Research Scientist in Health Coaching

About the role

The post holder of Research Scientist on the EMBRACE programme led by Professor Josip Car focuses on physical activity interventions during pregnancy with particular emphasis on the role of health coaching approaches in supporting behaviour change. There remain gaps in evidence and unanswered research questions related to physical activity and exercise during pregnancy spanning physiological, psychological, social, and clinical domains. In particular, there is a need to better understand how personalised, coaching-informed interventions can support motivation, confidence, and sustained engagement in physical activity across diverse populations. 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 that incorporate health coaching principles aimed at promoting safe, sustainable physical activity among pregnant individuals. This may include working with digital health tools, co-designing interventions with service users and practitioners, and evaluating outcomes relevant to maternal health and wellbeing. 

This post offers an exciting opportunity to work within an interdisciplinary team in maternal health, exercise science, health coaching, digital health and population health, and to make a real-world impact on clinical practice and public health policy.  The post holder is expected to collaborate with colleagues, present findings at conferences, publish research, and co-supervise project 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 30/09/2029.

About You

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

Essential criteria

• PhD in relevant field *
• Knowledge of pregnancy-specific guidelines for physical activity 
• Experience in physical activity research and/or interventions during pregnancy or related populations
• Good effective communication (both oral and written) skills, including research papers and reports, and presentations at conferences
• Experience of writing research reports and papers accessible to both academic and lay audiences
• Experience of evaluating digital health interventions such as apps or use of smartwatches and other wearables and synthesising evidence from multiple sources
• Project management skills - ability to initiate, plan, organise, implement and deliver programmes of work to tight deadlines
• Evidence of actively addressing areas of potential bias when engaging with public, patient, or community groups

* 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

• Experience with evaluation of wearable physical activity monitors and measurement tools
• Experience with Patient and Public Involvement
• Highly data-driven approach to problem-solving and decision-making

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