Research Officer (Health Economics)

The Public Health Economics Research Group (PHERG) at CHEME (https://cheme.bangor.ac.uk/) is seeking a full-time Research Officer, having been awarded their PhD in a relevant subject or having submitted their PhD and experience of working in a health economics research unit or related government agency e.g. as a Project Support Officer. The successful applicant will need to have experience of being part of a wider research team on research projects in public health care or primary care or government agency research within natural sciences. This role will assist in part with all-Wales activities related to Health and Care Economics Cymru (HCEC) (https://healthandcareeconomics.cymru/). In addition, they will be assigned to work on a number of research projects within the and public health economics portfolio at CHEME.

Successful candidates will be expected to commence on 1st September 2021, or as soon as possible thereafter, and the post is available until March 2023.

Interviews will be held: 23rd August, 2021.

Informal enquiries about all posts can be made to Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards r.t.edwards@bangor.ac.uk.

Committed To Equal Opportunities

Overview

Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME)

Founded in 2001, CHEME is now one of the UK’s leading health economics centres, and aims to promote and sustain high-quality research, maximise opportunities for research grant capture and publications in high impact journals.

The Centre is active across a range of public health economics and medicines evaluation research activities. These are broadly categorised into the following research themes:

• Public health economics and the health economics of psychosocial interventions and other non-pharmacological health technologies and the methodology of evaluation of public health interventions, led by Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards;

• Methodological research, focusing on economic evaluation alongside clinical trials, medication adherence and health outcome measurements;

• Pharmacoeconomics, pharmaceutical policy and medicines use, led by Professor Dyfrig Hughes.

CHEME has been successful in attracting research funding from numerous sources to support its research, most notably the MRC, NIHR, ESRC, Horizon 2020, CRUK and HCRW as part of Welsh Government.

Purpose of the Job

• To assist Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards in taking forward a variety of health economics research projects within the Public Health Economics Research Programme at CHEME with a particular focus on the activities of Health and Care Economics Cymru funded by Health and Care Research Wales. This will involve background research for the preparation of grant applications and assisting in the production of research outputs, systematic and rapid reviewing of literature, management of data sets, statistical and economic analysis, drafting reports and manuscripts for publication. In addition, the successful candidate will play a role in delivering an all-Wales agenda for Health and Care Economics Cymru, contributing to the preparation of quarterly reports, outward-facing reports, conference organisation, and liaising with stakeholders.

• It would be helpful if this role could contribute to the development and maintenance of the Public Health Economics Research component of the CHEME website and explore further opportunities for the use of social media and web presence for the dissemination of research at CHEME.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Activities relating to Health and Care Economics Cymru:

Assist with regular reporting to Health and Care Research Wales e.g. quarterly reports, outward-facing annual report production and organisation of annual conference and advisory board meeting i.e. assisting Professor Edwards as co-director of Health and Care Economics Cymru.

Activities relating to PHERG project portfolio support:

Carry out rapid and systematic reviews for research projects.
Assist with data collection for research projects.
Collate, manage and analyse data and carry out descriptive statistics for inclusion in research reports and publications.
Help with data searching to support social return on investment analysis.
Assist in the preparation of research papers and reports for publication.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

The list of main duties and responsibilities is not meant to be exhaustive, but merely an indication of the main areas of activity for the post. It may be amended or added to, at the discretion of Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards with other duties commensurate with the role function and grade following consultation with the post holder.

• Attend internal meetings and to undertake administrative responsibilities that improve the work undertaken by PHERG at CHEME and HCEC more widely;

• The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities;

• The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme;

• The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for him/herself and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by his/her actions or inactions.

The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments;

• The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.

Person Specification

Qualifications/Training

Essential

• PhD in a relevant subject , or be close to the completion.

Experience/Knowledge

Essential

• Experience of working in a health economics research unit or related government agency e.g. as a Project Support Officer, ideally the successful applicant will have experience of being part of a wider research team on research projects in public health care or primary care or government agency research.

• Experience of participating in research projects from initiation to completion

• Good quantitative skills, including good working knowledge of statistics and use of programmes such as SPSS and Excel.

• Awareness of the importance of qualitative skills in health economics.

• Experience of undertaking systematic or rapid reviews of evidence and writing evidence summaries e.g. an introduction to an outcomes paper.

• An awareness of the psychosocial model of health and well-being, and opportunities for research into the economics of this area.

Desirable

• Knowledge of statistical packages including R, STATA, Excel, SPSS.

• Experience working as a team member, contributing to the production in research materials e.g. questionnaires, ethics application process, data collection, data analysis, and contribution to the writing of reports and manuscriptions for publication, contribution to material for websites and other social media outlets, preparation of PowerPoint presentations and delivery of research findings at conferences and meetings.

• Experience of contributing to websites.

• Experience of using online data capture systems such as Google Forms or Survey Monkey.

• Some experience in undertaking qualitative research, including focus groups, and some inclusion of qualitative analysis in projects.

• Experience of registering reviews with PROSPERO and publishing systematic reviews.

Skills/Abilities

Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team and also happy to work independently with regular supervision.

• Able and willing to work under pressure of deadlines, demonstrating a flexible attitude to work

• Good written skills in English and experience of correct referencing processes.

• Demonstrate being well organised and able to plan ahead.

• Attention to detail, proof-reading, willingness to read other people’s work and have their own work read within a culture of peer mentoring.

• Ability to work flexibly and present ideas to diverse audiences.

• Ability to work with people from a wide variety of academic disciplines and other backgrounds

• Computer literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, internet and databases.

Desirable

• Ability to use reference management programmes.

Other

Essential

• A willingness to travel to attend conferences, training and project meetings, as well as working within an office environment and at present from home online.

• An understanding of the bilingual nature of the area and institution.

• This post is subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check.

Desirable

• The ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh is desirable for this role.

General

The University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We strive to develop a workforce from all sections of the community regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language through our progressive Welsh Language Policy. We comply with the Welsh Language Standards and are committed to equality of opportunity. You are welcome to apply for any job in English or Welsh and all applications submitted will be treated equally.

We are a member of Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Gender Equality charter and hold a Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to and progress towards gender equality within the University’s policies, practices, and culture. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

All members of staff have a duty to ensure their actions are in line with the overall environmental aims of the University and minimise their environmental impact.

All offers are made subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK and receipt of satisfactory references.

All candidates must meet the requirements of UK ‘right to work’ requirements *** If you require Home Office permission to work in the UK, or need to switch your visa status in order to take this job we recommend you use the following link to information about the routes into employment and to check eligibility requirements: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Please note that we are unable to employ anyone who does not have the right to live and work in the UK legally. When applying for this post you will be required to explain the basis upon which you believe you will be able to live and work in the UK legally on the commencement date of the role should your application be successful.

Candidates should also note that they may be required to apply for an ATAS certificate (Academic Approval Technology Scheme) from the Counter-Proliferation and Arms Control Centre of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before being able to apply for a visa - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme

Please note that, in the event of applications being received from candidates on the University’s Redeployment Register with a reasonable skills match to the post specification, these applicants will be given prior consideration.

Disclosure & Barring Service

This post is subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check.
As Bangor University meets the requirements in respect of exempted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, all applicants who are offered employment will be subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) before the appointment is confirmed. This will include details of cautions, reprimands or final warnings as well as convictions. DBS checks will be updated every 3 years.

Candidates should note that the University uses an external Umbrella body to process DBS checks. As such you should be aware that, if successful in your application, your name and e-mail contact details will be shared with the Umbrella body in order that they may contact you to start the application process.