Research Consultant

York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) is looking to recruit an experienced Research Consultant to work on a range of economic modelling projects within our pharmaceutical consulting sector team. This is an exciting opportunity to develop your research career in a team-based consultancy setting that values academic rigour.

Main Purpose of the Job

The primary purpose of the role is to develop and critique economic models on a wide range of projects. The candidate will be expected to work in project teams alongside other research staff and project directors. The successful candidate will report to a YHEC Project Director.

Main Duties

• After an initial training and development period, lead the development of economic modelling projects and take responsibility for specific elements within larger projects under the supervision of senior staff.
• Critique economic analyses submitted to HTA bodies, and report directly to those bodies on the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches.
• Critically review published economic models to inform the development of de novo economic models.
• Undertake data analysis, including individual patient level data, survival curve fitting and stochastic modelling.
• Carry out quality assurance review of models developed both within the company and for external clients.
• Attend meetings with private sector clients and external experts.
• Identify and retrieve relevant quantitative data from publications and other sources.
• Report preparation and presentation to clients.
• Client liaison within a project, with the support and guidance of senior colleagues.
• Occasionally provide supervision of other staff working on the project team.

Personal Specification

Essential qualifications, knowledge, skills and attributes are:

• A post-graduate degree in a numerical based discipline such as health economics, epidemiology, mathematics, operational research, economics, or statistics.
• Experience of developing health economic models.
• Ability to communicate new and complex information effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• A high level of attention to detail and accuracy and a commitment to high quality.
• High competency level in using Excel.
• Ability to lead and/or take responsibility for a small research project or identified parts of a large project.
• Ability to plan and prioritise own work in order to meet deadlines.
• Enthusiasm and a commitment to team working.

Desirable skills and attributes are:

• Knowledge of economic evaluation approaches and techniques.
• Experience in using additional software packages (R, Python, STATA, SAS).

Candidates may be required, on occasion, to travel for business purposes (e.g. to client meetings or conferences).

Terms of Employment

Posts at YHEC are permanent and subject to regular review of performance. Flexible / remote working is considered for strong candidates but the preference would be for the successful candidate to be office-based for a trial period of at least six months, following which employment will be confirmed, subject to successful performance and the candidate can then move to a hybrid working model.

Working at YHEC

Our location means that staff have full access to the range of facilities offered by the University of York. There is free parking for YHEC staff and secure cycle parking. Showering facilities are available in the office. We encourage staff to engage with other research departments based at the University. The combination of our unique location and the breadth of our research portfolio makes YHEC a stimulating environment to work in, providing opportunities to work with a wide range of clients using multiple research methods. We want to help you to further develop your professional career at YHEC. We have an active career development programme and successful applicants will be supported to develop their research skills and we actively encourage internal and external training and development.

Salary and benefits

YHEC is able to offer a competitive salary and has conventional commercial flexibility in annual salary reviews. The basic salary will be in the range £28,700 to £43,050 subject to qualifications and experience. The post holder will be eligible to join the YHEC Group Pension Scheme. Membership of a defined contribution or defined benefit pension scheme is available subject to eligibility criteria being satisfied. Annual leave entitlement will be 30 days per year, plus bank holidays.

Please note: If you are not a British or Irish citizen, from 01 January 2021 you will require permission to work in the UK. This will normally be in the form of a visa but, if you are an EEA/Swiss citizen and resident in the UK before 31 December 2020, this may be your passport or status under the EU Settlement Scheme.