Gough joined the School of Materials, Faculty of Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester, as a lecturer in 2002. She was quickly promoted to Senior lecturer and Reader in 2006 and 2010, respectively.
From 2012 to 2013 she was a Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellow. Gough was made full Professor in 2014. 
Since then, she has continued her research in tissue engineering of mechanically sensitive connective tissues such as bone, cartilage, skeletal muscle and the intervertebral disc. This includes analysis and control of cells such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes, fibroblasts, keratinocytes, myoblasts and macrophages on a variety of materials and scaffolds. Her research also involves the development of scaffolds for tissue repair using novel hydrogels and magnesium alloys as various porous and fibrous materials. Gough has worked on the advisory board of the journal Biomaterials Science, and as part of the local organising committee for the World Biomaterials Congress.