Job Description

Ref Number

B02-08680

Professional Expertise

Research and Research Support

Department

School of Life & Medical Sciences (B02)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Full time

Salary

43,374 51,860

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Working Type

Hybrid

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

08-May-2025

About us

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UCL's Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology undertake world-leading research and teaching in mind, behaviour, and language. It brings together researchers in a range of disciplines such as developmental psychology, clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, neuroscience, health, education, communication, medicine, behaviour and development. The Department is a vibrant environment for both study and research. UCL is the top-ranked university in the UK for research in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience.



The successful candidate will join PI Rachel Hiller's team (Child Trauma & Recovery research group) to work on a large NIHR-funded research project, using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design to test a comprehensive mental health assessment package for children and teens in the care system. We are interested in whether this improves outcomes for children in care, by changing and improving decision-making within and between services.

About the role

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The postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the children's social care based RCT, which will compare a comprehensive mental health assessment to usual-care, with an embedded process evaluation. They will be supported on this project by the PI, a multidisciplinary co-investigator team, and a research assistant and trial manager. They will work closely with a second postdoctoral researcher, who will be based at Newcastle University.



Roles will include: working closely with children's services/local authorities across England, as well as mental health teams; liaising with senior and frontline professionals to support recruitment and data collection; recruitment and consenting of young people and caregivers; conducting thorough assessments with young people and caregivers, including using standardized mental health measures and conducting qualitative interviews and focus groups; collating data and maintaining comprehensive excel spreadsheets to track progress; comprehensive data management as required by a large-scale RCT; liaising with the trial steering committee; contributing to and leading on reports to the funder; the opportunity to lead on outputs, including academic papers, conference presentations, and non-academic outputs; day-to-day support to the research assistant, and working closely with a trial manager.


This role is eligible for hybrid working with a minimum of 60% on site (3 days/week). The starting salary range for this post is Grade 7, SP 31 - 34 (44,480 - 48,007, inclusive of London Allowance). The role is expected to start on 1 June 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. An Enhanced DBS check is required to carry out this role. This role is an open-ended contract with a funding end-date of 30 November 2028. Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B (salary 38,607 - 41,255 per annum) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis.

This role does not meet the eligibility requirements for a Skilled Worker Visa certificate of sponsorship under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. Therefore, UCL will not be able to sponsor individuals who require right to work in the UK to carry out this role.



This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Research and Professional Services Staff. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/conditions-service-research-teaching-and-professional-services-staff for more information.

About you

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The candidate must be experienced at running research projects within busy environments (such as social care, NHS, education settings). They must be exceptionally organised and able to balance and prioritise a busy workload of competing demands. They must also have the interpersonal skills, understanding and resilience to work with multi-disciplinary professionals and caregivers, as well with children who will be struggling with their mental health, many of whom will have complex trauma histories.



See person specification for more details.

Further details

The advert will close on 8th May at 23:59 GMT. The interview date(s) are scheduled for the week commencing 12th May.



A and Person Specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page. If you have any queries about the role, please contact Rachel Hiller at r.hiller@ucl.ac.uk. If you need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online or have any queries about the application process, please contact PALS HR at pals.hr@ucl.ac.uk.



The UCL Ways of Working supports colleagues to be successful and happy at UCL through sharing expectations around how we work - please visit www.ucl.ac.uk/ways-of-working to find out more.

What we offer

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As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:


41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan Immigration loan Relocation scheme for certain posts On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.



We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.



These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Athena Swan Status Statement

Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/