Research Associate Implementation Science

About the Hiring Group

RTI Health Solutions (RTI-HS), a business unit of RTI International, is an independent and internationally recognized research organization. We provide healthcare consulting and research expertise to optimize decision-making for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device products across the development and marketing life cycle. Clients rely on our expertise, quality standards, and integrity to guide their product development and regulatory and market access strategies. Our service groupings include Value, Access, and HEOR; Patient-Centered and Outcomes Research; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Medical Communications; Global Business Operations; and Strategic Consulting and Growth. RTI-HS has office locations in the US, UK, Spain, France, and Sweden.

 

The Patient-Centered and Outcomes Research (PCOR) team consists of accredited researchers who aim to produce evidence that empowers patients and healthcare providers to make informed decisions that optimize health outcomes, enhance patient-centered care, and improve the overall quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery.

 

Our PCOR team is made up of 5 practice areas:

• Health Economics Database Studies
• Health Preference Assessment
• Patient-Centered Outcomes Assessment
• Surveys and Observational Studies
• Implementation Science

RTI Health Solutions is seeking a motivated and highly collaborative Research Associate Implementation Science to support the growth and execution of our Implementation Science Program. This entry-level role is ideal for a candidate with a bachelor’s or master’s degree who is interested in implementation science, applied health research, healthcare delivery, or quality improvement.

Location: We offer flexible working arrangements for this position, which can be based in our Manchester office, fully remote within the UK, or from one of our other European office locations in Spain, Sweden, or France.

What You'll Do

In this role, you will work closely with senior researchers to support project execution, literature synthesis, mixed-methods research, site-based activities, stakeholder engagement, proposal development, and coordination across multidisciplinary teams. You will receive guidance while building skills across the research lifecycle and contributing directly to high-quality client deliverables.

You will help RTI-HS serve as a strategic research partner to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. Your work may help teams identify potential adoption barriers early in the clinical development pipeline and integrate practical implementation questions and solutions into research and evidence-generation designs.

Key Responsibilities:

Research Execution and Technical Contribution

• Support the design, implementation, and evaluation of implementation science projects across the RTI-HS portfolio.
• Conduct landscape assessments, literature reviews, environmental scans, and other evidence-synthesis activities using established procedures.
• Assist with the application of implementation science theories, models, and frameworks to research questions and real-world client challenges.
• Help develop logic models, implementation plans, evaluation measures, study protocols, interview guides, surveys, observation tools, and site-facing materials.
• Support qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods data collection and analysis under the guidance of senior researchers.
• Assist with identifying barriers and facilitators that may affect the adoption, implementation, scale-up, and sustainability of therapies, programs, or healthcare solutions.
• Prepare draft evidence summaries, tables, figures, reports, presentations, and other project deliverables.
• Follow approved procedures for research ethics, participant confidentiality, data security, documentation, and quality control.

Project Coordination and Delivery

• Coordinate assigned day-to-day project activities, including scheduling, meeting materials, document management, task tracking, and communication of updates.
• Maintain project timelines, deliverable trackers, milestones, action items, and budget-tracking information under the direction of the project lead.
• Monitor assigned activities and promptly communicate questions, risks, delays, or quality concerns to senior team members.
• Support site-based and multisite research through site communication, training and data-collection materials, recruitment tracking, documentation, and issue follow-up.
• Assist with Institutional Review Board submissions, amendments, and maintenance of required study records, as applicable.
• Facilitate collaboration and information sharing among multidisciplinary colleagues in implementation science, epidemiology, health economics and outcomes research, patient-centered outcomes research, medical communications, and other RTI and RTI-HS teams.
• Help prepare materials for project-team meetings, senior leadership briefings, and client discussions.

Client, Stakeholder, and Business Development Support

• Support collaboration with internal scientific experts and external stakeholders, which may include patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, research sites, industry partners, academic collaborators, advocacy organizations, and other groups.
• Assist with stakeholder mapping, recruitment, engagement, meeting preparation, note taking, and follow-up activities.
• Participate in client and stakeholder meetings as assigned and communicate professionally with internal and external partners.
• Contribute to proposal development through background research and preparation of draft methodology descriptions, work plans, timelines, staffing information, or past-performance materials.
• Assist in developing capability statements, slide decks, and other materials that communicate RTI-HS’s implementation science expertise.
• Conduct background research to support opportunity identification and program planning.

Scientific Communication and Dissemination

• Draft or contribute to study reports, client presentations, research summaries, manuscripts, conference abstracts, posters, and other scientific communications.
• Prepare presentation and supporting materials for workshops, scientific conferences, and client meetings.
• Organize references and source materials and help ensure that research outputs are accurate, clear, consistent, and appropriately documented.
• Communicate research findings and project information in a manner appropriate to the intended scientific, client, site, or community audience.

Program Development and Professional Growth

• Support the development and standardization of implementation science tools, templates, resources, and best practices across RTI-HS.
• Help document lessons learned, emerging techniques, and opportunities to strengthen the Implementation Science Program.
• Maintain awareness of developments in implementation science, applied health research, healthcare delivery, and pharmaceutical development and share relevant insights with the team.
• Participate in mentoring, training, methods discussions, and other professional-development activities.
• Contribute to a collaborative, inclusive, and quality-focused team culture

What You'll Need

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in health sciences, public health, implementation science, health services research, psychology, sociology, anthropology, epidemiology, life sciences, social or behavioral science, or a related field.
• Foundational knowledge of qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research gained through coursework, a thesis or capstone, an internship or practicum, a research assistantship, volunteer research, or professional experience.
• Demonstrated ability to organize information, maintain accurate documentation, manage assigned tasks, and meet deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to prepare clear research summaries or other professional materials.
• Ability to work collaboratively across disciplines, receive direction, incorporate feedback, and contribute to shared deliverables.
• Careful attention to detail and a commitment to research quality, ethics, participant confidentiality, and data integrity.
• Proficiency with standard word-processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and virtual collaboration tools.
• Ability and willingness to learn new methods, software, therapeutic areas, and project-management processes

Relevant preparation may be demonstrated through academic, internship, practicum, assistantship, volunteer, or employment settings. Extensive full-time post-degree experience is not required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting mixed-methods research, including qualitative and quantitative data collection or analysis.
• Experience coordinating a research project or maintaining timelines, action items, study records, and communications.
• Experience with site-based, multisite, clinical, community-based, or healthcare delivery research.
• Exposure to implementation science theories, models, frameworks, strategies, or outcomes, such as CFIR, RE-AIM, EPIS, or Proctor’s implementation outcomes.
• Experience conducting interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations, qualitative coding, descriptive analysis, literature reviews, or environmental scans.
• Exposure to pharmaceutical development, biotechnology, medical devices, real-world evidence, health economics and outcomes research, patient-centered research, market access, or quality improvement.
• Experience with relevant qualitative analysis, statistical analysis, survey, reference-management, electronic data-capture, or project-management software.
• Experience in a consulting, pharmaceutical, academic, healthcare, public health, or other applied research environment.
• A research work product, such as a thesis, capstone, report, manuscript, presentation, poster, or portfolio example.