- Job Title
- Research Translation Lead
- Post Number
- 1004971
- Closing Date
- 21 Oct 2025
- Grade
- SC5
- Starting Salary
- Salary: £45,450 - £56,750 Salary will be pro-rata, based on a full time 37 hour week
- Hours per week
- 12
- Project Title
- Translating QIB research to address health inequalities
- Expected/Ideal Start Date
- 03 Nov 2025
- Months Duration
- 30
Job Description
Main Purpose of the Job
The post holder will be responsible for working with internal and external partners to build capacity and support a body of work that translate QIB research into real-life impact, particularly in areas addressing health inequalities and access to nutritious foods.
They will be building on existing projects and finding opportunities for new ones, working with partners in school meals, social supermarkets and clinical settings.
Key Relationships
Within QIB, the post holder will be working closely with the two ISP leads and the FN-NBRI lead to address the current needs for translating research into practice and identify new opportunities for impact relevant to the research themes. They will also be working closely with the Director to provide input into the QIB strategy and support senior management in shaping translational priorities for QIB going forward.
Externally, they will be working with our partners within the NRP (JIC, NNUH, UEA) as well as Community Organisations to develop effective relationships that will be ready to be mobilised for upcoming funding calls.
Main Activities & Responsibilities
- Percentage
- To build relationships with local schools and local government to increase nutrition in school meals
- 20
- To support the development of a profile of work around childhood obesity and micronutrients
- 20
- To continue to establish partnerships and explore grant opportunities with Nourishing Norfolk, Essex County Council Public Health team and Feeding Britain, around social supermarkets
- 20
- To coordinate funding proposals related to the above activities
- 20
- To work closely with ISP and NBRI leads to identify opportunities for increasing translation of research
- 10
- To support the Directorate in developing effective strategy to address health inequalities through QIB research, working with partners across the NRP
- 10
- As agreed with the line manager, any other duties commensurate with the nature of the post
Person Profile
Education & Qualifications
- Requirement
- Importance
- A postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline or extensive relevant research experience
- Essential
- A PhD in a relevant discipline
- Desirable
Specialist Knowledge & Skills
- Requirement
- Importance
- Strong understanding of nutrition, health inequalities, and obesity research
- Essential
- Strong understanding of the UK research funding landscape, particularly in health and life sciences
- Essential
Relevant Experience
- Requirement
- Importance
- Translating fundamental research into real-life impact, particularly in areas addressing health inequalities and access to nutritious foods
- Essential
- Experience in facilitating interdisciplinary or cross-sector research, especially involving health, medicine, or bioscience
- Essential
- Experience working across institutional boundaries or with research institutes
- Essential
Management and Leadership
- Requirement
- Importance
- Track record in successful grant income generation in health and aligned disciplines
- Essential
- Substantial experience in research development, co-ordination, or academic project management, ideally within a university or research setting
- Essential
- Track record of partnerships with voluntary and charitable sector and local government
- Essential
Interpersonal & Communication Skills
- Requirement
- Importance
- Proven ability to build and maintain collaborative relationships
- Essential
- Organisational and strategic thinking skills
- Essential
- Good interpersonal skills in particular when working with vulnerable research participants
- Essential
- Confident, articulate and credible
- Essential
- Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, including the ability to present complex information with clarity
- Essential
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, using initiative and applying problem solving skills
- Essential
Additional Requirements
- Requirement
- Importance
- Attention to detail
- Essential
- Promotes equality and values diversity
- Essential
- Willingness to embrace the expected values and behaviours of all staff at the Institute, ensuring it is a great place to work
- Essential
- Able to present a positive image of self and the Institute, promoting both the international reputation and public engagement aims of the Institute
- Essential
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and security of information where appropriate
- Essential
- Willingness to work outside standard working hours when required
- Essential
Who We Are
Quadram Institute Bioscience
The Quadram Institute is at the forefront of a new interface between food science, gut biology and health, developing solutions to worldwide challenges in food-related disease and human health.
We are engaged in fundamental and translational food and health research, alongside clinical studies, endoscopy and industry, working together to become a leading international hub for food and health research, combining scientific excellence and clinical expertise, delivering impacts on patient care and accelerating innovation.
The Quadram Institute is a diverse and multicultural scientific community. We thrive on our international and European links, appointing staff from across the world. Any candidate who would like further information on current or anticipated immigration requirements can contact the HR Team on +44 (0)1603 450888 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk.
For more information about working at Quadram Institute Bioscience, please click here.
Department
Food and Nutrition - NBRI
Group Details
Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB) has a clear vision to understand how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. QIB is committed to translating this knowledge into evidence-based strategies that reduce the societal and economic burden of chronic and infectious diseases. QIB’s mission-driven environment uniquely concentrates multidisciplinary expertise and infrastructure to address challenges at the food–microbe-microbiome–health interface, and has the staying power to deliver translation and impact pathways with strategic national and international partners.
QIB is home to two Institute Strategic Programmes (ISPs) and one National Bioscience Resrearch Infrastructure (NBRI).
The aim of the Food, Microbiome and Health ISP is to investigate how an improved understanding of food structure and
composition, and its interaction with the GI microbiome, can be used to promote health and prevent disease, at a time when people are transitioning to more sustainable, plant-rich diets.
The aim of the Microbes and Food Safety ISP is to uncover mechanisms behind pathogen survival, stress tolerance, and the persistence of microbial communities in our foods, enabling the design of targeted interventions.
The Food and Nutrition-NBRI is the UK's leading national provider of food composition data, tools and services vital for public health monitoring by the Government, essential for research excellence in delivering nutrition security, and at the interface of academia/industry that supports innovation in nutrition and health.
Living in Norfolk
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The Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB) is seeking an exceptional individual to lead our efforts in translating cutting-edge research into meaningful action that addresses health inequalities and improves access to nutritious foods.
Background:
Join QIB and help us turn scientific discovery into tangible improvements in public health and nutrition security. As our Research Translation Lead, you'll bridge the gap between world-class bioscience research and real-world impact. Working at the intersection of food, microbiome, and health, you'll build partnerships with schools, local government, social supermarkets, and clinical settings to transform QIB's research into practical solutions that tackle childhood obesity, malnutrition, and health inequalities.
The role:
In this role, the post holder will develop relationships with local schools and government to enhance nutrition in school meals, coordinate funding proposals, and establish partnerships with organisations like Nourishing Norfolk and Feeding Britain. You’ll work closely with QIB scientists to facilitate translation of research within the local community, as a model that can be scaled up nationally. Working closely with senior leadership, you'll shape QIB's translational strategy and identify new opportunities to maximise the impact of our research across the Norwich Research Park and beyond.
The ideal candidate:
The successful candidate should have a postgraduate degree (preferably a PhD) or extensive research experience, who brings deep knowledge of nutrition, health inequalities, and the UK research funding landscape.
You'll have a proven track record in grant generation, cross-sector partnerships, and translating research into practice. Most importantly, you'll be a confident relationship-builder with the strategic vision and interpersonal skills to work effectively with diverse partners, including vulnerable communities.
Additional information:
Salary on appointment will be within the range £45,450 to £56,750 pro rata depending on qualifications and experience. This is a part-time post for a contract of 30 months.
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website https://jobs.quadram.ac.uk or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1004971.
We are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The Institute values of Respect, Innovation, Collaboration and Excellence are at the heart of all we do, and we expect all employees to share and display these values. To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work.
As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.
About the Quadram Institute:
The Quadram Institute is a new interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Its mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food. A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, it brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute. (https://quadram.ac.uk/).
The closing date for applications will be 21 October 2025
The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.