Research Assistant

Job id: 080189. Salary: £37,332 - £39,980 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 29 November 2023. Closing date: 04 January 2024.

Business unit: Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. Department: Methodologies.

Location: Waterloo Campus. Category: Research.

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This is an exciting opportunity for a Research Assistant to join a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded project led by a midwife. The post will be based in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care.

The research explores the feasibility of developing an online peer support group for women who are struggling with stopping smoking during pregnancy. We will work with women who have tried to stop smoking during pregnancy before to develop the group. This group will encourage peer to peer sharing as well as provide support and advice from a peer moderator. This support will consider ‘whole-life’ circumstances, such as money, relationships and housing, along with stopping smoking. 72 women who identify as smokers at the beginning of pregnancy and indicate a wish to try to stop smoking will be invited to take part. Half will be randomly selected to either join the group for 8 weeks (alongside standard stop smoking support) or receive standard care only. We will look at how easy it is to recruit women, whether they engage with the group and whether we can collect the necessary information. We will also interview participants so that we can understand how they felt about being involved in the study.

The postholder will work under the supervision of Principal Investigator Dr Tomasina Stacey. They may be required to travel in Yorkshire to assist with carrying out interviews/workshop. The post holder will have the opportunity to work as part of King’s hybrid working model, where you can work between your home and the office throughout the week.

We would be happy to discuss with applicants who may additionally have an interest in carrying out a PhD in this area.

This post will be offered on a fixed-term February 2026.

This is a part-time post - 40% full time equivalent.

Key responsibilities

To assist in all aspects of project set-up and delivery

To organise and attend regular meetings with the project lead, wider team, and advisory groups

To actively promote and support public and patient (PPI) involvement in the project

To assist in developing content and materials for the project

To assist with qualitative data collection and analysis through interviews/focus groups

To work closely with the project lead, PPI advisors, and wider collaborators to ensure the smooth running of the project

To assist in writing up and disseminating study findings through articles, blogs, social media, and presentations

Any other duties appropriate to the grade and project as agreed with supervisor.
- The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post._

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria
- First degree in relevant discipline (eg midwifery, health professional, social sciences) at least at 2:1 level or higher
- Experience of systematic reviews and qualitative data collection and analysis
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise different task demands
- Understanding of data confidentiality and research integrity
- Good attention to detail and high standards of accuracy in all aspects of work
- A demonstrated ability to work effectively with a wide range of colleagues
- Being self-motivated and willing to work independently, as well as part of a larger interdisciplinary team
- Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, actively addressing areas of potential bias

Desirable criteria
- Experience in data entry
- Experience of developing/delivering Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) activities/events (in a research context)
- Experience of writing reports/papers

Further information

King’s considers the professional and personal development of our staff a priority and we offer an inspiring range of opportunities for training and career progression. Our Organisational Development team provide in-house and bespoke learning.