Research Associate - MENTOR 3.0 in Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university. We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement, a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more.

Overview

The School of Psychology at the University of Sheffield is seeking to appoint a Research Associate to work on MENTOR 3.0, an NIHR-funded research programme focused on workplace mental health. MENTOR 3.0 aims to support people to stay well and remain in work by strengthening psychological skills and communication between employees and their line managers through a joint employee-manager intervention. You will join a multidisciplinary team spanning occupational health psychology, public health, social care, health economics, behavioural science, prevention, and implementation research. Working in partnership with academic colleagues and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Yorkshire, you will help to coordinate and run key project activities, build and maintain positive relationships with participating organisations and stakeholders, and support inclusive co-production with employees with lived experience of mental health.

Specifically, you will lead and contribute to key activities of a feasibility and acceptability study, including supporting recruitment and study delivery, planning and delivering co-production workshops, and conducting and analysing quantitative and qualitative research to refine the intervention and optimise implementation.

Main Duties And Responsibilities

• Act as project manager and be responsible for coordinating key team activities
• Act as main point of contact for all parties when organising advisory group meetings and co-production workshops with collaborators and SMEs
• Build and maintain relationships with partner organisations, external stakeholders and SMEs
• Lead or co‑lead co‑production or focus group activities, including planning, facilitation, and follow‑up actions
• Oversee data management and contribute to data collection and analyses (quantitative and qualitative)
• Writing drafts of study reports
• Co‑create strategy for project dissemination
• Contribute to application for follow‑on funding
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn’t match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Essential And Desirable Criteria

• Have a PhD (or equivalent) in Psychology or a related discipline
• Excellent knowledge of mental health interventions
• Experience with both quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Strong quantitative and qualitative analysis skills
• Experience of publishing research in peer‑reviewed journals as a lead author
• Experience in leading or co‑leading workshops, group sessions or mental health interventions
• Previous experience of co‑producing research
• Previous experience of conducting feasibility or randomised controlled trials
• Experience working with collaborators and stakeholders outside academia
• Familiarity with mental health interventions relevant to workplace stress/burnout

Further Information

Grade: 7 up to SP 3

Line manager: Principal Investigator of NIHR grant - Dr Arianna Prudenzi

Direct reports: none

For informal enquiries about this job contact: Dr Arianna Prudenzi, Lecturer in Psychology (a.prudenzi@sheffield.ac.uk)

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will consist of an interview with questions that will be provided in advance. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact Francesca Baker, f.a.baker@sheffield.ac.uk

What We Offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development.
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes.
• A range of generous family‑friendly policies paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies support for those going through the menopause paid time off and support for fertility treatment and more.

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process. We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society.