Post-Doctoral Researcher in Health Services Research

Salary Range:

£39,906.00 - £46,049.00

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, creating a community where colleagues feel respected and valued. We aim to reflect the diversity of our students and communities, and to strengthen our university through collaboration and diverse perspectives, across all roles at the University.

The post provides an exciting opportunity for an experienced qualitative researcher to join a multi-disciplinary team working to improve alcohol screening and support within Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services (SPMHS) in England. This post holder will be situated in the Institute of Clinical and Applied Health Research at the University of Hull and will work closely with Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and partner services in Hull and Bradford.

The postholder will be the dedicated post-doctoral researcher for the ADAPT study, working full-time for 12 months. They will take day-to-day responsibility for the practical delivery of the qualitative workstreams, including recruitment, data collection, analysis and supporting write‑up and dissemination, under the direction of the Chief Investigator, Professor Lesley Smith. We are particularly keen to appoint a qualitative researcher with a strong track record in perinatal/maternal health and/or alcohol use research, as this domain expertise is essential for the ADAPT study.

Specific duties and responsibilities of the post

• Take responsibility for day-to-day project management alongside the Principal Investigators.

• Liaise with the project team and partners to facilitate successful team working and delivery of the project in a timely manner.

• Contribute to finalising topic guides and other qualitative research materials for interviews and focus groups, drawing on the scoping review and input from the PAG.

• Lead day-to-day liaison with SPMHS teams, Alcohol Care Teams and community partners in Hull and Bradford to support identification and recruitment of women, partners and professionals.

• Coordinate and undertake in‑depth, semi‑structured interviews with women and partners (including in-person, online or telephone, and small group interviews where appropriate), ensuring a sensitive and trauma‑informed approach to discussing mental health and alcohol use. Some travel will be required in the Hull and Bradford areas.

• Plan, organise and co‑facilitate focus groups with clinicians, clinical leaders and other service providers across SPMHS and alcohol services.

• Manage ethical and governance requirements in practice (e.g. informed consent, safeguarding procedures, confidentiality, secure data handling), in line with University and NHS Trust policies.

• Lead the analysis of the qualitative data, and work with other research team members to synthesise and interpret all of the research findings.

• Lead the write up of the qualitative results and contribute to the final report and publications with the research team.

• Work with the research team and wider partners to deliver and disseminate the research findings from the project.

• Organise and attend team meetings as required. This will include organising workshops and working with our Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) partners.

• Provide regular progress updates to the Joint Chief Investigator, attend and contribute to monthly Project Management Group meetings, and help ensure project milestones are met.

The full job description can be found here.

For any informal queries relating to this role, please contact Lesley Smith (Professor in Women's Public Health) via email to [email protected]. All applicants should submit a CV and covering letter.

Applications close at 00:01am of the closing date listed. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications. If you are interested in this role, please submit your application as early as possible.