The Centre for Global Health & Intersectional Equity Research seeks a highly motivated, enthusiastic and professional Senior Research Officer to join its diverse and dynamic team to support the delivery of the SUNWAI project (See more details on SUNWAI below). This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is interested in working in a dynamic environment and a multi-disciplinary team comprising of UK and international partners and is passionate about social change.
The post holder will play the key coordinating role in the Centre’s new NIHR-funded global health project, and will be the link to an international partnership/ consortium of universities and other partners in the UK, India, Thailand and Vietnam. You will be supported by Profs Anuj Kapilashrami (Director) and Reza Majdzadeh in delivering the Learning & Evaluation work package comprising of two of the five studies in the SUNWAI project- focused on establishing and implementing a learning system across all country settings and evaluating the health systems and other impacts of the proposed interventions.
Candidates are required to have strong track record of independent research and scholarly activities (including publications), communication and technical skills and proficiency in managing analysis software for qualitative and quantitative data. They must be driven, willing to travel internationally for annual meetings and have a good understanding and experience of implementing large international collaborative research or KE partnerships.
We are looking for a self-starter, dynamic, entrepreneurial, with experience taking ownership and exercising leadership on tasks that require managing and leading teams, ensuring delivery of project workplans to deadlines. The successful candidate will have strengths in the design, collection and analysis of quantitative surveys and qualitative data, and with a research background in an area such as health informatics/digital health, organizational studies, health systems evaluation, and translational/implementation research in health care.
The post is fixed-term for 4 years and 3 months. The duration of the post reflects the period of funding from UK Aid and NIHR (September 2025 – August 2030).
Qualifications and Skills required
You will hold a relevant doctoral level degree in public health, health systems, economics, or a related field and ideally Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, or the ability to gain professional recognition at this or a higher level if appropriate.
About SUNWAI
SUNWAI in multiple Asian languages translates to “being heard” or “attended to.” The SUNWAI consortium seeks to institutionalise and deepen cross-regional research and action (co-produced mechanisms) that advances the inclusion of key populations – specifically transgender communities in social participation for UHC, and to understand its contexts, mechanisms, outcomes, and costs.
It is a collaborative multi-country consortium that will conduct five studies through five Work Packages concurrently over five years in Vietnam, Thailand, and India.
Specific objectives:
1. To align, strengthen, evaluate, and sustain intra-and inter -country academic and civil society partnerships working on social participation of transgender populations for UHC with a specific emphasis on the “leave no one behind” agenda in Vietnam, India, and Thailand
2. To understand the contexts, mechanisms, outcomes, and costs of involving transgender populations in social participation for health initiatives as well as social participation (of any group) in UHC reform initiatives at national and subnational levels in each country
3. To co-produce country-specific as well as cross-country mechanisms intended to enhance meaningful inclusion of transgender populations in social participation for health geared towards achieving UHC
4. To evaluate/assess the relationship of these mechanisms to health system process goals from the perspective of community, civil society, government, and academic actors
5. To catalyse exchange and expansion of SUNWAI in the run-up to the endpoint of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030 and beyond
Further information about the team and background to SUNWAI can be found at:
As part of the process and to be successful you will be required to demonstrate how you your research has been impactful within and beyond the academic sphere, recognising the importance of this and the effect it will have on the University.
The University of Essex is a campus based University and all academic appointments are made with the expectation that you will be present on campus to fulfil the requirements of your position. At the time of a job offer, the possibility of hybrid working, will be discussed and considered on an individual basis, but you will be required to be based within the UK.
At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.