Post-doctoral Research Associate

About the role

A post-doc opportunity to join a clinical trial of a novel intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder in UK Military veterans. This is an efficacy and mechanisms trial to understand whether the novel therapy, compared to waiting-list control, is effective in a tightly controlled trial and how it might be exerting its effects.

In this post-doc role you will support the delivery of the clinical trial and the team’s understanding of the mechanisms of our novel therapy by:

1. delivering the mechanisms study data collection, processing and analysis under the supervision of the academic lead for this work package and
2. Support the delivery of the trial by undertaking and processing trial data collection and preparing the data for analysis by the statistical team by working closely with the Trial Manager and the Assistant Trial manager.

The trial is taking place outside of the NHS with veterans across the UK, some travel to Northern Ireland will be necessary up to twice a year. The academic and research team leading this trial sit within the Research Division for Care in Long-Term Conditions which as a thriving mental health research team across trauma, patient safety, eating disorders, recovery and Arts-based therapies.

Especially note that the role will involve email, telephone and video call contact with people requesting treatment for PTSD during which they sometimes share their distress. Training and support will be provided in managing vicarious trauma.

This is a full time, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30.08.27.

About You

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

Essential criteria

• PhD qualified in any of the following:
  • cognitive psychology;
  • cognitive neuroscience;
  • neuropsychology;
  • mental health nursing with cognitive/executive functioning in PTSD *
• Experience in a wide range of cognitive mechanisms e.g memory, executive function, attention and their neuropsychological underpinnings and administering, scoring, and analysing cognitive tasks (memory, attention) commonly used in neuropsychological assessments
• Experience of quantitative data analysis (e.g. survey) including regression models, and effect size interpretation; understand and/or are experienced in mediation analysis to explore causal relationships between cognitive variables and outcomes 
• Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, actively addressing areas of potential bias
• Evidence of research publications as both first and co-author
• Ability to work independently and deliver high-quality, consistent results in a timely fashion
• Ability to solve complex problems and work effectively in a matrix team
• Excellent presentation and written and verbal communication skills

* 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

• Evidence of research grant capture as a Principal Investigator
• Experience of engaging in multidisciplinary research projects
• Familiarity with standardised cognitive assessment tools and computerised testing platforms
• Experience using advanced statistical methods
• Experience working with individuals with PTSD or analysing data related to trauma and cognitive performance

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