King's College London

About Us

The School of Life Course & Population Sciences is one of six Schools that make up the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King’s College London. The School unites over 400 experts in women and children’s health, nutritional sciences, population health and the molecular genetics of human disease. Our research links the causes of common health problems to life’s landmark stages, treating life, disease and healthcare as a continuum. We are interdisciplinary by nature and this innovative approach works: 91 per cent of our research submitted to the Subjects Allied to Medicine (Pharmacy, Nutritional Sciences and Women's Health cluster) for REF was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We use this expertise to teach the next generation of health professionals and research scientists. Based across King’s Denmark Hill, Guy’s, St Thomas’ and Waterloo campuses, our academic programme of teaching, research and clinical practice is embedded across five Departments.

About the role

King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. We are dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place.

EMBRACE is a visionary, multicomponent international research programme, the first of its kind in the world, supported by Inkfish with £35M core funds over six years, starting in April 2025. It is a global study of 60,000 participants, including 20,000 mothers, 20,000 infants and up to 20,000 partners.  It brings together world-leading clinician scientists across six distinguished Healthcare organisations, world-leading AI & technology companies, together with premier biotech companies, with the overarching aim to fast-track major scientific breakthroughs, revolutionise maternal and early childhood health through precision-personalised interventions, powered by a groundbreaking symbiosis of cutting-edge AI combined with human support.

The post of Senior Research Scientist is a senior role on the EMBRACE study led by Professor Josip Car. The post holder will design and co-lead a programme of complex intervention research focusing on physical activity during pregnancy.  The post holder will bring extensive relevant expertise and experience to the post.

There remain many gaps in evidence and unanswered research questions related to physical activity and exercise during pregnancy spanning physiological, psychological, social, and clinical domains.  This highlights the need for comprehensive interdisciplinary research to understand how to optimise physical activity recommendations. The post holder will contribute to the design, delivery, evaluation, and dissemination of intervention strategies aimed at promoting safe, sustainable physical activity for pregnant individuals.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to work within an interdisciplinary team in maternal and men’s health, kinesiology/exercise science, and population health, and to make a real-world impact on clinical practice and public health policy.  Additionally, the post holder is expected to collaborate with colleagues, present findings at conferences, publish research, and co-supervise students, ensuring the project's success and broader scientific impact.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/08/2029.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. BSc, MSc and PhD in Kinesiology (or Exercise Science) 
2. Proficiency in advanced statistical methods and software (e.g., R, SPSS, Stata) for analysing intervention outcomes  
3. Academic standing: Outstanding publication track record in evidence synthesis of studies evaluating physical activity related research questions in peer-reviewed journals; sustained research funding from diverse sources; national and international academic profile 
4. Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary research teams and manage complex projects 
5. Proven track record of developing, conducting and evaluating high-quality research in physical activity interventions using randomised controlled trial methodologies 
6. Certified Personal Trainer 
7. Experience with digital health technologies, such as mobile apps, wearables, or online platforms for physical activity promotion 
8. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present research findings to academic, professional, and lay audiences

Desirable criteria

1. Experience working with pregnant or postpartum populations and knowledge of pregnancy-specific guidelines for physical activity  
2. Experience with analysing data from wearable devices, accelerometery, or other methods for objectively measuring physical activity 
3. Experience engaging with public, patient, or community groups and with underrepresented or marginalised populations 
4. Experience working in international contexts/multi-country studies 
5. Highly data-driven approach to problem-solving and decision-making 

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 page. 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.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

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 and Occupational Health clearances.