Climate and Public Health Policy Impact Fellow - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences - 106460 - Grade 7 na The University of Birmingham

Position Details

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Location: 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 2026

Closing date: 30th October 2025

UK Travel may be required for this role.

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The focus of this role is generating climate and health policy impact, especially in public health systems, by applying knowledge and tools from the WM NetZero study to optimise health and equity benefits of net zero actions in the West Midlands.

WM-Net Zero - “A Health-centred Systems Approach towards Net-Zero: Transforming regional climate mitigation policies” is funded by Wellcome Trust within the Climate Mitigation in G7 countries scheme, and is co-led by Professor Zongbo Shi and Dr. Suzanne Bartington. The overall aim of WM-Net Zero is to transform regional Net-Zero policy solutions by adopting a health-centred whole systems approach. To this aim, WM-Net Zero brings together researchers from a range of disciplines (including social science, climate, air quality, public health and economics) from the Universities of Birmingham, Surrey, and York. Working with stakeholders from West Midlands Combined Authority, Defra, UKHSA, Birmingham City Council, Clean Air Fund, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Coventry City Council, Solihull Council, Dudley Council, and Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants to develop new scientific understanding and tools to inform policy. WM-Net Zero is a transdisciplinary collaboration network involving 25 investigators and stakeholders, 11 researchers and a project manager. 

The successful applicant, under the guidance of Dr Suzanne Bartington and Professor Zongbo Shi will be a pivotal player in applying study outputs to generate policy change, with a focus on regional public health partners including NIHR funded Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCS) Coventry and Sandwell and UKHSA agencies. 

Role Summary

Working within the scope of the objectives and decisions determined by WM-NetZero Project Board, the Climate and Health Policy Impact Fellow will be responsible for enabling regional health and equity policy impacts from WM-NetZero research, working closely with external stakeholders to deliver measurable health and equity related benefits including environmental, societal, economic and policy. The post holder is expected to spend a substantial proportion of their time as an embedded fellow in relevant partner organisations. 

Main Duties

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, those outlined below: 

• Work collaboratively with the WM-NetZero academic team and local authority partners in identifying policy and impact opportunities within local and regional authorities to optimise health co-benefits of climate mitigation policies
• Analyse, interpret and communicate study outputs for potential to achieve health-co-benefits of climate mitigation policy actions
• Act as a conduit between the WM-NetZero academic team and local and regional authority public health teams
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Prepare reports, policy briefs, publications, and other dissemination materials as required
• Disseminate research findings including by presentation at external workshops, seminars and stakeholder meetings etc including among non-academic audiences 
• Develop, deliver and evaluate Net Zero, air quality and health-related impact activities, projects and case studies
• Present impact outcomes to regional, national and international audiences
• Record and evidence policy impacts
• Undertake management/administration arising from research and impact activities 
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related
• administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Support the University of Birmingham Sustainability agenda through promoting efficient resource use and working practices
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture

The responsibilities may also include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below:

• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding

Person Specification

• First degree in area of specialism and normally, a higher degree (or equivalent professional experience) relevant to climate and health public policy. policy 

• Experience in knowledge exchange and policy impact, ideally in the area of public health, climate mitigation (or adaptation)

• Ability in translating complex scientific research for non-academic audience in written format, e.g., via policy briefs, reports

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including very strong communication, explanation skills including the ability to communicate complex information to diverse stakeholder audiences

• Ability to work independently as well as within a multidisciplinary team

• Ability to manage own time and prioritise to meet deadlines, and to co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort

• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively (including people, time, money and equipment)

• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively

• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes

• Ability to plan and organise research programmes and/or specific research projects

• Ability to coordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort

• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively

• ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly

Desirable

• Experience in relevant models, techniques or methods (e.g. health and economic impact assessment) 

• Experience of working with public health and sustainability / climate teams in local or national Government 

• Experience in publishing high quality papers in peer-reviewed journals

• Practical experience of working in large multidisciplinary teams 

Informal enquiries to Professor Zongbo Shi, email: [email protected] 

View our staff values and behaviours here 

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.