Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow (1261620CF)

‘Working Well’ Researching the relationship between working practices and staff wellbeing and mental health 

We are looking for a researcher to join the Health Systems and Workforce Research group at the University of Southampton to help us to develop our work on staff wellbeing and mental health, exploring the impact that work place systems and factors have on staff wellbeing and quality of care. The post will cover work on two projects:

1. Magnet4Europe - UK arm of EU trial of a system-wide Intervention: Working with a consortium of researchers from five EU countries, including world renowned experts Linda Aiken (University of Pennsylvania, USA) and Walter Sermeus (University of Leuven, Belgium), we will be conducting a randomised controlled trial and process evaluation, to investigate the impact of applying “Magnet” principles to acute hospitals in the NHS.

2. Qualitative exploration of the ‘Working Well’ issues in Wessex: With funding from NIHR ARC Wessex and collaborating with key stakeholders, we will engage with local service providers and staff to better understand the priority issues and potential solutions to workforce wellbeing challenges. Qualitative data collection (including interviews and a Delphi study) will examine how time pressures impact on staff wellbeing.

We are looking for a Research Fellow or Senior Research Fellow to work with the Southampton team, for a fixed term period until 31/03/2021. Working under the direction of Principal Investigator Prof Jane Ball, the post holder will be expected to contribute to all aspects of the research including communicating with senior staff and directors of nursing, project management, data collection, fieldwork, analysis, and preparation of reports and publications (according to their previous experience and seniority).

You will have a PhD (or be nearing completion) or equivalent experience/professional qualifications, and have experience of both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Knowledge of health care delivery would be advantageous, as would experience of working in nursing. You will be able to work independently as part of the project team, liaising with colleagues within University of Southampton, researchers in the EU consortium, and with a range of staff (including Directors of Nursing) at participating NHS hospital Trusts. Strong communication skills are essential. 

The post holder will benefit from close support from our small interdisciplinary team including health service researchers, policy analysts, health economists, statisticians, operational researchers and workforce experts. We aim to provide a friendly, supportive environment for early career researchers and we value colleagues who can plan and organise work both independently and as part of a team.

Situated within one of the UK’s leading research Universities, Health Sciences research ranks first in the UK, and nursing at University of Southampton ranks 5th in the world and 2nd in UK (QS Rankings 2020). The Health Workforce Research group contribute significantly to its reputation for international excellence in both the quality and impact of its research, influencing practice on policy on nurse staffing and work organisation nationally and world-wide.

If you’d like to discuss this opportunity, please contact the research group lead Prof Jane Ball by email on jane.ball@soton.ac.uk. Informal enquiries prior to application are welcomed. Please be sure to include a covering letter describing why you are interested in this post, with your application, in addition to your CV.

*Applications will also be considered from candidates interested in part time hours of 0.8FTE and above. You will be asked to give details of your preferred working hours at the application stage. For applicants interested in a Part Time role, please note: This role is unlikely to support a Certificate of Sponsorship with a part time salary amount (a Certificate of Sponsorship is required to obtain a Tier 2 visa to work in the UK).

Applications for Research Fellow positions will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

Application Procedure

You should submit your completed online application form at www.jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. If you need any assistance, please call Samantha Stubbs (Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 23 8059 4046. Please quote reference 1261620CF on all correspondence.

Closing Date: 22 May 2020
Post Type: Education, Research & Enterprise