Working at the NIHR
Why work at the NIHR?
Do you have the skills, experience and enthusiasm to help tackle the health and social care challenges facing people and communities today?
Would you value the opportunity to be part of world-leading research that has a positive impact on people’s lives and the UK economy?
Explore a career with us, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Have a look at our job vacancies
What we do
NIHR works in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public. We fund, enable and deliver world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth. We are also a major funder of applied health research in low and middle income countries.
Since the establishment of the NIHR, we have transformed the research landscape, for example in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our research helps turn discoveries into new or improved treatments, diagnostics, medical technologies and services. It provides those working in the NHS, public health, global health and social care with the evidence they need to better support patients, the public and people who need care.
We are funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). DHSC’s Chief Scientific Adviser and the Director and Senior Management Team of DHSC's Science Research and Evidence Directorate direct our work.
In the last 10 years, our researchers have reported more than 6,500 instances where their research has influenced health and care policy.
Read more about our operational priorities and our impact.
A role for you
There are a huge variety of roles at the NIHR for all types of disciplines and levels of experience within our multi-faceted and nationally distributed organisation.
Roles which range from research management and delivery to business support functions such as communications, information systems and finance.
Working for the NIHR, you will build and maintain relationships with one or more of our key audiences, for example our public contributors, the researchers we fund, our research workforce or our partners in the NHS, social care, public health, industry, charities or academic institutions.
The NIHR is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture as outlined in our Research Inclusion strategy 2022 to 2027. We are actively looking for people that are passionate about making a difference. We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and communities and are committed to having leadership and teams that are made up of diverse skills and experiences. Find out more about EDI at NIHR.
Where will I be based?
We have more than 900 people working within or across our centres, located in Leeds, London, Southampton and Twickenham. Our centres have hybrid-working arrangements in place, where some of your time can be spent working from home. Roles will state their office location.
Coordinating centres are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the NIHR. Everyone joining us will be employed by one of NIHR’s host organisations and they will be responsible for your benefits package, wellbeing, training and career progression.
When you respond to an advert on NIHR Jobs, you will be redirected to the relevant host organisation recruitment webpage to apply.
Read more about how we are organised on NIHR’s governance page.
Wider NIHR work opportunities beyond NIHR Jobs page
There are thousands of people engaged in NIHR's wider research activities across the country, for example people working in NIHR’s Local Clinical Research Networks, Biomedical Research Centres, Applied Research Collaborations and Research Schools. These posts support the work managed by NIHR coordinating centres.
The roles are usually based within NHS trusts or universities. They are advertised locally by the relevant NHS trust or university host or you can search 'NIHR' on NHS Jobs, jobs.ac.uk or other online job sites.