Principal Research Associate

Salary: £58,225.00 to £67,468.00  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 17 October 2025

The Role

We are pleased to announce an exciting role working as part of  the Newcastle Biostatistics Research Group (BRG), Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit (NCTU) and the NIHR Research Support Service hosted by Newcastle and Partners (RSS N&P).

This role will provide strategic leadership in the area of implementing innovative trial designs in practice, with particular focus on rare diseases. The position is funded by two LifeArc-funded Translational Research Centres and RSS N&P.

BRG is a group of 30 applied and methodological biostatisticians who work together to develop and implement state-of-the-art statistical methods in health research. The UKCRC Registered, Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit (NCTU), has expertise in the design and conduct of large complex multi-centre clinical trials, and a developing track-record of methods research in clinical trials.

The role will be based in our offices on the University main campus. In alignment with Newcastle University's blended working policy, this position allows for working from home for part of your working week.

We are looking for an individual that has an impressive portfolio of research outputs, evidence of applying their research in practice, and successful track record of funding for their research. You will likely have several years’ experience at a level equivalent to Senior Research Associate

You will report to Professor James Wason, who you will meet with regularly. You will line-manage colleagues and take a leading part in regular team meetings, developing collaborations within BRG/NCTU and externally to the group. There will be opportunities to supervise PhD students and develop your own research portfolio.

We are looking for individuals who are: ambitious to achieve results and develop their own research area that is complementary to the BRG; willing to get involved in applying advanced statistical methods in real projects; and who work well with others and are willing to support our positive research culture.

If you have further questions about the role, please email james.wason@newcastle.ac.uk

This role is fixed term until August 2028

Key Accountabilities

• Lead the statistical development of clinical trial proposals, in particular ones using innovative design and analysis methods within rare diseases
• Lead the supervision of PhD students and line management of research staff
• Inform and support a strategic direction for BRG, NCTU and RSS in innovative trials methods and rare disease trials, building on existing trials methodology research in the groups
• Further increase connections between BRG, NCTU and RSS teams to the benefit of all including as joint Chair of the CTU-BRG Group , and attending RSS Strategic Planning , CTU New Business and Trials meetings
• Develop / implement training aimed at ensuring internal and external stakeholders are informed about relevant trial designs, including innovative and efficient approaches
• Work with relevant BRG and NCTU teams to improve quality management systems and processes, in particular those related to conduct of innovative trial designs (e.g. data and randomisation systems)

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Substantial experience in conducting research, as evidenced by impactful publications in high-quality peer-reviewed journals
• Strong track-record of involvement in successful research funding applications
• Experience of managing, mentoring or supervising staff or students
• Strong technical and methodological statistical skills applied to health research
• Experience of programming in R or other statistical programming languages
• Experience in conducting and publishing (statistical or trials) methodology research

Desirable

• Experience of teaching statistics 

Attributes And Behaviour

• Strong vision for growing the BRG and NCTU
• Keen to help others and play role in positive research culture
• Enthusiastic to grow and develop as a researcher
• Follows-through on commitments and drives projects forward
• Strong interpersonal, communication, administrative and leadership skills

Qualifications

• A PhD in a relevant discipline (or equivalent research-based expertise)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28642