Description
Advert
Please note that this job is open only to current Cardiff University staff who are eligible for Redeployment.
IMPACT vacancies 2026-27 - Cardiff University
We have 6 amazing opportunities to join our growing team, as IMPACT Facilitators and as Senior Strategic Improvement Coaches (Demonstrators).
As IMPACT moves into the fourth year of its delivery phase, these exciting roles have been created to work on our 2026/27 projects, across the UK. Successful candidates will play a pivotal part in helping to get evidence of what works used in adult social care to improve services and lives.
To apply, you must:
1) Send a CV and cover letter to impactcentre@contacts.bham.ac.uk, clearly detailing the role, project and location you are applying for in the subject of the email. Your cover letter should be no more than two sides of A4, drawing attention to the key skills, values and experiences you would bring to the role, if successful, and the ways in which your CV to date fits with the requirements of the role and the host setting.
If you wish to apply for more than one role, please submit one CV plus one cover letter per role you wish to be considered for.
2) Complete our mandatory additional information form. Applicants that do not complete the form will not be considered.
Redeployees can apply 16-20 February 2026.
Internal-only staff can apply in the following week 23-27 February 2026.
External applicants' deadline is Monday 13th April 2026.
Informal enquires can be sent to impactcentre@contacts.bham.ac.uk
Interviews for redeployees will likely be held week commencing 23rd March
Interviews for external applicants will likely be held between 6th and 22nd May 2026
Shortlisted candidates invited to online interview will be asked to prepare a short presentation about the challenges and opportunities of the role and project they are applying to.
Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role, all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.
As part of IMPACT's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion we are particularly keen to receive applications from people from black and minority ethnic communities and will be operating the 'Rooney' rule*. We are also keen to receive applications from people who have lived experience of drawing on care and support, are carers or are front-line practitioners, as well as from people who have experience of working with groups whose voices are seldom heard.
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working. If travel is agreed to locations other than the normal place of work - typically the host organisation's office - travel will be reimbursed between the place of work and the location.
Vacancies may be removed if they are filled by redeployment candidates.
(* at least one person from a black and minority ethnic community background will be shortlisted where they meet the essential criteria for the role)
Facilitators (8 roles across the UK)
• Part time 0.5/50%
• Fixed term contract (12 months, target start date September 2026)
• Salary: Min - £33,020 FTE Max - £46,049 FTE (50% for this post)
• Closing date: Monday 2nd March 2026 (redeployees); Monday 13th April 2026 (external)
THE POST
Positions are offered at 50% FTE for 12 months. While successful candidates may wish to be directly employed by a lead University, the nature of the roles also makes them ideal for possible secondments from policy, practice or applied research. Posts are typically based in the host organisation (a local service or social care organisation) across the four nations. Post holders will work with these organisations, as detailed below, and with our Facilitator co-leads Karen Watchman and Kathryn Mackay - as well as IMPACT's broader team and other partners.
While these are part-time posts (with preferred working patterns between Mon-Fri, open to mutual agreement), successful applicants will be expected to attend fortnightly meetings with the broader IMPACT team where possible - these are held on Monday mornings (11am-12), for one hour.
THE TOPICS AND LOCATIONS
• Direct Payment Implementation in Wales - Welsh Government, Wales
o Homebased with travel across Wales required.
o Delegated health care is a key topic in the successful implementation of direct payments in Wales. It is an important factor in realising the full potential of direct payments both in social care and under the new Health & Social Care Act (2025) which will enable direct payments for healthcare for the first time in Wales from 1 April 2026. However, currently only a very small number of social care direct payment teams in Wales allow delegated health care tasks within their direct payment packages. The IMPACT Facilitator will lead a small change project with the Welsh Government to enable us to seek broader perspectives, and hear the voices and experience, of individuals in receipt of adult social care including those who already have lived experience of receiving direct payments.
• Supporting older carers and their families in Powys - Credu, Wales
o Hybrid with an office base at Oasis, Spa Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, LD1 5ER. Welshpool is the main area of work.
o At Credu, our mission is to empower carers to thrive alongside their caring responsibilities. With over 20 years' experience, we have seen first-hand that timely, tailored support is vital for carers to maintain their wellbeing and continue in their caring roles. Experience shows us that carer breakdown is often preceded by chronic stress, isolation, and lack of support, especially when carers cannot take breaks or access timely services. We know that when carers feel heard, valued, and have space to work towards their own outcomes, their wellbeing improves. The IMPACT Facilitator will work with Credu on a peer support change project with older carers and their families. By co-producing this work with carers we aim to reduce demand on crisis services, improve mental health outcomes, and build sustainable, strength-based care systems. When carers are empowered to shape the support they receive, outcomes are better for individuals, families, and the wider community.
Job Description
Summary of role
IMPACT is the UK centre for implementing evidence in adult social care, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Health Foundation. IMPACT draws on knowledge from different types of research, the lived experience of people who draw on care and support and carers, and the practice knowledge of social care staff.
IMPACT Facilitators work in a specific local organisation or system to help get evidence of what works used in practice to make a difference to services and to people's lives. To do this, they co-design an evidence-informed change project, work with diverse stakeholders to implement the project in practice and share learning with others.
Positions are offered at 50% FTE for 12 months and will be based primarily in the Facilitator site/host organisation. While successful candidates are often employed by the lead University in each nation (Stirling, Ulster, Cardiff, Birmingham or Sheffield), the nature of our delivery roles also make them ideal for possible secondments from policy, practice, applied research or citizen-led organisations. This can help people build on current skills and experiences while also developing new ones, supporting the longer-term development of more 'hybrid' research-practice roles.
Details of the recruiting universities, the host locations and the areas of adult social care are on IMPACT's website. The Facilitator appointed for each project will be based on site within the relevant host organisation.
While these are part-time and very flexible posts, successful applicants will be expected to attend fortnightly online meetings with the broader IMPACT team where possible - these are held on Monday mornings (11am-12) and a fortnightly Facilitator team meeting on Wednesdays (4-5 pm). There will be an induction in Birmingham on Wednesday 23rd September 2026.
Main duties/responsibilities
• Based in a host organisation (see IMPACT website), and with the support of IMPACT's national Facilitator lead and other team members, co-design/deliver an evidence-informed change project, and participate as required in IMPACT's internal evaluation. [Reviews of the evidence are typically conducted by other members of the team ahead of projects starting, but some projects can sometimes involve additional reviewing and synthesis, with support]
• Share learning from the project with others and support the embedding of lessons learned in policy and practice across the UK
• Be a full member of the IMPACT team, taking part in team meetings on-line, informally contributing skills and experience to other aspects of IMPACT's work as appropriate and helping to distil lessons that can shape IMPACT's future ways of working
• Ensure that the project gathers and applies evidence from research, practice knowledge and lived experience through extensive engagement with people who draw on care and support, carers, front-line care workers, and other key stakeholders in order to achieve the aims of the project
• Work sensitively with issues of power, ensuring the inclusion of people whose voices are seldom heard
• Champion and operationalise IMPACT's commitment to co-production, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Apply and develop knowledge in a way that develops new intellectual understanding in the fields of social care and implementation, through a process of learning by doing
• Disseminate lessons learned and findings to a diverse audience in creative and impactful ways
• Share lessons around what helps and hinders the implementation of evidence-informed approaches in front-line practice with IMPACT colleagues and other audiences, contributing to the future evidence base
Additional Information
DORA declaration
Cardiff University is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions we will evaluate applicants on the quality of their research, not publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which the research is published. More information is available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/research/our-research-environment/integrity-and-ethics/responsible-research-assessment.
Cardiff Business School
Cardiff Business School is a leading business and management school in the UK, holding AACSB and AMBA accreditations and ranked 1st for its Research Environment and 2nd on Research Power (REF2021). The School has a Public Value purpose and focuses on the co-creation of high quality, interdisciplinary education and knowledge that delivers economic, social and environmental value. The School's activities are oriented towards five Grand Challenges: Decent work, fair and sustainable economies, future organisations, good governance, and responsible innovation.
Person Specification
Essential Criteria
• First degree of a good standard relevant to this area of practice OR equivalent professional qualification OR sufficient experience to demonstrate connected knowledge and skills
• An understanding of public policy, public services, front-line practice and/or the realities of people's lives - including of factors that enable or prevent change in such settings
• Experience of applied research and/or the implementation of innovation/new ways of working within a social care or related area of practice and policy. We recognise that candidates from applied research backgrounds may need more support to develop the skills to implement evidence in practice, while candidates from practice and policy backgrounds may need more support to work with different types of evidence
• A strong commitment to the principles of co-production and to embedding these in all aspects of their work
• Excellent presentation skills, both verbal and written, with an ability to communicate effectively, in-person and on-line, with a range of different social care stakeholders including people and communities, practitioners, managers, academics and policy makers
• High level of personal organisational skills and self-motivation to work independently as well as flexibly and collaboratively with the wider IMPACT team
• Collaborative and flexible approach to work and excellent inter-personal skills
• An awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses and an ability to work reflexively
• Good skills in building networks with others (possibly including people who draw on care and support, carers, practitioners, managers, policy makers, researchers and others)
Successful candidates will also need to demonstrate that they can apply these skills within the context and topic of the project in question (they don't need to be subject experts, but do need to be credible with the host organisation and partners, and show that they could work effectively within the specifics of the project to implement evidence-informed change).
About Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a public research university located in Cardiff, Wales providing undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes across a broad subject range.