Health Research Assistant

Our Health Research Assistant (HRA) team’s primary responsibility each day is to provide a positive experience to all participants while gathering a variety of baseline measurements through numerous clinical assessments.

Ensuring exceptional participant experience and accurate clinical assessments

Hear from the HRA team on what it is like working for UK Biobank.

Located at our four centres in Stockport, Newcastle, Bristol and Reading, our dedicated HRA team welcomes participants over 350 days per year.

Without the altruism of our participants, the UK Biobank dataset would not be possible and HRAs are essential to their experience.

An HRAs primary responsibility each day is to provide exceptional care to all participants while gathering a variety of baseline measurements through numerous clinical assessments including:

Obtaining of blood specimens by performing venepuncture;
Conducting physical measures on the participant;
Conducting study interviews with participants;
Collecting urine samples;
Processing of samples within the lab.

HRA team members come from a variety of backgrounds, including care, nursing, customer service, labs and clinical. All possess the unique blend of compassion and professionalism expected from working on the front line of a world-leading health study.

Key skills we look for

A background in lab skills, clinical or healthcare.
Excellent interpersonal skills.
Committed to outstanding customer service.
Detail orientated, focus on quality and continuous improvement.
Computer literate (data entry and basic Excel).
Ability to prioritise workloads.

Why join us?

We are committed to offering the best possible reward package. This includes:

Excellent training.
No on-call shifts.
No night shifts.
Free parking and free lunches on site.

This all enables our team to enjoy a great work/life balance.

The good thing about the team is everybody is dedicated to what we are doing so I’m proud to work for UK Biobank. It’s a unique job, it’s a unique project.
Angela, Health Research Assistant Team Leader

Hear what participants have to say

Participants share their feedback after attending an assessment centre visit and interacting with the HRA team:

“We were made to feel welcome as soon as we walked in by the friendly staff. It all seemed to be well organised and efficient.”

“I felt well informed all the way through and although you must have a large number to get through, I never felt rushed or as though staff didn’t have time for us; thank you so much for looking after me so well!”