Knowledge Exchange Broker

Salary: £34,866 to £36,924 with progression to £45,163 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 04 December 2024

The Role

An exciting opportunity for a knowledge exchange professional to work at the interface between the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) academic work programme and the wide range of policy and practice partner organisations in the field of public health.

The post holder will perform the role of knowledge broker, working across organisational and professional boundaries, strengthening SPHR’s capacity to interact with policy and practice partners, exploiting opportunities for knowledge exchange and helping to develop new avenues for translational research in public health.

You will have substantial, relevant experience in public health research or evaluation and its translation into effective policy and practice; a desire to work to improve the health of the public and reduce health inequalities and a good understanding of evidence-informed public health practice, policy development and the knowledge brokerage function.

You will have excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build effective relationships with a range of different stakeholders and at different levels. You will also have strong persuasion and influencing skills to achieve consensus and secure engagement of stakeholders.

This role is offered on a full-time basis (requests for part time >0.7fte would be considered) and is fixed term to March 2027.

We would welcome requests for flexible working and depending on the needs of the role, blended working opportunities to work remotely as well as on campus may be considered. The hiring manager will discuss the requirements of the role, should you be invited to interview.

Informal enquiries to Dr Susan Bowett, NIHR SPHR Manager susan.bowett@ncl.ac.uk please.

Key Accountabilities

• Take a leading role in developing and expanding knowledge exchange activities within the School, working with individual members of the School across the 9 members and their policy and practice partners.
• Provide advice and expertise in knowledge exchange and keep abreast of developments in this field.
• Report to the School Manager, Director and Executive Group on SPHR knowledge exchange work.
• Take responsibility for maintaining existing links and developing new relationships with policy-makers and practitioners working in local government and other agencies across England.
• Act as one of the principal ‘brokers’ and conduits to connect people to the appropriate institution or person in SPHR and vice-versa.
• Represent the School on a range of external bodies and offer expertise to SPHR partners and external bodies as required, as well as convey back the views of external partners to SPHR to inform its work.
• Work with SPHR academic and research staff, contribute to programmes of research and publications in the area of knowledge exchange, building on existing work (e.g., implementing and evaluating knowledge sharing principles in SPHR: building capacity, culture and infrastructure for research impact).
• Manage the implementation of the SPHR Knowledge Exchange and Impact Strategies and other agreed policies and approaches and monitor their progress.
• Build capacity, both to facilitate knowledge exchange activity and associated research and help shape research calls from policy and practice partners to fit the constraints within which universities work.
• Develop a variety of approaches (e.g., training, networking initiatives, brokerage events, training programmes, etc.) to maximise the generation and use of relevant knowledge amongst the broad range of public health stakeholders.
• Work with the SPHR Communications Manager to develop a range of outputs for the NIHR SPHR website, as well as the production of Research Briefings, Newsletters, Bulletins and other outputs important for knowledge exchange.
• Help translate specific types of knowledge to make them accessible to different audiences.
• Liaise as required with research users and the media (working with SPHR Communications Manager).
• Serve as a member of the central support team in SPHR and play a role in developing its overall strategy with particular focus on facilitating, recording and reporting impact of SPHR research.
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• A desire to work to improve the public’s health and reduce health inequalities.
• Strong knowledge of global health issues.
• An understanding of evidence-informed public health practice and policy development, and the knowledge brokerage function.
• Knowledge of best practice in knowledge exchange.
• Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills.
• Able to build effective relationships with a range of different stakeholders and at different levels.
• Strong persuasion and influencing skills to achieve consensus and secure engagement of stakeholders.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Very strong critical appraisal skills and strategic planning skills.
• Ability to work flexibly and on own initiative.
• IT literate across a wide range of applications, preferably with specialist skills in areas of direct relevance to the role.
• Substantial, relevant experience in public health research or evaluation, and its translation into effective policy and practice.
• Experience in the development of sustainable structures, resources, relationships and processes that are designed to support the public health knowledge exchange function.
• Experience in the successful application of relevant knowledge to the development of public health policy and practice.
• Development and management of successful professional networks.
• Flexible and committed approach to the working environment.
• Willingness and ability to travel within the UK.

Desirable

• Previous experience in a research-related knowledge exchange role.
• Relevant experience in translation of public health research or evaluation into effective policy and practice.

Attributes and Behaviour

• To be proactive and seek out relevant research and associated activity and actively engage and promote these internally and externally.
• Confidence and professionalism in personal interactions with colleagues across the School and University.
• Able to establish and maintain good working relationships with colleagues and others at all levels whilst having the ability to negotiate and influence where appropriate, both within and outside the University, to ensure high-quality communication and knowledge exchange.
• Ability to undertake independent research into a topic to inform knowledge exchange activities.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, working on own initiative and in juggling a busy workload, involving the management of multiple tasks.
• Flexible and adaptable in working with different disciplines and coping with changing and conflicting priorities; with a flexible approach to work, including a willingness to attend and assist with events across the UK.

Qualifications

• A degree in a relevant subject related to public health.

Desirable

• A PhD in a relevant subject related to public health.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 27314