Are you looking for a new challenge and want to join a successful and rapidly growing organisation? Do you have a passion for exploring new ways to change people's lives at a national scale through government policy? Do you have great experiment design skills that you want to apply to rapid projects and have a real impact? If so, we want to hear from you.

What does a (Associate) Research Advisor do?

These roles are in our Predictiv team, which sits within our Research, Evaluation and Experiments Team. Predictiv is our in-house online experiment platform, which is used to run rapid online randomised controlled trials across policy areas including social care, health, education, consumer welfare and financial markets. Projects range from simple testing of communications materials to complex tests of website prototypes. 

Your work will inform key policy decisions, similar to these:

• How can behavioural nudges on a procurement website increase savings for the NHS? 

• Which poster best communicates how to wear a face mask?

• How can we improve comprehension of inflation and interest rates? 

• How can we increase comprehension and engagement with online retail terms and conditions? 

• How can we be sure that our solutions continue to deliver positive impact as we scale?

• Can we use language to increase sustainable food choices? 

If you want to answer these kinds of questions, why not apply for this role?

These roles are at either at Associate Research Advisor or Research Advisor level, which means you will be involved in things like:

• Conducting research for multiple online trials simultaneously whilst working with other researchers and policymakers across BIT;

• The design of online RCTs, including design of the experiment, design of the test stimuli, and design of the outcome measures;

• Setting up online experiments on the Predictiv platform, including coding randomisation, connecting to participant panels, and running technical pilots; 

• Monitoring data collection and providing regular updates to the wider project team; 

• Data cleaning and analysis of outcome data (including coding in R or Stata) in line with trial protocols; and 

• Interpreting and communicating results in the form of written reports, slide decks, or presentations

Additionally, a Research Advisor will: 

• Take more responsibility on projects, including acting as the research lead 

• Guide Associate Research Advisors on streams of work 

• Manage small- to medium-scale research projects, sometimes in a client-facing role

• Sometimes be the main point of contact for clients supplying data or working-level client researchers

• Have expert or advanced skills in R or Stata. 

What makes a great (Associate) Research Advisor at BIT?

We are looking for people who understand what we do, share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with the skills listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas.

• Excellent quantitative skills. You have a Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant quantitative subject (such as economics, econometrics, statistics or psychology), or relevant work experience that demonstrates a similar level of understanding. You have more than basic skills with R or Stata  

• Demonstrable knowledge of theory and practice of statistical concepts. You can explain linear and logistic regressions, hypothesis testing, clustered standard errors, statistical power calculations and stratification. You understand the conceptual basis behind power calculations and the factors that affect power.

• A solid understanding of ‘causality’ and statistical reasoning. You can design experiments which will provide a causal estimate of the effectiveness of a particular intervention and you can assess whether existing research produces causal estimates or not.

• Knowledge and understanding of online RCTs. You understand the concept of an online randomised control trial and clustered trials. You have experience or training in using and analysing experimental data sets (such as administrative data) for the purposes of evaluation or predictive modelling.

• Ability to manage workloads from multiple projects simultaneously. You can manage a workload of several projects and deliver to a high standard on a tight deadline. 

• Public policy design. You can see both sides of an argument, for example, on High Speed 2 (HS2) or Universal Basic Income, and you can think about what makes some policies effective and others impractical.

• Clear and convincing communications. You can explain complex topics in simple terms. You can lead parts of a workshop or presentation and write clearly and concisely. Bonus if you can design clear and impactful slide decks! 

• Managing and developing yourself at work. You demonstrate high self-awareness and regularly self-reflect. You are aware of the impact that your actions and words have on those around you. You are resilient and accept responsibility for decisions whether they achieve the desired outcome or not.

Who are we and what can we offer you?

The Behavioural Insights Team is the world leader in applying behavioural science to public policy challenges in order to strengthen communities and improve lives. 

We design and rigorously test new ideas across a range of areas such as health, crime and education, to establish what works and what doesn’t. We have helped tuberculosis patients take their medicine; reduced police susceptibility to cyberattacks; and helped organisations close their gender pay gap.

We are looking for a passionate and imaginative individual who understands behavioural science and shares our thirst for evidence-based solutions to join our dynamic and growing team.

BIT really is a great place to work:

• You will work alongside a friendly,  talented and driven team with diverse expertise - from economics to anthropology and neuroscience - and a wide variety of personal and professional backgrounds. What unites us is the goal to have positive social impact through our work.

• Employees have part ownership of the company through membership of the Employee Benefits Trust.

• We have regular team lunches with a diverse range of guest speakers. 

• We encourage flexible working and have a culture which enables this; for example flexible start and finish times and an IT set up which allows for easy working from home options

• We have a flexible benefits programme which currently includes things like gym memberships, cycle to work schemes and the ability to buy extra annual leave at the start of the year.

• We’re a social bunch and have a variety of interest groups including Film Club, BIT Kids for our parents & 5-a-side team to name a few. We have even kept most of our activities going virtually!

• We have a great office in Westminster (which we aren’t using too much at the moment), but it has an amazing coffee machine and fridges stocked full of soft drinks!

• You have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects with real impact and we’ll provide the support for you to be able to thrive at BIT.

How to apply and what happens after you submit your application

1- You will need to answer a few work-based questions which will be anonymously marked by members of our team. Progression to the next stage is based on your performance in these questions, rather than looking at your CV. 

2 - Candidates with the top scoring answers will be asked to complete a task remotely to assess their R or Stata skills. We anticipate that the task will be 2 hours in length. You must be able to access R or Stata to complete this task.

3 - Candidates with the top scores from the technical task will be invited to a structured interview where you will meet some of the team. At the interview stage you will be asked questions that reflect the role and it’s at this stage we first see your CV. We will conduct second round interviews if necessary.

We always give all applicants feedback, no matter what stage your application reaches.

Key dates

• Role closes: Monday 22 February at noon (12pm GMT)

• Task to be completed remotely between Friday 26 February and Monday 1 March

• Interviews: Wednesday 10 - Friday 12 March

• If required, second round interviews will be held on Tuesday 16 March

All dates are subject to change (but we'll try our best to not change them!)

Please note:

Flexible working options include flexible start and finish times, part time, home working and compressed hours.

You will need to have the right to work in the UK in order to be able to undertake this role. We will ask all applicants short-listed for an interview to provide evidence of their right to work during the recruitment process.  If you do not have the right to work for BIT but are the most suitable person for the role we will explore with you whether sponsorship may be an option. However, this may not be possible for all roles.

Some of the personal data you provide to Applied when you apply for a role with The Behavioural Insights Team will be passed on to The Behavioural Insights Team for the purposes of (a) reviewing your application; (b) inviting you for interview; and/or (c) offering you a job and getting you set up as an employee/contractor. For full details on how BIT collects and uses your personal data please visit our website - https://www.bi.team/bit-global-recruitment-privacy-notice/ 

If your application is not successful, any personal data provided to us by Applied (including any personal data relating to equal opportunities monitoring as set out above) will be retained by The Behavioural Insights Team for no longer than 6 months after the application deadline has passed (other than in exceptional circumstances where we may need to retain your personal data for longer), at which point your personal data will be securely deleted. We only keep your information for that period in order to allow us to comply with relevant legal obligations.