The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is recruiting one of more Research Advisors, who will support the Chief Scientist and the Head of Research Programmes to work across a range of projects. The successful candidate will support the design and implementation of trials to develop and test new behavioural insights and solutions to methodological challenges.

The then 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.

The Behavioural Insights Team works with governments around the world in almost every area of Government 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.

As well as applying behavioural science to public policy, BIT is also at the forefront of a revolution in evidence based policy. The team has conducted RCTs across the policy spectrum, in fields ranging from health, to energy, to charitable giving and employment. The Research team, which heads up the design of these trials and their analysis, is responsible for ensuring the rigour of these trials is kept to the highest possible standard, while ensuring that BIT continues to conduct impactful, pragmatic research. Few organisations offer the opportunity to work on as wide a variety of trials as BIT, and none with the same focus on trials coordinated and run alongside government. Within the Research Team, this role will be based on the Research Programmes team and report directly to the Head of Research programmes. The research programmes team runs projects from beginning to end, including the development of new behavioural insights interventions, designing trials, and conducting analysis. Work within this team includes our work improving young people’s access to training in coding, increasing volunteering and charitable giving, improving social cohesion and social trust, and a range of other projects.

You will work across a range of behavioural insights projects providing specialist trial design, implementation and analysis. This role sits within BIT’s Research and Evaluation team and will suit a candidate with a strong background in behavioural science and econometrics (especially survey design), as well as an understanding of how policy is made. This role will provide you with the opportunity to:

• Familiarise yourself with BIT, its way of working and its clients;
• Put your expertise in econometrics to practical use on today’s biggest policy problems in the UK and beyond;
• Work with colleagues to develop and run RCTs across the policy spectrum;
• Work across a wide range of policy areas; and
• Continue to design and implement trials in collaboration with senior members of the team and policy colleagues.

• Experience of running large and small scale research projects, ideally RCTs and/or panel surveys;
• An understanding of the academic literature around behavioural science, with a particular focus on social psychological interventions;
• Good working knowledge of Stata and/or R, (this will be tested);
• Ability to manage several projects at one time and to deliver to a high standard on deadline;
• Ability to work collaboratively, with a range of stakeholders in delivery, policy and academic fields;
• The ability to work across a wide range of projects in different policy areas. This role will suit someone with experience of rapid task switching;
• A good, intuitive understanding of econometrics or statistics;
• The ability to communicate complex topics to a large audience clearly and effectively;
• Experience conducting original research in the field;
• Excellent communication skills, including ability to communicate to non-technical and policy audiences, and
• The ability to think creatively and solve problems emerging during a trial in real time.

• Experience safely handling and storing sensitive data and developing data agreements with research partners.
• Experience managing research assistants working on site in multiple settings; and
• A background that includes economic or game theory, and a strong aptitude for mathematics.

Date of posting: 1st September 2017 Close of Applications: 18th September 2017 at 9am GMT Interviews and assessment tasks will take place: end September /start October 2017

Please note:

• 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.
• Due to the volume of applications received we are unable to provide feedback. Please ensure that you meet the requirements for the role. To find out more about the organisation and the type of people who work in the team visit: http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk