RSS Industry Associate - Department of Applied Health Sciences Grade 7

Department of Applied Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to September 2028

Closing date: 19th October 2026

UK travel may be required for this role

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally.

They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.

Working on behalf of the National Institute for Health & Care Research (NIHR) Research Support Service (RSS), the role will provide expert industry advice to researchers nationwide to enable them to develop funding applications to be submitted to national, health and care funding programmes primarily those aimed at medical devices, in vitro diagnostic devices and digital health technologies addressing an existing or emerging health or social care need.

The NIHR RSS provides support and advice to researchers developing funding applications at all stages of the research pathway - from pre-application through to post-award support through collaboration with our clinical trials units (CTUs) and partners. Our service is delivered nationally by eight ‘Hubs’, each a partnership of research groups, organisations and clinical trials units (CTUs) with expertise in applied health and care research, social care or public health research.

To act as the Industry Associate for the NIHR RSS Birmingham and Partners Hub, supporting the strategic interface between academic research and industry (particularly SMEs) in the health and life sciences sector. The postholder will deliver industry-related funding application design and development advice so enhancing research funding opportunities for SMEs, provide specialist guidance on the requirements of UK funding programmes, the UK regulatory landscape and how to adopt research into NHS settings.

The postholder will bring insights from market analysis and industry policy to the broader RSS team, contributing actively at events and within professional networks.

• Serve as the main point of contact for all industry-focused project queries within RSS, responding independently and exercising judgment on daily unforeseen problems with limited guidance.
• Support ‘researchers’, particularly SME partners, by identifying and mapping SME funding opportunities across medicines, health tech, and med tech.
• Conduct market assessment research for projects and SME collaborators, including competitor analysis, gap analysis, regulatory landscapes, and potential market entry barriers in the life sciences sector.
• Translate researchers' briefs into actionable industry research support,…