The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is looking for an exceptional candidate to join our Research and Evaluation team in London.

The Research and Evaluation Team works with each of our policy teams to test the impact of behaviourally informed policies in the UK and overseas, and evaluate interventions for various What Works centres. The successful applicant will support work in the qualitative research team, reporting to the Head of Qualitative Research as part of a four-person Qualitative Research Team.

Their role will be to design and conduct qualitative research and implementation and process evaluations across diverse policy areas (particularly education; mental health; children’s social care and vulnerable young people) as well as to contribute to BIT’s growing qualitative research function.

The Prime Minister created BIT in 2010 to apply behavioural science to public policy in the UK. In February 2014 we became a social purpose company, owned by the Cabinet Office, Nesta (an innovation charity) and our employees.

BIT works with governments around the world in almost every area of policy. Whilst the subject and output of our projects varies considerably, there are common threads: we try to understand the contexts in which people make decisions; we notice small details; we find out what has and hasn’t worked before; we come up with innovative ideas for solving policy problems and we measure everything we do as robustly as we can.

As well as displaying professional excellence, BIT selects staff on the basis of our company values: always prioritising social impact; empiricism and humility; fresh thinking; collaboration; and public service.

The Research and Evaluation Team works with each of our policy teams to test the impact of behaviourally informed policies in the UK and overseas, and evaluation interventions for other organisations. The output of this work helps to define how governments and international organisations respond to some of the most crucial policy challenges of our time.

The research team is at the forefront of a revolution in evidence based policy, conducting randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in fields ranging from health, to energy, to charitable giving and employment. A crucial component of this work is qualitative; understanding the experiences of the participants, whether an intervention or policy has been implemented as intended and why it may or may not be effective. We use qualitative research in several ways:

1) During the development of interventions, known as ‘Explore’. This helps us understand the problem for those it affects; any behavioural barriers at play, and how context may affect a person’s experience of a problem, or a solution to that problem. 2) Implementation and Process Evaluations as part of an RCT–we work with partners to devise a logic model or theory of change during project set up, and then conduct research to understand how the intervention is implemented and experienced. 3) Standalone qualitative research and evaluation which help us understand and contextualise complex issues.

The team, which leads the design, fieldwork and analyses, is responsible for ensuring the rigour of research is kept to the highest possible standard, while ensuring it continues to have a social impact. Few organisations offer the opportunity to work on as wide a variety of research as the Behavioural Insights Team.

This role will suit a candidate with a background in psychology, anthropology, sociology or other degrees with qualitative research/evaluation methods.
Although we would prefer a candidate who can work full time, we would consider applicants who are interested in a part-time role.

• Experience in designing and conducting qualitative research or evaluations;
• Experience in processing, coding and analysing qualitative data;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (and will be able to translate academic work to non-academic audiences); and
• A clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies, including those you are not expert in.

Finally, it would be desirable if you have:

• Experience conducting research on sensitive topics and/or with vulnerable groups and young people;
• Knowledge of research ethics;
• Experience in handling large data sets;
• Experience using software packages for qualitative analysis (e.g. Nvivo, or Dedoose); and
• Hold a Masters or could be working towards a PhD in a relevant subject area (including, but not limited to behavioural science, public policy, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, education or evaluation methods)

• If you do not already hold the right to work in the UK and/or require sponsorship in order to continue working here, you should think carefully before applying. This is because we will be unable to sponsor you unless there is no other suitably qualified settled worker available to fill the role or your current immigration status means that the resident labour market test will not apply in your case.
• To find out more about the organisation and the type of people who work in the team visit: www.bi.team
• The Behavioural Insights Team is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and is determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
• 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. 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.