Research Associate

**Job Description**:
**Job Title**:Research Associate / Project Officer for IMPACT

**Posting Start Date**:17/02/2025

**Job Id**:767

**School/Department**:Social Sciences Research Institute

**Work Arrangement**:Part Time (Hybrid)

**Contract Type**:Fixed-term

**Salary per annum (£)**:£37,999 to £42,632

**Closing Date**:28/02/2025

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

**Overview**

IMPACT (‘IMProving Adult Care Together’) is a UK-wide centre for implementing evidence in adult social care, funded by the ESRC and the Health Foundation. IMPACT is an ‘implementation centre’, building on knowledge gained from different types of research, the lived experience of people who draw on care and support and their carers, and the practice knowledge of social care staff. Its aims are to enable practical improvements on the ground, and make a crucial contribution to longer-term cultural change. At Sheffield, IMPACT is based within CIRCLE, alongside other major social care investments, the ESRC Centre for Care and the NIHR School for Social Care Research.

This role is an exciting opportunity to work closely with stakeholders across adult social care and academia to affect positive change. If successful, you will work closely with the IMPACT Networks team, review and synthesise existing research and evidence-based publications within the broad field of adult social care, and support IMPACT activities across the North of England and the East Midlands, including our IMPACT Assemblies.

**Main duties and responsibilities**
- Work with the IMPACT Networks Delivery model team to prepare materials for Local Networks, recruit coordinators, organise and facilitate meetings.
- Support IMPACT’s work to enhance effective use of research findings and other forms of evidence in adult social care.
- Review and synthesise existing research and evidence-based publications within the broad field of adult social care, focusing these as directed.
- Draft evidence briefs and summaries to support policy and practice implementation of robust evidence and contribute to IMPACT-related academic publications.
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting and the implementation of IMPACT procedures.
- Contribute to the evaluating and embedding IMPACT’s delivery models and to the organisation of IMPACT’s work UK-wide, and work on cross-cutting issues with other national IMPACT project officers.
- Support IMPACT’s North and East Midlands Geographical Lead to develop IMPACT’s North and East Midlands Assembly, which brings together diverse stakeholders and people with lived experience of adult social care in IMPACT’s wider work.
- Represent IMPACT across the North of England and the East Midlands and keep abreast of policy and practice developments there, reporting on and summarising these as required.
- Organise and design IMPACT Assembly meetings in the North of England and the East Midlands, and attend external events as required.
- Deal appropriately with any problems that may affect timely achievement of Centre objectives.
- Promote equality and value diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
- Contribute to CIRCLE’s research-related activities.
- Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

**Person Specification**

Essential criteria
- High-level analytical capability (including problem-solving skills and the ability to to gather, analyse, and summarise data and evidence) (assessed at: task)
- Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010 and how to ensure, in day to day activity in one's own area, that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly (assessed at: interview)

Desirable criteria

**Further Information**

**Grade: 7**

**FTE**:0.4

**Duration**: 1 May 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter, and an end date of 31 December 2027.

**Line manager**:Networks' Lead, IMPACT Implementation Centre

**Direct reports**:None

**Next steps in the recruitment process**

**Our vision and strategic plan**

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision ().

**What we offer**
- A minimum of 41**days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
- Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
- Generous pension scheme.
- A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and tr