Job Description

Job description

We are pleased to offer this excellent opportunity to join our team in the (NMPC) as a Research Associate.

The post-holder will be a key member of the new King\'s Health Partners Digital Health Hub (KHP DHH) which is one of five new UK Hubs supported by the EPSRC to promote knowledge and skills sharing across healthcare, academia and business, and drive innovation in digital health.

The KHP DHH will be an accessible national multi-disciplinary resource supporting training, co-creation, and translation of digital health technologies. We have brought together a critical mass of expertise from across KHP, patient and public representatives, NHS and social care and industry partners, to provide support, enable knowledge transfer and create opportunities for the acceleration of digital health across the UK.

KHP DHH will provide: (1) dedicated people and resource, built on a foundation of existing infrastructure but scaled-up with EPSRC funding to meet demand, providing input and guidance on projects supported by the Hub (2) a NHS-academic-industry setting - our core ideology (3) a physical base within the new London Institute for Healthcare Engineering , important for collaboration and common ethos and (4) an excellent training provision to grow national capabilities, with an offering across sectors.

The KHP DHH core pillars (Training, Co-creation, Translation & Acceleration) will interlink and provide support across the continuum of design, development and implementation and will provide direct access to experts and training, fund pilot studies and patient participation.

As part of the KHP DHH, we are seeking to recruit a Research Associate with experience (1) of conducting and advising upon co-design and participatory design activities relating to digital interventions, (2) qualitative research including user interviews and documenting and guiding the co-design research process, and (3) working with a large network of collaborative partners.

The post-holder will work across NMPC, the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences (NMES) and the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences (BMEIS) in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine (FoLSM), with a physical base at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), St Thomas\' campus. This post holder will work closely with Professor Glenn Robert (Methodologies, NMPC) together with Professor Louise Rose (Applied Technologies for Clinical Care, NMPC) and Professor Wei Liu (Engineering, NMES) to achieve the Co-Design pillar of the KHP DHH.

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract until 31/08/2026.

This is a full-time post.

Key responsibilities

• Deliver expert co-design support and mentoring to KHP DHH projects
• Develop and maintain an online library of co-design tools and methods
• Support and facilitate an emergent community of practice within the KHP DHH to share knowledge and skills relating to the co-design of digital technologies amongst all adopted projects
• Collaborate and network with design academics nationally and internationally to ensure that the support and mentoring offered within the KHP DHH draws on leading-edge practice elsewhere
• Evaluate the impact of the support provided on an ongoing basis to refine the offering to participating projects accordingly
• Form and grow external collaborations to enhance the quality of reach of our digital health research programme, linking with world leading academics and groups in related fields
• Contribute to the academic work of the Faculties and the KHP DHH, working with colleagues and clinical teams, with the aim of obtaining significant research funding and conducting research at an international and world-leading standard
• Publish research findings in high quality peer review journals and conferences.

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 * A PhD in design, human-computer interaction, interaction design, or a related area of research

• Knowledge of design-related research methods and tools, including participatory design and design futuring techniques in the context of digital innovations
• Hands-on experience of using creative methods to develop requirements for design (design concepts), co-design, and rapid prototyping of digital technologies and systems
• Experience of working in interdisciplinary research environments, or on projects with multiple stakeholders
• Prior experience of publishing within Design, Social Sciences and/or Human-Computer Interaction communities
• Ability to work independently and deliver high-quality, consistent results in a timely fashion.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to disseminate results of research to a variety of audiences including through high-quality academic publications, summary reports and oral presentations
• Demonstrates a commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity for staff and students

Desirable criteria * Engaging in multidisciplinary research projects

• Strong publication record
• Experience of using ethnographic methods for user research within co-design processes
• Being self-motivated and willing to work independently, as well as part of a larger interdisciplinary team

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further information

We are committed to continually improving the diversity of our workforce, and therefore we encourage applications from all groups. This includes from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic groups, the LGBTQI+ community, those who are neurodiverse and those with a disability.

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.

Times Higher Education