NIHR SPHR Communications Assistant

Salary: £29,588 with progression to £31,236 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 30 August 2026

The Role 

Established in April 2012, the NIHR School for Public Health Research (NIHR SPHR) is a partnership between 9 leading centres of academic public health research excellence in England. From 2022-2029 the members are as follows: The Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter and Sheffield; Imperial College London; The London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); the LiLaC collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool and Lancaster; PHRESH a collaboration between the Universities of Birmingham, Warwick and Keele; and Fuse, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities.

With a total budget of >£40M over 7 years, the school aims to build the evidence base for effective and equitable public health practice by bringing together England’s leading public health research expertise in one virtual organisation.

The school is also delivering a cross-school programme of work on Prevention as part of the NIHR Three Research Schools, a collaboration between the Schools for Public Health Research (SPHR), Primary Care Research (SPCR), and Social Care Research (SSCR), with a budget of £10 million.

You will support the NIHR SPHR Communications Manager and Knowledge Exchange Broker to raise the profile and visibility of the NIHR SPHR and help ensure the impact and legacy of the school’s work. You will also support the delivery of communications for the NIHR Three Research Schools Prevention Programme.

You will play an active role in delivering the SPHR communications plan. Responsibilities will include updating websites, writing content for social media, helping produce newsletters, sourcing and creating content for news stories and blogs, and the development of other creative outputs (e.g., videos and infographics). You will work closely with researchers from across the School and Prevention programme to help them disseminate and promote their research to policy, practice and public stakeholders and other key audiences.

This is a full time, fixed term role until 31 Mar 2029. 

For informal enquiries about the role, please contact Susan Bowett ([email protected]).

Key Accountabilities 

• Support the SPHR Communications Manager and the Prevention Programme Manager deliver communications activities to a range of external and internal stakeholders


• Responsible for keeping the SPHR website and Prevention Research Programme website refreshed and up to date


• Responsible for monitoring the SPHR Communications inbox and responding to queries from researchers


• Develop and schedule content for the SPHR social media channels, (LinkedIn, Bluesky and YouTube)


• Write engaging copy for the websites such as news stories, project page text and other content


• Support the production of regular School and Prevention Programme newsletters and other internal and external communications


• Ensure researchers and SPHR and Prevention Programme materials comply with the NIHR corporate branding guidelines  


• Work with researchers to develop creative outputs to promote the School’s research, for example, infographics, research briefings, videos, animations and other resources


• Support the organisation and delivery of SPHR and Prevention Programme events such as the Annual Scientific Meeting and training events


• Assist with monitoring and evaluation of communications and tracking impact and legacy of the School and the Prevention Programme


• Work proactively as part of a wider team and undertake other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to triage queries and issues


• Experience editing websites and posting content on social media channels


• A flexible attitude to work demands and a commitment to excellent communication with researchers and other colleagues  


• Excellent IT skills with experience of Microsoft suite of programmes 


• Experience of writing and proof-reading skills and attention to detail to produce accurate and concise copy


• Ability to use initiative and judgement to resolve problems independently 


• Experience of prioritising workload and handling conflicting priorities


• Experience of working independently and as part of a team


• Experience of working with a range of stakeholders, including senior managers in a large organisation  

Desirable

• Experience with the Adobe suite of programmes or other design software such as Canva

Attributes and Behaviour

• A positive and proactive attitude 


• Works in a planned and structured way 


• Uses own and others time effectively 


• Ensures that all activities are completed on time 


• Keeps fellow team members up to date with progress 


• Willing to help others and share workloads 


• Maintains flexibility in work plans to allow for changing circumstances 


• Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way 

Qualifications

• Maths and English at GCSE Level 4 or equivalent


• Relevant experience in a communications/events setting 

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29631