview of the Post

We wish to appoint a Research Associate to join a multidisciplinary team investigating the
provision of youth work services for young people with long-term physical and/or mental health
problems. The Research Associate will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the
project and will need to be an experienced qualitative researcher who also has experience of
survey research. The post requires expertise and experience in conducting research with children
and young people. Integral to the post is the ability to engage with a diverse group of stakeholders,
including young people, parents/carers and health and social care providers.
The Research Associate will be based at the University of Manchester and the study will involve
some travel across the UK for fieldwork. A second Research Associate will join the project in 2025.
The post is subject to an Enhanced DBS.

Research Project
Funded by the NIHR’s Health and Social Care Delivery Research Programme the project aims to
explore how youth work services for young people with physical and/or mental health conditions
are organised, provided and experienced to inform service commissioning and delivery. In the
first stage of the research we will map youth work services in the UK that focus on this group of
young people using an online survey. In the second stage we will study six youth work services
in-depth. This will involve conducting interviews with young people, parents, service providers,
managers and commissioners and observing a range of youth work activities. We will analyse the
data generated to co-develop a service development framework to guide the commissioning,
organisation and delivery of youth work services. Experts by experience (PPI) will be involved
throughout the project.

Overall Purpose of the Job

The overall purpose of the current position is to manage the project on a day-to-day basis under
the supervision of Professor Susan Kirk (University of Manchester) and Dr Marie Marshall
(Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust). The successful candidate will initially focus on
conducting the mapping survey and preparing documents for submission to the Health Research
Authority for ethical and research governance approvals. Alongside a second Research Associate
they will study six youth work services in depth using a range of qualitative data collection
methods. They will work closely with a multi-disciplinary research team and a group of young
advisors throughout the project.

Key Responsibilities, Accountabilities or Duties:

 Manage and co-ordinate the day-to-day running of the project under the supervision of the
Principal Investigators.
 Work as part of a multi-disciplinary research team and contribute to the detailed planning of
the research to ensure targets and deadlines are met.
 Development of study research instruments including a questionnaire and interview topic
guides.
 Preparation and submission of research ethics committee and research governance
applications.
 Contribute to/lead negotiations for the research at the study sites.
 Work collaboratively with research study sites in conducting fieldwork.
 Undertake participant recruitment, data collection and data analysis as required and directed
by the Principal Investigators.
 Work with Lived Experience and Public Involvement collaborators and other stakeholders in
conducting the study and disseminating its findings.
 Liaise with research team members and attend research team meetings.
 Contribute to producing reports and disseminating the findings to different audiences.
 Ensure adherence to the project plan and alert the Principal Investigators to any problems
identified.
 In collaboration with the part-time project administrator undertake appropriate administrative
tasks e.g. organisation of meetings.
 Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of and comply with Health and Safety, research
governance and Data Protection legislation (including associated University policies) and
ensure that the research study complies with these requirements.
 Maintain accurate and complete records.
 Any other tasks as directed by the line manager.
The job description should be regarded as a guide of duties required and it is not intended to be
definitive. It may be subject to variation from time to time, following consultation with the post
holder.
Person specification
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
• Minimum of a Master’s degree in a health, social science or related area.
• Evidence of training in relevant research methods.
• Experience of conducting research with children and young people.
• Experience of designing, conducting and analysing online survey research.
• Experience of conducting remote and in-person semi-structured interviews (including
those involving sensitive issues).
• Extensive experience of qualitative data analysis.
• Experience of conducting research in a UK health, social care or voluntary sector setting.
• Experience of obtaining relevant ethics and governance approvals for research.
• Experience of writing and publishing research papers/reports.
• Ability to use a range of software packages used in quantitative and qualitative research
(NVivo, SPSS).
• Excellent interpersonal and communication (oral and written) skills.
• Ability to exercise a high degree of personal initiative in efficiently planning and
progressing projects to meet deadlines.
• Self-motivated and able to work flexibly both independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to develop productive working relationships with academic and non-academic
stakeholders including service user/public contributors and their representatives.
• A high level of attention to detail.
• Ability to travel within the United Kingdom for fieldwork and meetings.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Experience of conducting case study research.
• Experience of conducting research with children and young people with physical and/or
mental health problems and their parents/carers.
• Knowledge and experience in co-designing interventions with service users and
practitioners.
• A record of peer reviewed publications.
• Experience of university financial systems and proven ability in financial record keeping.
• Knowledge of current research and policy in relation to children and young people’s
health and social care.
• Recent completion of Good Clinical Practice training
INTRODUCTION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER AND THE FACULTY OF
BIOLOGY, MEDICINE AND HEALTH
The University of Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK with around 38,000
students and more than 11,000 staff. We aim to become one of the top 25 research universities
in the world and are committed to delivering an outstanding teaching and learning experience;
contributing to the social and economic success of local, national and international communities;
producing the highest calibre graduates; and developing our staff to be amongst the very best of
their peers. To achieve our ambitious goals, we aim to attract and retain the very best people to
work across a range of academic disciplines and support functions.

Working for the University of Manchester

The University of Manchester strives to make our community a welcoming, caring and enthusiastic
one, fuelling ambition with opportunities and support to help us all achieve our personal and
professional goals.

Our diverse job opportunities include attractive benefits with family-friendly policies that provide
for flexible working. We care deeply about career and personal development, offering a structured
induction programme for new staff, an annual performance and development review, staff training
for all career stages and mentoring opportunities to support your career development.

We have a genuine commitment to equality of opportunity for our staff and students and are proud
to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse community we serve. As a global institution,
situated at the heart of a lively city, we welcome applicants of all nationalities. To help international
job applicants plan for life in the UK, we have put together some useful information on passports
and visas, travel to the UK, accommodation and a number of other practical considerations.

At The University of Manchester, we are committed to the development of all staff and through-
out this post will offer training and personal development opportunities relevant to your skills,
experience and career aspirations.

The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health was created on 1 August 2016 when the Faculty of
Life Sciences and the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences were brought together in a new,
integrated structure to deliver a truly translational approach to the life sciences, ensuring smooth
research pathways - from pure discovery science through to clinical application and patient care.
With a total annual income of over £300 million, and over 3,000 members of staff, the Faculty is
comparable in size to a medium-sized UK university. Thirty undergraduate and 90 postgraduate
programmes offer our 11,000 students opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge they
need for a successful career.

The Faculty’s matrix structure facilitates interdisciplinary working and enables us to learn from
each other and share best practice; and our eight, strategic Research Domains help to articulate
our research strengths, drive large-scale, collaborative research activities and strengthen
relationships with our research and healthcare partners.
The integration of discovery biology, clinical application and patient care within a single Faculty,
particularly in a region with notable health inequality, provides us with a real opportunity to have a
very significant and positive impact on people’s lives.

Our Strategic Partnerships

The Faculty has established a number of key strategic partnerships that underpin its ambitions to
develop ground-breaking research.

Working alongside six local NHS Trusts, the Faculty is a key member of the Manchester Academic
Health Science Centre - a federation of equal partners that unites leading healthcare providers
with world-class academics and researchers. It aims to be a global centre for the delivery of
applied health research and education and provide leadership for our local and regional health
systems.

We also play a leading role in Health Innovation Manchester (HInM), which was launched in
September 2015, as part of the UK Government’s decision to devolve health and social care
responsibilities to Greater Manchester. HInM offers a unique opportunity to bring together health
and social care, academic and life science related business resources across the region to deliver
an innovative health ecosystem that can help accelerate innovation into our local health and social
care systems, enhance our global scientific standing and act as a magnet for inward investment.

Key partnerships in the charitable sector include Cancer Research UK; Diabetes UK; and the
Wellcome Trust; and the faculty also has research and funding links to a number of commercial
organisations including Unilever, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Boots, who help us to bring
new drugs and products to the market.

The Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work

The Division builds on a national and international reputation for teaching and research across
nursing, midwifery, social work and related disciplines. In REF 2021, as part of the Unit of
Assessment 3 (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy), our research was
ranked second of 89 submissions from across the UK. In 2022 we were ranked 6th in the QS
World University Subject Rankings for Nursing (and 3rd in the UK).
Research in the Division is organised into five groups.

 Digital Health and Social Care (lead: Professor Dawn Dowding

 Healthy Ageing and Cognitive Health (lead: Dr Emma Stanmore)
 Long Term Conditions (lead: Professor Sue Kirk)
 Mental Health (lead: Professor Helen Brooks)
 Social Research in Health and Social Care (Leads: Professor Alys Young and Professor
Catherine Robinson)

The Division offers four pre-qualifying programmes in Nursing (Child, Adult and Mental Health),
Midwifery, Social Work and Primary Mental Health Care (leading to qualification as a
Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner). In addition, we offer a rich and diverse portfolio of post-
qualifying postgraduate taught courses in Advanced Practice in Health and Social Care and
Clinical Research. We also have a lively community of more than 60 PhD students recruited from
across the globe working in areas aligned to our research groups.

The Division enjoys very favourable established relationships with primary care providers, hospital
Trusts, statutory, voluntary and independent social care providers and has office accommodation
on NHS sites. The Division is extremely proud that its students are highly regarded by local
employers.

Staff in the Division are managed through a structure comprising seven directorates. Professor
Hilary Mairs is Head of Division and is assisted by a Director of Research and a Director of
Education. The Division has approximately 106 academic staff, 59 research associates/fellows
and three Teaching Fellows.

This is an exciting time to join the Division as we progress our strategies in research, teaching and
social responsibility. These strategies, as well as continuing to build on our exceptional successes
and achievements, will continue to focus on further enhancing and supporting growth in our
research activity and continuing to deliver outstanding programmes of education. We want to
attract and retain the best staff and provide opportunities for them to excel. The Division’s
academic staff cover a broad range of disciplines (beyond nursing, midwifery and social work) -
this ensures that staff work in a vibrant multidisciplinary environment.