We are recruiting for a Senior Researcher - Innovation Growth Lab!

About Nesta and IGL

We are Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society’s biggest problems.

This role sits within the Innovation Growth Lab (IGL). IGL is a global initiative that aims to make innovation and growth policy more impactful through new ideas, increased experimentation and better evidence. We work at the intersection of research and policy, working in partnership with governments, practitioners, foundations and researchers to test different approaches to accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship and growth. Our ambition is to embed a culture of experimentation across economic ministries, innovation agencies, and business support.

We are seeking a Senior Researcher who can accelerate the development of the opportunities for experimental policy research that we generate through our work. This role will provide a vital bridge between our policy and research-focused activities and ensure that we deliver experimental research that can achieve both a policy and research impact

The role

You will work with our policy partners to develop ideas for experiments and then advance those with the greatest potential to improve policy outcomes and deliver impactful research. In addition, you will help IGL respond to research funding calls that can support our work by contributing to the generation of new actionable insights, advancing our knowledge of what works in different policy areas and how best to use experimental approaches in this field. 

Our objective is to establish at least two new experimental research projects each year. To achieve this you will need to investigate a much larger number of opportunities; scoping the evidence base and collaborating with partners to identify the most impactful opportunities to pursue. 

As opportunities develop into more substantial projects you will help us make decisions on how best to take them forward. We expect some of the projects to be undertaken internally (jointly with external collaborators), while others may be handed over to researchers in the IGL Research Network.

Your Responsibilities

In this role you are expected to:

• Work with IGL Partners and other stakeholders to develop ideas for policy experiments and help them to better use evidence. This could involve consultations with practitioners, rapid policy reviews and the collation of findings and approaches from existing trials. 

• Be entrepreneurial in finding ways to develop opportunities for experiments and creative in developing potential solutions to innovation and business policy challenges and encouraging others to do so.

• Provide technical advice and help create resources on the feasibility, design, implementation and analysis of RCTs in IGL policy areas.

• Undertake analysis of data from a range of sources to assess the quality of the evidence, discover and share policy-relevant findings.

• Create outputs that bring together lessons learnt from different trials for a non-specialist audience. Write clear, concise and engaging policy briefings, presentations, research reports and blogs on IGL’s website.

• Write and contribute to research proposals, building links with external and internal collaborators.

• Be a team player and actively contribute to the achievement of IGL objectives. Undertake other duties which may from time to time be requested by the IGL management team.

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Have a genuine passion for the field of innovation, productivity, entrepreneurship and business growth. You would benefit from a good understanding of the (academic) literature, coupled with knowledge of relevant public policy and organisations.

• A strong understanding of relevant research techniques - this could have been gained from a postgraduate degree (PhD or MSc) in a relevant subject (such as, but not limited to, Economics, Public Policy, Innovation Studies, Management), or equivalent gained experience. Ability to apply statistical/econometric software packages (such as Stata or R).

• Knowledge of how to design and run large and small-scale randomised controlled trials, ideally within a public policy setting relevant to the work of IGL.

• Intellectually curious and creative thinker – can look at things critically, ask new questions and come up with different perspectives.

• Strong communication skills with an ability to engage with a range of audiences through different formats.

• Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to work flexibly and sensitively in a multidisciplinary team and to engage with senior external stakeholders across research, policy and practice.

• Ability to work independently, learn quickly and manage changing priorities. Results-driven and output-focused – a pragmatic completer finisher.

What we offer

Salary: £38k - £50k, plus an array of benefits.

Location: London or Barcelona. IGL’s team is primarily based at Nesta in the UK, but IGL has recently opened an office in Spain hosted by the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE). The successful candidate will become an employee of Nesta if they are based in London/UK or an employee of the BSE if they are based in Barcelona. Please note that appointments in the UK will require having the right work in the UK, and appointments in Barcelona will require having the right to work in the EU. We offer flexibility for our people to work remotely, wherever they are based. 

Term:   24 months FTC (with the possibility of extension)

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do. 

Making an application 

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8:00am on the 15th of November 2021.

Interviews will take place w/c 22nd of November 2021.

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.