About you and the role

The Hansard Society is looking for a full-time Researcher to expand our work on the parliamentary scrutiny of delegated legislation.

The purpose of this role is to:

• support the day-to-day delivery of our legislative monitoring service, the Statutory Instrument Tracker®;

• strengthen our research capability, particularly in relation to legislative standards and the delegation of power in primary legislation;

• help promote the recommendations of our Delegated Legislation Review; and

• provide training on the legislative process (for example for parliamentarians, MPs’ staff, legal and public affairs firms, and civil society organisations).

If you are interested in law and politics and think parliamentary scrutiny matters, then this is a great opportunity to contribute to our research into one of the most significant constitutional and legal challenges facing the country.

As our Delegated Legislation Researcher, here’s a taste of what you will do:

• Legislative monitoring. Monitoring the progress of Statutory Instruments at all stages of the parliamentary process, you will update our Statutory Instrument Tracker® and other parliamentary datasets daily.

• Research and analysis. You will carry out high-quality research into the system of delegated legislation to help build the evidence-base for legislative and parliamentary reform. You will update our Compendium on Legislative Standards for Delegating Powers in Primary Legislation and produce briefings on the delegation of power in a select number of Bills to support parliamentarians with their scrutiny of legislation.

• Communications and events. Working with colleagues, you will draft blogs, select committee evidence, academic journal articles and media opinion/comment pieces to communicate insights drawn from our research to influence public and parliamentary debate. You will also contribute to the development of online content for our data dashboards, newsletters, and social media, and help colleagues organise a programme of events to support our research and its dissemination.

• Procedural training. From time to time, you will demonstrate the Statutory Instrument Tracker® for potential clients and provide training on the legislative process, particularly delegated legislation, for a range of audiences.

Your skills and experience

You will be the right person for this job if:

• You have a good working knowledge of the delegated legislation process, gleaned through work and/or study.

• You have excellent research skills, including an aptitude for collecting, organising and analysing statistical data.

• You have excellent verbal and written communication skills (particularly an ability to draft under time pressure).

• You are proficient in using Microsoft Excel (especially analytical tools and features such as pivot tables, filtering, conditional formatting, charting functions).

• You have excellent organisational and project management skills, an eye for detail, and the ability to juggle priorities and work with minimal supervision.  

• You have exceptional people skills and are a collaborative team-player.

• You are a creative thinker and problem-solver with a 'can do' attitude.

• You appreciate our mission, have good political awareness, and can commit to the non-partisan values and ethos of the Hansard Society. 

Next steps

For full details of the role and the application process please read the job information pack on our website.