Research Fellow in Community Wellbeing

European Commission; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading research team at Northumbria University as a qualitative researcher focused on workforce sustainability in primary care and maternity services. This role involves conducting essential qualitative research to identify and develop interventions addressing workforce challenges. You will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team, contributing to a significant study funded by NIHR HSDR. The position offers a supportive environment, flexible working, and opportunities for professional growth.

Benefits

Pension Schemes

Flexible Working

Generous Holidays

Relocation Assistance

Qualifications

• Skilled qualitative researcher with excellent practical, analytic, and conceptual abilities.
• Knowledge of workforce issues in health services, especially in primary care and maternity.

Responsibilities

• Conduct interviews, focus groups, and observations with staff across multiple sites.
• Support qualitative research activities for the Partnership for Workforce Sustainability project.

Skills

Analytic Skills

Conceptual Skills

Practical Skills

Education

PhD in Health or Social Science

Job description

Offer Description

ABOUT THE ROLE

This fifty-month post will enable you to explore the development and implementation of new approaches to workforce sustainability across staff in primary care and maternity services as part of a larger multi-method study across England.

We seek a skilled qualitative researcher with excellent practical, analytic, and conceptual abilities. You will be part of a friendly, multidisciplinary team including academics and national project partners, based in the Implementation and Innovation Research Group (IIR) at Northumbria University, working primarily with Tim Rapley.

Your role involves supporting qualitative research activities for the NIHR HSDR funded Partnership for Workforce Sustainability in Under-Served Areas project, including conducting interviews, focus groups, and observations with frontline and managerial staff across multiple sites in England. Some fieldwork will be in person, requiring travel, while some will be remote.

The study aims to identify and develop interventions to address threats to workforce sustainability, such as recruitment challenges, retention issues, workload, and wellbeing concerns, across primary care and maternity services. The project encompasses various workstreams, including realist evidence synthesis, secondary data analysis, co-design, staff surveys, health economics, and qualitative research, with the qualitative component focusing on problem identification and exploring implementation processes.

This fixed-term, full-time role lasts 50 months, starting in August 2025. It is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and will require a DBS check.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The project is a collaboration between Newcastle, Birmingham, Northumbria, Oxford, and York Universities, alongside the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. You will be embedded in the Implementation and Innovation Research Group at Northumbria University, which works on service and care innovations, feasibility studies, trials, and scaling evidence-based interventions, collaborating with health and social care stakeholders.

You will be based in the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University, Coach Lane campus.

ABOUT YOU

• Excellent practical, analytic, and conceptual skills in multi-method qualitative research.
• Knowledge of contemporary debates and challenges related to workforce issues in health services, especially in primary care and/or maternity services, is essential.
• Ability to travel within the UK for data collection is required.
• Hold or be about to submit a PhD in a health or social science discipline, or equivalent experience.

To apply, click 'Apply Now'. Your application should include a cover letter and CV.

We welcome applications from the UK and internationally. Visit our web pages for Relocation Assistance.

Northumbria University offers a diverse, inclusive environment with strong research, partnerships, and excellent benefits, including pension schemes, flexible working, and generous holidays.

Our values—Academic Excellence, Innovation, Inclusivity, Collaboration, and Ambition—guide our culture. We promote diversity and hold awards for equality and research excellence. Flexible working arrangements are available and considered during recruitment.