Research Associate, DECIPHer

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Please note that this job is open only to current Cardiff University staff who are eligible for Redeployment.

Research Associate, DECIPHer

Cardiff University School of Social Sciences is seeking to recruit a Research Associate to work within the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer) Research Centre that is located within the school.

In this role you will conduct research within Children's Health and Social Care, in particular assessing and improving children's health and social care services for children harmed by abuse and neglect. The role is within an exciting new international study, SERENA (Assessing and improving access to health and social care SErvices for children RENdered vulnerable by Abuse), funded by Horizon Europe, and starting in January 2025.

SERENA network includes 22 partners, committed to understanding and improving existing services in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. SERENA builds on COST ACTION CA19106 that included partners from those countries, produced high quality research, and published excellent reviews in high impact journals on Child Abuse and Neglect.

The Cardiff University team is coordinating a work-package, focusing on:

1. Literature reviews of existing quantitative and qualitative research
2. Primary data collection in Wales, France, Denmark.

The post holder will:

• Plan and conduct interviews with survivors of child maltreatment, and professionals working in this area in health and social care in Wales
• Oversee ethical compliance for the qualitative data collection, including working on information sheets, consent forms, safety guides, and other materials
• Plan and liaise with colleagues organising public involvement consultations
• Liaise with colleagues in France and Denmark, conducting aligned research
• Analyse interview data in Wales
• Support comparative analyses across the 3 countries
• Support overall project management and work-package coordination, including reporting

This post is full-time (35 hours per week), fixed term from 1st April 2025 until 31st March 2027.

Salary: £40,247 - £45,163 Grade 6 per annum (with 4 annual increments up to £45,163 (final salary at top of grade). New appointments are usually made at the starting point of the salary scale.

Responsible to Dr Yulia Shenderovich

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Dr Shenderovich at ShenderovichY@cardiff.ac.uk

The post includes close collaboration with the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) and the School of Medicine.

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (including bank holidays), blended working (meaning you will be able to work from home for some of your time), a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments up the pay scale, and more.

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you may spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.

Closing date: Wednesday, 15 January 2025

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment.

Job Description

Research:

• To conduct research within Children's Health and Social Care, in particular assessing and improving children's health and social care services for children harmed by abuse and neglect, and contribute to the overall research performance of the School and University by the production of measurable outputs including bidding for funding, publishing in national academic journals and conferences, and the recruitment and supervision of postgraduate research students.
• To develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research including research funding proposals.
• To attend and or present at conferences/seminars at a local and national level as required.
• To undertake administrative tasks associated with the research project, including the planning and organisation of the project and the implementation of procedures required to ensure accurate and timely reporting.
• To prepare research ethics and research governance applications as appropriate.
• To review and synthesise existing research literature within the field.
• To participate in School research activities.
• To build and create networks both internally and externally to the university, to influence decisions, explore future research requirements, and share research ideas for the benefit of research projects.

Other:

• To engage effectively with industrial, commercial and public sector organisations, professional institutions, other academic institutions etc., regionally and nationally to raise awareness of the School's profile, to cultivate strategically valuable alliances, and to pursue opportunities for collaboration across a range of activities.
• To undergo personal and professional development that is appropriate to and which will enhance performance.
• To participate in School administration and activities to promote the School and its work to the wider University and the outside world.
• Any other duties not included above, but consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

1. A master's or another advanced degree and relevant experience.
2. Experience conducting qualitative research.
3. An established expertise and proven portfolio of research and/or relevant industrial experience within some of the following research fields:

• barriers and facilitators of service access in health and social care.
• children's health and social care.
• child abuse and neglect, and/or violence prevention and response.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience working with vulnerable populations.
• Personal or professional experience of children's social or health care services.
• The ability to conduct interviews through the medium of Welsh.
• Evidence of ability to participate in and develop both internal and external networks and utilise them to enhance the research activities of the School.

IMPORTANT: Evidencing Criteria

It is Cardiff University's policy to use the person specification as a key tool for shortlisting. Therefore, candidates must evidence they meet ALL the essential criteria and, where relevant, the desirable.

Your application will be at risk of not being progressed if you do not evidence you have met all essential criteria. The school welcomes the submission of CVs to accompany evidence of the job-based criteria.