King's College London

About us

King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. The university is dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place.  Through its commitment to exceptional education, impactful research and genuine service to society, King’s College London is creating positive change in its communities, both in London and on the world stage.

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, bringing together a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff and over 100 different clinical services across 10 different sites, serving a core population of more than 500,000 people across Southwest England. UHBW has been rated by the CQC as ‘Good’ overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent care to the people of Bristol, Weston and beyond.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to work in clinical research and service evaluation with a world-leading team of scientists and clinicians. The role is a composite 1.0 FTE role funded 50% by King’s College London (KCL) and 50% by University Hospital Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), employed by both organisations and subject to terms and conditions of both.

The post-holder will be a key researcher/assistant psychologist on a new, high-profile programme on children and young people attending the UK Gender Services because of gender incongruence. PATHWAYS is a research programme with multiple workstreams whose aim is to understand young people with gender incongruence and assess the risks and benefits of interventions.

The post-holder will divide their time between research activities, primarily on the observational study and clinical trial, and supporting the clinical service in service evaluation and related activities. Research and clinically-facing activities are closely integrated and all activities in this role will involve the same cohort of patients.

The post-holder will play a key role in recruiting young people and their families into the studies, and in the retention for longer-term follow-up, alongside ensuring clinical measures are completed by patients, parents/carers and, where appropriate, by clinicians.

The research programme is multi-centre across the UK; although the role will be based in Bristol, the post-holder will need to work closely across centres and may need to visit other centres and/or participants at home or in clinics. This is a six-year programme. The post-holder will be appointed initially for 3 years with the possibility of extension and will have significant opportunity to shape the implementation and success of the project.

This is a full time post.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the  Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the  Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About you

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

Essential criteria

1. 1st or Upper 2nd Honours degree in Psychology with graduate basis for registration to the British Psychological Society
2. Experience in quantitative methods research including analytical techniques and/or qualitative methods
3. High level of computer literacy and be familiar and competent in the use of word processing, database, power point and statistical packages for the social sciences, including Microsoft Excel and SPSS.
4. Relevant experience working/volunteering in health, care or education settings with children or adults.
5. Relevant experience working in or undertaking research.
6. The ability to work effectively as part of a team, with the ability to liaise with staff of all levels, patients and members of the public.
7. Excellent oral and interpersonal communication skills that can be applied to communication with professional colleagues, with senior colleagues within the health service and with patients and their families or carers.
8. Excellent organisational, time management and task management skills in order to respond to the demands of the post.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of using qualitative interviewing methods.
2. Experience working on clinical trials and or directly with clinicians
3. Trained in psychometric testing.
4. Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology and / or research design and analysis.
5. Experience in writing and publishing research papers in high-quality journal.

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.

Interviews are due to be held on 7 August in Bristol.

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service & Occupational Health Clearances.