Become an Associate Advisor with the Behavioural Insights Team

Are you passionate about making the world a better place? Do you have a deep interest in human behaviour? Do you spend your spare time reading about the latest findings in behavioural economics? Do you believe in gathering and using evidence from diverse perspectives to determine what works and what doesn’t? We’re looking for someone who is curious, collaborative, innovative, and keen to make a difference to join our Australian team.

We believe that if you understand how people make decisions in the real world, you can design and deliver better policies and services. We work with government, NGO and private sector partners to design human-centred solutions that are creative, low-cost and scalable — and we robustly evaluate our recommendations to make sure they actually result in better outcomes. 

So who are we? We are The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a world-leading global consulting organisation and the world’s first ‘Nudge Unit’. We are one of the first organisations to translate ideas from behavioural economics to public policy.  We’re on the lookout for our next Associate Advisor to join our Australian team and support our portfolio of work. 

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace and building a diverse workforce. We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTQI+ people, and people with a disability.

About you

If you’re passionate about using your knowledge and skills to design better policies and services, you might just be the person we’re looking for! 

We’re searching for a dynamic all-rounder to support our work across our domestic Australian portfolio. This is a junior role that would suit a high-performing go-getter with an Honours degree, Masters or PhD, who is just beginning their career in research and behaviour change and/or has 1-2 years of work experience. The role is designed for someone who is keen to get hands-on experience to develop their behavioural economics and consultancy skills. 

Our team comes from a variety of academic backgrounds, including economics, psychology, research methodology, neuroscience, anthropology, design, public policy and more. We encourage candidates who have an interest in and understanding of what drives human behaviour to apply. In this role we would specifically encourage people with an interest or background in Behavioural Economics to apply.

What you’ll need 

We’re ideally looking for someone with some combination of these skills, experiences and qualifications (although we don’t expect you to tick every box, and will offer support and training to help develop these skills): 

• Strong writing skills and ability to translate academic work for non-academic audiences 

• Strong verbal communication and people skills

• The ability and willingness to learn and develop skills

• A good understanding of the behavioural science literature and how it can be applied to help solve policy problems

• An ability to work well under pressure and meet deadlines 

• Experience conducting desktop research and basic experience using data to answer questions

• Beginner level of research knowledge, including a basic understanding of statistics, trial design and quantitative and qualitative analysis

What you’ll be doing

As an Associate Advisor, you will:

• Assist in the design and delivery of projects across a broad range of policy areas

• Help design and implement randomised controlled trials, online trials and other forms of evaluation

• Conduct quantitative and qualitative research, including surveys, interviews, participant observation and desktop research  

• Write draft reports, policy papers and proposals 

• Prepare a range of materials, including literature reviews, journey and process maps, presentations and workshop materials

Why work for BIT

• While we work in a fast-paced field, we provide a supportive environment where you’ll learn and grow with on-the-job training from our experienced team of experts. During your time in this role (commonly around 2-3 years), we’ll help you to build the diverse range of skills you’ll need to progress your career at BIT.

• You’ll be part of an innovative and agile team working at the forefront of cutting-edge, evidence-driven applied behavioural science. 

• We encourage flexible working and have a culture that enables this. This includes flexible start and finish times, and an IT set-up that allows for easy working-from-home options. 

• We are operating in a hybrid work environment - 2 - 3 days per week in the office.

• We are also willing to consider permanent part-time for the right candidate.

• We offer a range of benefits, including a health and wellbeing allowance, Employee Assistance Program and other wellbeing services, a phone allowance, and a generous paid parental leave policy. 

How to apply 

Does this sound like you? Fantastic! We’d love to hear from you.

We use this platform (called Applied) to reduce bias in our recruitment to find the best person for the job — regardless of their background — by assessing role-related skills. You’ll need to answer a few work-based questions, which will be anonymously marked by our team. Our selection is based on performance in these questions, rather than on CVs. Candidates with top-scoring answers will be invited to the next round. We don’t see CVs until after the interview round. 

Applications open Tuesday 8 August 2023
Applications close 11:59 PM Wednesday 30 August 2023

Application notes 

The application process has 3 stages: 

1. An online application and test 

2. A skills-based interview (week commencing 11 September)

3. A group-based interview (Friday 22 September)

Only applicants successful at each stage will progress to the next stage. Further information about each stage will be provided if you progress to that stage. Due to the volume of applications we receive, we may not be able to provide personalised feedback but aim to do so for candidates who make it through to the final round(s). 

You must have the right to work in Australia. Unfortunately, we cannot sponsor visas.

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 an 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 global recruitment and 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.