Job summary
An exciting opportunity to take a lead role in evaluating interventions for complex service users within the HMPPS/NHS Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway.
The role is hosted by the London Pathways Partnership (LPP) and will work alongside the national OPD research team. The London Pathways Partnership (a consortium of 5 NHS trusts) delivers psychological services in several prisons in the Southeast of England and across the National Probation Service in London, providing training, case consultation, formulation and pathway management for high-risk high harm personality disordered offenders. Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is the lead trust for LPP.
This role sits within the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway and is critical to the delivery of robust, ethical, and impactful research. It will support a growing programme of research into the experiences, risks, transitions, and outcomes of individuals exhibiting traits of probable 'personality disorder' and complex needs across custodial and community settings.
Main duties of the job
- Apply ethical, trauma-informed, and inclusive approaches to research and evaluation within secure and community settings.
- Support all aspects of research delivery, including study setup, ethics and governance compliance, and ongoing project coordination.
- Develop, pilot, and administer qualitative and mixed-methods tools such as interview schedules, surveys, and observation protocols.
- Facilitate participant recruitment and informed consent, including people in prison, probation, or with lived experience of complex needs.
- Coordinate research activity across settings and liaise with clinical and operational staff to enable access, manage logistics, and maintain continuity.
- Use secure systems (e.g., NVivo, SPSS, Excel) to manage and analyse data, ensuring confidentiality and data protection.
- Co-develop public involvement plans and facilitate meaningful engagement with peer researchers and people with lived experience.
- Prepare research updates, ethics documentation, and progress reports for internal governance and external funders (e.g., MoJ, NIHR).
- Contribute to Trust research awareness, including communications, staff training events, and presentations.
- Line management and/or supervision of Band 4 OPD research assistant
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We're Kind
- We're Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Job description
Job responsibilities
The postholder will contribute to mixed-methods evaluations, longitudinal studies, and feasibility research, with a focus on participant recruitment, fieldwork, data analysis, and stakeholder engagement. Working in close partnership with NHS, HMPPS, and academic collaborators, this role will ensure that the research informs trauma-informed, psychologically informed, and evidence-based practice across the OPD pathway.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:
All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.
You will need to provide:
Proof of right to work documentation
Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
Proof of address documentation
Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.
Address History:
5 years address history will be needed.
Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.
Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.
In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be soughtfrom:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).
Job description
Job responsibilities
The postholder will contribute to mixed-methods evaluations, longitudinal studies, and feasibility research, with a focus on participant recruitment, fieldwork, data analysis, and stakeholder engagement. Working in close partnership with NHS, HMPPS, and academic collaborators, this role will ensure that the research informs trauma-informed, psychologically informed, and evidence-based practice across the OPD pathway.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:
All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.
You will need to provide:
Proof of right to work documentation
Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
Proof of address documentation
Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.
Address History:
5 years address history will be needed.
Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.
Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.
In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be soughtfrom:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Postgraduate degree (e.g. Psychology, Public Health, Applied Social Sciences, Criminology)
Desirable
- Research methods training or accreditation in applied social research
Experience
Essential
- At least 2 years' experience in applied research or evaluation roles
Desirable
- Experience of research in forensic or mental health settings
Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of research ethics and governance framework (e.g. HRA)
- Competent in qualitative and quantitative analysis (e.g. NVivo, SPSS, R)
- Strong skills in interviewing, transcription, data management, and visual presentation of findings
Desirable
- Understanding of OPD pathway and/or trauma informed approaches
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Postgraduate degree (e.g. Psychology, Public Health, Applied Social Sciences, Criminology)
Desirable
- Research methods training or accreditation in applied social research
Experience
Essential
- At least 2 years' experience in applied research or evaluation roles
Desirable
- Experience of research in forensic or mental health settings
Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of research ethics and governance framework (e.g. HRA)
- Competent in qualitative and quantitative analysis (e.g. NVivo, SPSS, R)
- Strong skills in interviewing, transcription, data management, and visual presentation of findings
Desirable
- Understanding of OPD pathway and/or trauma informed approaches
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
