Postdoctoral Research Associate in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

About us:

This role offers an exciting opportunity for a postdoctoral researcher to contribute to a study exploring emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) during the primary-secondary school transition years (ages 10-13).

The postholder will work within the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), under the supervision of Jacqueline Phillips Owen, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Senior Lecturer and Lead for the Maudsley Education Consultation Service:

(https://kingsmaudsley.org/home/our-expertise/schools-based-early-interventions/maudsley-education-consultation-service/).

The project is part of the Maudsley Charity’s Building Brighter Futures programme and sits within the wider context of youth mental health innovation through the King’s Maudsley Partnership in collaboration with the Harris Federation of Schools.

About the role: 

The researcher will play a key role in developing, piloting, and evaluating a proof-of-concept intervention package for reducing rates of Emotionally Based School avoidance in four secondary schools in Croydon.

They will co-ordinate the collection of survey data in a school setting from young people and their parents in collaboration with school staff and researchers. This data will provide the evaluative framework for an intervention for which the post holder will contribute to the development and implementation. The post holder will conduct analyses of the data and disseminate the findings in academic journals and to wider audiences.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed-term contract until 22nd February 2029.

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

• PhD (awarded) in relevant subject area (e.g., epidemiology, population health, quantitative social science, statistics, psychology, neuroscience).
• Excellent knowledge of statistics, including statistical analyses of longitudinal data. 
• Skilled in writing and/or contributing to high-quality manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. 
• Proven ability to independently manage research tasks, including participant recruitment and data collection.
• Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to prioritise work and meet deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for diverse audiences (e.g. academic, young people, public). 
• Understanding of data protection and ethical considerations when working with young people and sensitive mental health data.
• Collaborative and flexible approach to working within interdisciplinary teams.

Desirable criteria

• Experience working with interdisciplinary group consisting of clinicians, educators, engineers and academics focused on enhancing child and adolescent mental health care.
• Experience in working with longitudinal data sets and knowledge of advanced statistical methods for analysis of longitudinal data.
• Experience in research with school-based populations.
• Experience of intervention research and proof-of-concept evaluations.
• Direct experience of working with young people.

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.

Interviews are due to be held ASAP

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearances.

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