salary: A full-time starting salary is typically in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once post to £48,822

Contract type: Fixed term contract until November 2026

Role summary

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a major program of work evaluating the implementation of the Epicare digital platform across five NHS Trusts. This role will play a key role in Evaluation of the implementation process WorkStream, led by Professor Justin Waring, and conducted in close collaboration with Work Packages 1 to 3, the Living Experience Advisory Group (LEAG), and local implementation teams in all five participating NHS trusts.

The fellow will lead the daily coordination, delivery and analysis of two rounds of implementation evaluation. These evaluations will identify contextual barriers and facilitators to implementation, strategies used to overcome these barriers, and acceptance and satisfaction of Epicare among patients, clinicians, and EIP teams. The insights will inform the iterative development and refinement of the implementation toolkit, aimed at supporting local adoption and enabling future national operation.

Working closely with the Chief Investigator, Professor James Kirkbride (UCL), Deputy Chief Investigator, Professor Rachel Upthegrove (Oxford) and Dr Lowrie Griffiths (Birmingham), Research Fellow:

• Apply established frameworks – i.e. the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) – to guide data collection, analysis and interpretation.
• Conduct qualitative interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders including service leaders, platform developers, clinicians, service users, IT teams and patient representatives.
• Perform structured ethnographic observations of key implementation activities across the five trusts.
• Collaborate with WP3 to assess data quality and share it with Epicare digital components (e.g. dashboards, Careloop app).
• Integrate findings into iterative co-development of an evidence-based practical implementation toolkit.
• Work with local partners to apply quality improvement techniques (e.g., Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles) to improve implementation strategies.
• Contribute to dissemination activities, including engagement with policy stakeholders and national EIP networks.

Person specifications

• PhD (or near completion) in implementation science, health services research, medical sociology, public health, psychology, or related discipline
• Ideally, experience conducting applied health or mental health research, particularly in NHS or clinical settings
• Experience applying implementation research limbs (e.g. CFIR, ERIC) and models to study clinical or health service innovation, including technological innovations
• Demonstrable experience in designing and conducting qualitative research (e.g., interviews, focus groups, ethnographic observation)
• Experience working in multi-site and multi-disciplinary research collaborations
• Excellent qualitative data analysis skills, including use of NVIVO or similar software
• Excellent communication skills, including writing for publication
• Ability to work independently and collaborate within a team
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders including clinicians, patients and IT professionals
• Desirably, knowledge of digital health tools and their integration into NHS services

Informal inquiries can be made to Chahara Chaudhary, Email: shchoudhry@bham.ac.uk

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an online application, please click the ‘Apply’ button above.

Evaluate excellence and maintain investment

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