Research Lead

Appt’s small, dynamic team are looking for a Research Lead to help us achieve our goal of revolutionising preventive healthcare in the NHS. We are looking for a creative and ambitious researcher – someone who can throw themselves into hands-on research – working with academic institutions, care providing partners and other stakeholders to get the job done.

This role is a mix of operations and optimisation - you will be working closely with the rest of Appt's cross-functional team on a day-to-day basis to help us identify the strategies that will maximise public uptake of preventive healthcare. 

Appt is a social enterprise (that means we measure and value social impact as well as profits) that has been working in some of the most deprived parts of East London over the last four years to tackle health inequality (the idea that those from the lowest income backgrounds are most likely to suffer the negative effects of ill-health).

We have, on three separate occasions, been recognised by the UK government for our work and we have been funded by the UK’s research and development investment arm, Innovate UK (>£1.3m of innovation funding). We plan to raise our seed round in 2023. 

We are now in the early stages of scaling across the country. We’ve already overcome some of the major barriers that face a health technology start-up working with the NHS: we have integrated our full workflow into NHS IT and we have won our first commercial contracts with NHS providers. We're ambitious both commercially and in terms of our social impact we believe we can deliver - to meet this ambition we need to grow. That's where you come in. 

Here are a few of the things you will be doing: 

• Coordinating and overseeing day-to-day research operations 
• Managing relationships with key stakeholders – ranging from academics to our users
• Identifying and addressing operational inefficiencies and bottlenecks in our research and developing solutions to resolve them.
• Analysing operational data and metrics from Appt's service to identify trends and opportunities for improvement
• Ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and standards, and identifying potential areas of risk
• Inputting on grant applications and research bids 

We are looking, first and foremost, for a team-player. Someone who relishes the opportunity to get involved across a company. You must have a track record of collaboration and problem solving. 

This role would be a great fit for someone entrepreneurial, someone who has their own opinions and isn’t afraid to speak their mind. We are looking for someone who is comfortable with not having all the answers, but who knows how to go and look for them.

Working with the NHS can at times be a challenge – someone with grit and determination who has the desire to make a positive impact through their work will excel int this position.

This is an ambiguous role with lots of potential for making the role your own - so we only have a limited list of must haves:

• Demonstrated ability to lead research projects (either through a professional role, or in academia)
• A track record of working collaboratively in a team
• Experience communicating clearly and managing multiple stakeholders on a project
• A structured and organised way of working 
• Analytical skills and comfort evaluating trial data 

Behavioural science will be an important part of Appt’s research. Whilst it is not crucial that you have a background in behavioural science, it will be an advantage. 

You will be joining a fun, positive and collaborative team and enjoy a flexible working environment (work wherever you feel most productive, with most of the team based around Central London). You will get plenty of annual leave to make sure you’re well rested (28 days + bank holidays + 4 duvet-days per year). We will pay you a competitive salary (£32k per annum) and you will be eligible for stock options from day-one.

Don't worry! If you don't quite fit all the requirements of this job specification, then remember - they're just guidelines! If you still think you could bring a spark to this role, then we'd love to hear from you.

We are most interested in how candidates will fit into our team. If you don’t match 100% of the skills and qualifications that we’re looking for but think that you’d be a great fit, we would love to hear from you.