King's College London

About Us

King’s College London is a leading University with nine Faculties. As part of King’s Health Partners, we have an excellent environment for health care interaction and a strong focus on mentoring and career development.

The 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) placed King’s applied and allied health research 1st for: overall proportion of research rated 4* (world-leading, the best mark possible), research papers rated 4*, impact rated 4*, environment rated 4*(joint), Grade Point Average and Power.  REF2021 rated as world-leading: 100% of our environment, 86% of our impact and 70% of our research overall. Over 95% of our research overall was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.

As of 2025, our Faculty is number 1 in the world for Nursing (QS world rankings). King’s produces more highly cited research outputs (top 1% citations) on palliative care than any other centre internationally (SciVal), and is second in the world on the same metric for nursing and midwifery. King’s is the largest provider of health care education in Europe.

The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care (NMPC) is based in the heart of central and south London. It includes the Cicely Saunders Institute for Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, the premier Institute for Palliative Care, bringing together clinical, research and education teams.

Our applied clinical and health multidisciplinary research transforms therapies, the healthcare experience and outcomes for patients and those important to them, wherever they are cared for. Our award-winning NMPC education programmes span pre-registration nursing and midwifery, and multidisciplinary post-graduate taught and research programmes.

We are committed to staff development, and offer opportunities to identify and access appropriate training and professional growth.  

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity for a Research Associate to join a Tommy’s funded project led by a multidisciplinary team. The post will be based in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care.

This project involves undertaking a realist evaluation reduce preterm birth rates in areas of social deprivation by exploring the most effective ways of supporting women to stop smoking in pregnancy. The project focuses on three sites; Calderdale, Leeds and Mid-Yorkshire.

Babies of women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to be preterm, be smaller than other babies or be stillborn, compared to those whose mothers do not smoke. They are also more likely to die within the first year of life and develop longer-term health problems. As well as the impact on baby, smoking can reduce the mother’s life expectancy by 10 years. Women who experience poverty and those with less social support are more likely to start pregnancy as smokers and are less likely to successfully quit during pregnancy. 

The realist evaluation will aim to explore the best available evidence of ‘what works well, for who, why and in what circumstances’ through investigating key features of contexts, mechanisms and outcomes, and their interactions in supporting women in areas of social deprivation to stop smoking in pregnancy.

We are looking for a Research Associate to aid study set up, to lead the realist evaluation, and support dissemination. This post requires data collection and analysis experience, with the ideal candidate having experience of conducting a realist evaluation using mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative research. The postholder will have the opportunity to contribute to a range of tasks related to study set up, PPI activities, conducting a realist evaluation, and research dissemination. There will be opportunities to develop skills and knowledge in these areas.

The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, have attention to detail and be proactive. They will have an interest in using research to help improve care. They will be very organised with excellent communication and engagement skills. They will be able to work well both with others and independently, show initiative when faced with challenges, and have good problem-solving skills. The postholder will work under the supervision of Dr Naomi Carlisle and Dr Tomasina Stacey. They will be required to travel to team meetings (Waterloo, London). They will be required on occasion to travel to team meetings (Waterloo, London) as well as study sites in Yorkshire. The post holder also 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. 

This is a part time post (14 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/12/2026.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD qualified in relevant subject area *
2. Experience in designing, developing and managing research projects
3. Organised and systematic approach to research
4. Self-motivated, with the ability to work under pressure & to meet deadlines
5. Strong interpersonal skills in one to ones and group settings
6. Excellent presentation and communication skills (written & verbal)
7. Experience in a wide range of data collection and analysis techniques
8. Excellent record keeping and a very high standard approach to research integrity.

* 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. 

 

Desirable criteria

1. Experience with realist methodology/ realist evaluations
2. Engaging in multidisciplinary research projects
3. Strong publication record
4. Previous experience in quantitative research and relevant statistical methods
5. Previous experience in qualitative research and relevant software packages

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. 

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages. 

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service clearance.