Research Scientist in Health Coaching - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

Research Scientist in Health Coaching - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

About Us

Kings College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. We are dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place. We are delighted to announce exciting new opportunities to join our community.

EMBRACE is a visionary, multicomponent International research programme, the first of its kind in the world, supported by Inkfish with 35M core funds over six years, starting in April 2025. It is a global study of 60,000 participants, including 20,000 mothers, 20,000 infants and up to 20,000 partners. It brings together world-leading clinician scientists across six distinguished Healthcare organisations, world-leading AI & technology companies, together with premier biotech companies, with the overarching aim to fast track major scientific breakthroughs, revolutionise maternal and early childhood health through precision-personalised interventions, powered by a groundbreaking symbiosis of cutting-edge AI combined with human support.

Kings College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. We are dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place. We are delighted to announce exciting new opportunities to join our community.

EMBRACE is a visionary, multicomponent International research programme, the first of its kind in the world, supported by Inkfish with 35M core funds over six years, starting in April 2025. It is a global study of 60,000 participants, including 20,000 mothers, 20,000 infants and up to 20,000 partners. It brings together world-leading clinician scientists across six distinguished Healthcare organisations, world-leading AI & technology companies, together with premier biotech companies, with the overarching aim to fast track major scientific breakthroughs, revolutionise maternal and early childhood health through precision-personalised interventions, powered by a groundbreaking symbiosis of cutting-edge AI combined with human support.

About the role

The post holder of Research Scientist on the EMBRACE programme led by Professor Josip Car focuses on physical activity interventions during pregnancy with particular emphasis on the role of health coaching approaches in supporting behaviour change. There remain gaps in evidence and unanswered research questions related to physical activity and exercise during pregnancy spanning physiological, psychological, social, and clinical domains. In particular, there is a need to better understand how personalised, coaching-informed interventions can support motivation, confidence, and sustained engagement in physical activity across diverse populations. This highlights the need for comprehensive interdisciplinary research to understand how to optimise physical activity recommendations. The post holder will contribute to the design, delivery, evaluation, and dissemination of intervention strategies that incorporate health coaching principles aimed at promoting safe, sustainable physical activity among pregnant individuals This may include working with digital health tools, co-designing interventions with service users and practitioners, and evaluating outcomes relevant to maternal health and wellbeing.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to work within an interdisciplinary team in maternal health, exercise science, health coaching, digital health and population health, and to make a real-world impact on clinical practice and public health policy. The post holder is expected to collaborate with colleagues, present findings at conferences, publish research, and co-supervise project students, ensuring the projects success and broader scientific impact.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30/09/2029.

Research staff at Kings are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers , applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.