Research Fellow (EpiCare)

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to November 2026

Role Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a major programme of work evaluating the implementation of the EPICare digital platform across five NHS Trusts. This role will play a central part in the Implementation Process Evaluation workstream, led by Professor Justin Waring, and conducted in close collaboration with Work Packages 1–3, our Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG), and local implementation teams at all five participating NHS Trusts.

The Fellow will lead the day-to-day coordination, delivery, and analysis of two rounds of implementation evaluation. These evaluations will identify the contextual barriers and facilitators to implementation, the strategies used to overcome these barriers, and the acceptability and satisfaction of EPICare among patients, clinicians, and EIP teams. Insights will inform the iterative development and refinement of an implementation toolkit, aimed at supporting local adoption and enabling future national rollout.

Working closely with the Chief Investigator, Prof. James Kirkbride (UCL), and Deputy Chief Investigators, Prof. Rachel Upthegrove (Oxford) and Dr. Lowri Griffiths (Birmingham), the Research Fellow will:

• Apply established frameworks—namely the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and the 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 engagement with EPICare's digital components (e.g., dashboards, CareLoop app).
• Integrate findings into the iterative co-development of a practical, evidence-based implementation toolkit.
• Work with local partners to apply quality improvement techniques (e.g., Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles) to refine implementation strategies.
• Contribute to dissemination activities, including engagement with policy stakeholders and national EIP networks.

Person Specification

• PhD (or near completion) in implementation science, health services research, medical sociology, public health, psychology, or a related discipline 
• Ideally, experience conducting applied health or mental health research, particularly in NHS or clinical settings
• Experience in applying implementation research frameworks (e.g. CFIR and ERIC) and models to the study of 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 collaboratively within a team 
• Ability to engage 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 enquiries can be made to Shahara Choudhry, email: s.h.choudhry@bham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above. 

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We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

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