Recruitment

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAMRECRUITMENT ROLE PROFILE FORM

Job Title: Health Economist (fixed term)

School/Department: School of Medicine - NIHR Research Design Service East Midlands

Salary: £25,513 - £27,864 per annum, pro rata, depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Job Family and Level: Research and Teaching, Level 4a

Contract Status: This post is fixed term until 31 August 2016

Hours of Work: This is a full-time post (36.25 hours per week) preferably, though applications are welcome from candidates wishing to work part-time (0.8 fte, 29 hours per week).

Location: NIHR Research Design Service East Midlands, Nottingham Health Science Partners, C Floor, South Block, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2UH

Reporting to: Director, NIHR Research Design Service for the East Midlands

Purpose of the New Role:The person appointed will be one of a team of Research Design Service (RDS) staff who provide methodological support and advice to researchers who are developing applied health or social care research applications for submission to national peer reviewed funding streams. They will be expected to provide advice on the health economic aspects of the design and analysis of research proposals. They will also be expected to contribute to the delivery of funding awareness seminars and other learning events provided by the RDS. The post holder may also have a proportion of their time bought out to enable them to undertake collaborative research.

Main Responsibilities % time per year

1. To provide advice on the health economic components of applications (including the most appropriate economic evaluation for the design, suitable health economic outcomes, methods of analysis, etc.) being prepared for submission to NIHR funding streams and other sources of national, peer reviewed funding such as Research Councils and the Association of Medical Research Charities.

50%

2. To assist with the design of material for, and contribute to the delivery of, events, workshops and occasional seminars/stand alone workshops for NHS staff who are in the process of preparing research applications for funding. The focus of these events will be on issues that need to be considered when incorporating an economic evaluation into the design of research studies; increasing the knowledge and understanding of different funding streams; and other aspects that relate to developing applications for research funding.

20%

3. To work as a team player, assisting other members of the RDS team in the delivery of the RDS service.

20%

4. Any other reasonable duties that may be assigned by the Director of the Nottingham Unit of the RDS-EM.

10%

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential DesirableQualifications/ Education

Candidates should hold a higher degree, or equivalent with a major component in health economics.

Skills/Training Training and skills in health economics.

Research training and skills in health economic research designs.

Excellent knowledge of IT packages e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel.

Ability to rapidly assimilate clinical/applied ideas.

Ability to discuss ideas with researchers at very early stages, helping them to refine their research questions and ensure what they do is manageable and of high methodological quality.

Training and skills in health services research, epidemiology, clinical trials or good clinical practice.

Understanding of ethical issues within health services research.

Good knowledge of specialist software used to conduct health economic analyses e.g Tree Age.

Good knowledge of statistical software e.g. Stata.

Experience Experience of applying health economics methods in the health or social care setting, including experience in study design, data management and methods of analysis.

Experience of reviewing methodological section of protocols.

Experience of teaching, or providing support in health economic methods or health services research to NHS or academic researchers who have little or no knowledge of health economics.

Knowledge of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and applied health care research.

Personal Attributes

Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to communicate with clarity to clients with little or no knowledge of health economics.

Ability to work co-operatively and maintain collaborative relationships.

Ability to relate to professionals from different disciplines within the NHS.

Excellent organisational skills. Ability to work independently and to

contribute enthusiastically to the work of a multidisciplinary team.

Ability to work with minimal supervision.

Self motivated and able to use initiative where appropriate.

Excellent attention to detail.

Understanding of what it means to deliver a service.

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Excellent time management skills. Willingness to travel within East

Midlands.

Decision Making

i) taken independently by the role holderPlan, and prioritise their own workload in relation to that of the team.Make judgements involving complex facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.

ii) taken in collaboration with othersDevelop research protocols in collaboration with research teams.

iii) referred to the appropriate line manager (please name) by the role holderResolving conflicting priorities where the incumbent has insufficient time available to meet all demands. Line manager: Director of RDS-EM.

Additional Information The NIHR Research Design Service for the East MidlandsThe National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds the Research Design Service (RDS) (www.rds.nihr.ac.uk) to provide design and methodological support to health and social care researchers across England to develop grant applications to the NIHR and other national peer-reviewed funding programmes. The national RDS network operates from 10 regional centres across England. RDS East Midlands (www.rds-eastmidlands.nihr.ac.uk) serves a geographical area covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland.

RDS East Midlands funds 30 staff at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and maintains strong links with other higher education institutions, NHS and health-related social care organisations within its geographical coverage.

The Nottingham Unit is located within the Nottingham Health Science Partners centre in the Queen’s Medical Centre close to the University of Nottingham main campus. The unit is part of the School of Medicine (www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/index.aspx).

The current establishment includes 11 academic, research and administrative staff. The person appointed to this post would provide health economics expertise. Other academic staff within the Unit have expertise in medical statistics, clinical trials, qualitative methodology, survey design, systematic reviews and patient and public involvement in research.

The principal activities of the Nottingham Unit are to provide advice and support to NHS staff and academic researchers who are developing applications for applied health or social care research funding, and to provide funding awareness seminars and other learning events on research design and funding opportunities.

Scope of the RoleThe core function of this position is to work with researchers to design and develop applications for applied health or social care research funding.

The role will support and advise researchers who are working in the NHS, with or without academic collaborators, in the development of protocols to be submitted for nationally competitive, peer-reviewed funding opportunities in any area of health services research.

The scope of the role within the RDS is to provide advice and support at the pre-award, development stage of the research. Opportunities to collaborate with research teams as a co-applicant are likely to arise. Any post-award work arising from an opportunity to

Page 3 of 10

collaborate as a co-applicant should be costed into the proposal using TRAC methodology and the money thus awarded would be paid to the RDS to contribute to further economist support.

Advice and support may be provided to researchers by individuals or more commonly, as part of a team of RDS staff with differing methodological expertise. Team working is very important in the way the RDS works. Advice is given via telephone and e-mail but mostly via face to face meetings which can take place anywhere within the three counties covered by the Nottingham Unit (Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire) to suit the convenience of the researchers. The provision of advice to researchers within Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland may also be required. A willingness to travel is therefore essential.

The RDS also provides a series of funding awareness seminars and other learning events throughout the region to support NHS and academic researchers in the design and development of research protocols, and in submitting those proposals to available funding programmes. This role would play a part in the delivery of these events.

Health economics at the University of NottinghamThe number of Health Economists within the University of Nottingham has grown considerably over the last few years. There are Chairs in Health Economics in the School of Economics (Professor David Whynes); Pharmacy (Professor Rachel Elliott), Medicine (Professor Marilyn James) and the Business School (Professors Paul Fenn). In addition to these there are associated lecturer and associate professor posts. The University’s health economists work in economic evaluation, decision-modelling, econometrics and health status measure development, as well as contributing to NICE and other decision making bodies.

The University’s health economists have formed a “virtual” department, Health Economics Research at Nottingham (HER@N), run by health economists within the School of Pharmacy. This group meets via a monthly seminar series, which provides collegiality, identity, support, peer review and mentoring for health economists to develop within their parent discipline, whilst benefiting from Nottingham’s world class health services, economic and clinical research environment. The programme of seminars includes presentations from internal and external speakers. Health economists within the University are encouraged to present their own work for pre-conference or general discussion.

With the range of expertise in key health economics areas, the University of Nottingham is ideally placed for a health economist who wants to develop their career, with support from an established health economics community.

The post-holder will be supervised by Professor Marilyn James and encouraged to form links with other health economists within the School of Medicine and across the rest of the University.

Page 4 of 10

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAMRECRUITMENT ROLE PROFILE FORM

Job Title: Health Economist (fixed term)

School/Department: School of Medicine - NIHR Research Design Service East Midlands

Salary: £25,513 - £37,394 per annum, pro rata, depending on skills and experience (£28,695 minimum with a PhD). Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Job Family and Level: Research and Teaching Level 4 Career Training Grade/ Level 4

Contract Status: This post is fixed term until 31 August 2016

Hours of Work: This is a full-time post (36.25 hours per week) preferably, though applications are welcome from candidates wishing to work part-time (0.8 fte, 29 hours per week).

Location: NIHR Research Design Service East Midlands

Reporting to: Director, NIHR Research Design Service for the East Midlands

Purpose of the New Role:The person appointed will be one of a team of Research Design Service (RDS) staff who provide methodological support and advice to researchers who are developing applied health or social care research applications for submission to national peer reviewed funding streams. They will be expected to provide advice on the health economic aspects of the design and analysis of research proposals as well as more general advice. They will also be expected to assist with the delivery of funding awareness seminars and other learning events provided by the RDS. The post holder may also have a proportion of their time bought out to enable them to undertake collaborative research.

Main Responsibilities % time per year

1. To provide advice on the health economic components of applications (including the most appropriate economic evaluation for the design, suitable health economic outcomes, methods of analysis, etc.) as well as more general advice on applications being prepared for submission to NIHR funding streams and other sources of national, peer reviewed funding such as Research Councils and the Association of Medical Research Charities.

50%

2. To design material for, and to assist with the delivery of, events, workshops and occasional seminars/stand alone workshops for NHS staff who are in the process of preparing research applications for funding. The focus of these events will be on issues that need to be considered when incorporating an economic evaluation into the design of research studies; increasing the knowledge and understanding of different funding streams; and other aspects that relate to developing applications for research funding.

20%

3. To work as a team player, assisting other members of the RDS team in the delivery of the RDS service and covering for other members of staff when necessary.

15%

4. To build relationships with internal and external contacts across the RDS East Midlands region in order to generate new business for the RDS.

5%

5. Any other reasonable duties that may be assigned by the Director of the Nottingham Unit of the RDS-EM.

10%

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Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential DesirableQualifications/ Education

PhD or equivalent in health economics or in a subject that is relevant, or significant research experience in these areas plus a higher degree (or equivalent) with a major component in health economics.

Applicants will also be considered who hold a higher degree with a major component in health economics who are close to completion of a PhD.

Skills/Training Training and skills in health economics.

Research training and skills in health economic research designs.

Excellent knowledge of IT packages e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel.

Excellent knowledge of specialist software used to conduct health economic analyses e.g TreeAge.

Excellent knowledge of statistical software e.g. Stata.

Ability to rapidly assimilate clinical/applied ideas.

Ability to discuss ideas with researchers at very early stages, helping them to refine their research questions and ensure what they do is manageable and of high methodological quality.

Training and skills in health services research, epidemiology, clinical trials or good clinical practice.

Understanding of ethical issues within health services research.

Experience Experience of applying health economics methods in the health or social care setting.

Experience in collaborative applied research e.g. clinical trials, observational studies, including experience in study design, data management and methods of analysis.

Experience of reviewing methodological section of protocols.

Experience of teaching, or providing support in health economic methods or health services research to NHS or academic researchers who have little or no knowledge of health economics.

Knowledge of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and applied health care research.

Personal Attributes

Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to communicate with clarity to clients with little or no knowledge of health economics.

Ability to work co-operatively and maintain collaborative relationships.

Ability to relate to professionals from different disciplines within the NHS.

Excellent organisational skills. Ability to work independently and to

contribute enthusiastically to the work of a multidisciplinary team.

Ability to work with minimal supervision.

Understanding of what it means to deliver a service.

Page 6 of 10

Self motivated and able to use initiative where appropriate.

Excellent attention to detail. Excellent time management skills. Willingness to travel within East

Midlands.

Decision Making

i) taken independently by the role holderPlan, and prioritise their own workload in relation to that of the team.Make judgements involving complex facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.

ii) taken in collaboration with othersDevelop research protocols in collaboration with research teams.Proposing policy changes for own area, which can impact beyond immediate area.

iii) referred to the appropriate line manager (please name) by the role holderResolving conflicting priorities where the incumbent has insufficient time available to meet all demands. Line manager: Director of RDS-EM.

Additional Information The NIHR Research Design Service for the East MidlandsThe National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds the Research Design Service (RDS) (www.rds.nihr.ac.uk) to provide design and methodological support to health and social care researchers across England to develop grant applications to the NIHR and other national peer-reviewed funding programmes. The national RDS network operates from 10 regional centres across England. RDS East Midlands (www.rds-eastmidlands.nihr.ac.uk) serves a geographical area covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland.

RDS East Midlands funds 30 staff at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and maintains strong links with other higher education institutions, NHS and health-related social care organisations within its geographical coverage.

The Nottingham Unit is located within the Nottingham Health Science Partners centre in the Queen’s Medical Centre close to the University of Nottingham main campus. The unit is part of the School of Medicine (www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/index.aspx).

The current establishment includes 11 academic, research and administrative staff. The person appointed to this post would provide health economics expertise. Other academic staff within the Unit have expertise in medical statistics, clinical trials, qualitative methodology, survey design, systematic reviews and patient and public involvement in research.

The principal activities of the Nottingham Unit are to provide advice and support to NHS staff and academic researchers who are developing applications for applied health or social care research funding, and to provide funding awareness seminars and other learning events on research design and funding opportunities.

Scope of the RoleThe core function of this position is to work with researchers to design and develop applications for applied health or social care research funding.

The role will support and advise researchers who are working in the NHS, with or without academic collaborators, in the development of protocols to be submitted for nationally competitive, peer-reviewed funding opportunities in any area of health services research.

Page 7 of 10

The scope of the role within the RDS is to provide advice and support at the pre-award, development stage of the research. Opportunities to collaborate with research teams as a co-applicant are likely to arise. Any post-award work arising from an opportunity to collaborate as a co-applicant should be costed into the proposal using TRAC methodology and the money thus awarded would be paid to the RDS to contribute to further economist support.

Advice and support may be provided to researchers by individuals or more commonly, as part of a team of RDS staff with differing methodological expertise. Team working is very important in the way the RDS works. Advice is given via telephone and e-mail but mostly via face to face meetings which can take place anywhere within the three counties covered by the Nottingham Unit (Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire) to suit the convenience of the researchers. The provision of advice to researchers within Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland may also be required. A willingness to travel is therefore essential.

The RDS also provides a series of funding awareness seminars and other learning events throughout the region to support NHS and academic researchers in the design and development of research protocols, and in submitting those proposals to available funding programmes. This role would play a part in the delivery of these events.

Health economics at the University of NottinghamThe number of Health Economists within the University of Nottingham has grown considerably over the last few years. There are Chairs in Health Economics in the School of Economics (Professor David Whynes); Pharmacy (Professor Rachel Elliott), Medicine (Professor Marilyn James) and the Business School (Professors Paul Fenn). In addition to these there are associated lecturer and associate professor posts. The University’s health economists work in economic evaluation, decision-modelling, econometrics and health status measure development, as well as contributing to NICE and other decision making bodies.

The University’s health economists have formed a “virtual” department, Health Economics Research at Nottingham (HER@N), run by health economists within the School of Pharmacy. This group meets via a monthly seminar series, which provides collegiality, identity, support, peer review and mentoring for health economists to develop within their parent discipline, whilst benefiting from Nottingham’s world class health services, economic and clinical research environment. The programme of seminars includes presentations from internal and external speakers. Health economists within the University are encouraged to present their own work for pre-conference or general discussion.

With the range of expertise in key health economics areas, the University of Nottingham is ideally placed for a health economist who wants to develop their career, with support from an established health economics community.

The post-holder will be supervised by Professor Marilyn James and encouraged to form links with other health economists within the School of Medicine and across the rest of the University.

The University of NottinghamThe University of Nottingham is a global-leading, research-intensive university with campuses in the UK, Malaysia and China. Our reputation for world-class research has yielded major scientific breakthroughs such as Nobel-winning MRI techniques, drug discovery, food technologies and engineering solutions for future economic, social and cultural progress.

Already ranked among the UK’s elite universities and global polls for research excellence, our reputation for world-class research has been further enhanced with the 2014 results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). In addition to scoring highly in quality rankings covering major disciplines in science, engineering, the social sciences, medicine, business and the arts, it is Nottingham’s research power rankings which demonstrate the impressive volume of excellent research which is carried out. We are now ranked 8th in the UK on a measure of ‘research power’ which takes into

Page 8 of 10

account both the quality of research and the number of research-active staff who made REF returns, confirming Nottingham’s place in the top tier of the world’s elite higher education institutions.

The main University campus is set beside a lake, in an extensive belt of woodland, parks and playing fields. The 330 acre University Park Campus is the focus of life for more than 32,000 students and houses the majority of the University’s academic schools and many of the central Services. The Jubilee campus is situated 2 miles away from the University Park, and provides extra capacity. The University Medical School is situated next to the University Park. Together with the University Hospital, it forms the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC).University of Nottingham Medical SchoolNottingham has a strong reputation for both clinical medicine and teaching. As one of the most popular medical schools in the country, it is able to select excellent students and produce and attract good junior doctors. The School of Medicine was formed following Faculty reconfiguration on August 1st 2013. The new School of Medicine comprises the Divisions of Cancer and Stem Cell Sciences, Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Clinical Neuroscience; Epidemiology and Public Health; Primary Care; Psychiatry and Applied Psychology; Rehabilitation and Ageing; Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine; Respiratory Medicine; Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology and the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre. The School also hosts the Medical Education Centre, the Centre for Interprofessional Education and Learning, the Clinical Research Facility, the Clinical Skills Centre, NIHR design Service East Midlands, Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, PRIMIS and Medical Imaging Unit.The new School of Medicine brings together in one School staff undertaking research for the benefit of the health of patients. It includes all primary care and hospital-based medical and surgical disciplines, principally in the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital Nottingham Campuses, Royal Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and also at the University’s main campus and at the King’s Meadow and Jubilee Campuses. Most of our School’s Senior Researchers and Teachers are also clinicians who dedicate 50% of their time to patient care within the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust & Royal Derby Hospitals NHS Trust. This close juxtaposition brings cutting-edge clinical care to our patients and clinical relevance to our research and teaching. We are closely integrated with our full time NHS clinical colleagues, many of whom are themselves leaders in research and teaching and who work closely with the University and this increases the mutual benefit from integration between the University and NHS.

Mission:Our mission is to improve human health and quality of life locally, nationally and internationally through outstanding education, research and patient care.

Priorities:1. Teaching and learning, particularly training tomorrow’s doctors and teaching

specialised postgraduates 2. Research and research training: We will perform and support the highest quality

“big” research which impacts on human health and disease 3. Partnership with the NHS and other healthcare providers 4. Visibility and profile of the School of Medicine: We will do what we do better, and

we will tell others about it

Ethos and principles:1. Having people and patients at the heart of all we do: our teaching and learning,

our research and our patient care 2. Contribution within the School of Medicine and to society beyond our immediate

roles; helpfulness and service 3. Openness and fairness, with particular emphasis on communication (both internal

and external) and on equality and diversity among students and staff 4. Personal and group responsibility for all aspects of our work, within a culture of

opportunity and rewardOur research spans 11 major themes, ranging from cancer to vascular medicine. We work closely with industry and the NHS. Our world-leading research ranges from basic and

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translational science through to clinical trials, epidemiology, and health services research. Our clear theme is improving human health, underpinning a vibrant postgraduate research training programme leading to PhD or DM. Many of our academics are clinicians, using their expertise to provide cutting edge specialised treatment to NHS patients; reflecting our ethos that patients are at the heart of all we do.In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework the four Units of Assessment included in the School of Medicine were among the six most improved in the whole University since RAE 2008: Over 80% of our research in 2014 was graded as world-leading or internationally excellent. Our research spans 11 major themes and ranges from basic and translational science through to clinical trials, epidemiology, and health services research. We work closely with industry and the NHS. Our research is underpinned by a strong postgraduate research training programme leading to PhD or DM. Our major research themes are in Cancer and Stem Cells; Child Health, Obstetrics & Gynaecology; Clinical Neurosciences; Dermatology; Digestive Diseases; Epidemiology and Public Health; Mental Health; Musculoskeletal physiology and disease; Primary Care; Rehabilitation and Ageing; Respiratory Medicine; and Renal Medicine. The School of Medicine trains tomorrow’s doctors on a vibrant undergraduate medical course with a unique intercalated BMedSci, as well in a specialised graduate-entry programme built around clinical problem solving. We teach medicine and related disciplines at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. We have a dedicated clinical academic training programme and are committed to training PhD and doctoral research students and to supporting postdoctoral clinicians and scientists in their research.  The School of Medicine holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics (STEMM). The award reflects our commitment to promoting equality and diversity. Please see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/about/athena-swan.aspx. Professor Tony Avery is Dean of the School of Medicine.For further information, please see our website http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine

NottinghamCentral within the East Midlands, Nottingham is a vibrant and prosperous city with something to offer everyone. It is one of the UK’s leading retail centres and has a huge variety of restaurants, bars and nightclubs which attract people from all over the UK. Culturally, it has good theatres, an arena which attracts both national and international performers and a range of historical interests relating to subjects such as the lace industry, Lord Byron and DH Lawrence. Nottingham is also known for sport, being the home of Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham Forest and Notts County Football Clubs, the National Water Sports Centre and the Nottingham Tennis Centre. There is a good network of roads with easy access to the M1 and the A1, a fast frequent rail service to London and other major cities. Nottingham East Midlands Airport is only eighteen miles away. The city is set within a county of outstanding natural beauty which includes Sherwood Forest, Wollaton Park, lively market towns and wonderful historic buildings. Housing is relatively inexpensive and, in addition to the two Universities, there are excellent schools and colleges available.To find out more about Nottingham, use the following links:Nottingham County Council – Tourism http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/ University of Nottingham http://www.nottingham.ac.uk Zoopla (Guide to local properties) http://www.zoopla.co.uk/

My Nottingham (information on schools, term dates, school transport etc.)http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8524

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