The Behavioural Insights Team

In 2010, the then Prime Minister created the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to apply behavioural science to public policy in the UK. In 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 policy area. 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 come up with innovative ideas for solving policy problems; and we measure the impact of everything we do as robustly as we can.

BIT selects staff on the basis of our organisation’s values: always prioritising social impact; empiricism and humility; fresh thinking, collaboration; and public service.

BIT is looking for an exceptional candidate to join as a Senior Advisor leading on the Modern Crime portfolio in the Crime, Justice and Home Affairs team. The Modern Crime portfolio covers less traditional but growing forms of crime such as fraud and cybersecurity.

In this role, you will be expected to work closely with the Principal Advisor and Director of Home Affairs. As a Senior Advisor, you will be responsible for leading projects tackling fraud or cybercrime with a range of partners including but not limited to: government departments (e.g. the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, DCMS, National Cyber Security Centre); UK police forces (e.g. City of London Police, the Metropolitan Police); academics (e.g. the Research Institute for Science of Cyber Security at UCL); industry bodies (e.g. UK Finance or the Federation of Small Businesses) and companies in the private sector (e.g. banks).

You will be expected to lead projects with a high degree of autonomy, to inspire your team to deliver ever more impactful solutions and to capture the imagination or public sector partners with the potential that behavioural science has to offer social challenges. You will also need to deliver your projects to tight deadlines and budgets.

The successful applicant will have a good understanding of modern crime, including internet-enabled offences and fraud, and how the public is currently protected from those threats; a good understanding of behavioural science and a good grasp of empirical research methods. The successful candidate might: have experience working in cybersecurity in the private sector; have an academic background in behavioural science, fraud or cybersecurity; have worked on cybersecurity or fraud or Home Affairs and Justice policy more generally in government; or have experience applying behavioural insights to public policy problems.

Working with colleagues, the successful candidate will be expected to make a substantial contribution to BIT’s thinking, developing powerful new insights. You will also be expected to demonstrate the pragmatism and agility to apply these new insights and run trials in the field whilst respecting the requirements and limitations of our partners.

You will be responsible for providing expert advice to our partners. You will have regular exposure to senior decision-makers and practitioners and be expected to rapidly develop a reputation as a trusted advisor to them. You will stay up to date with the latest policy, academic and tech developments in the fraud and cybersecurity sectors, writing short, to-the-point policy notes on how to apply behavioural insights to emerging priorities in cybersecurity and fraud.

You will also help to develop new project opportunities in the Modern Crime area either with the UK government or other organisations in the sector. You will give presentations and run workshops with partners to help them consider how they might use a behavioural approach.

Alongside managing projects, you will also be responsible for managing Advisors and Associate Advisors, both allocating work appropriately on projects and providing feedback and coaching as a line manager.

All candidates must also be able to demonstrate:

• A good understanding of fraud and/or cybersecurity in the UK and/ or internationally;

• An understanding of the home affairs and criminal justice policy area more generally;

• A good understanding of the application of behavioural science to real-life policy problems;

• Ability to support the design and implementation of rigorous evaluations, including but not limited to randomised controlled trials;

• Exceptional written and verbal communication (for example ability to write short, to-the-point policy papers for Ministers or senior officials);

• A keen sense of personal impact - a courteous, diplomatic yet (when needed) assertive manner when dealing with partners;

• Strong project management skills and experience, particularly related to behavioural insights and/or cybersecurity projects;

• Strong leadership alongside a clear focus on collaborative working, including supporting team members to develop their own skills and expertise; and

• Experience presenting to large and/or influential audiences and facilitating workshops with policy professionals.

Finally, it would be desirable if you have:

• A Masters or PhD in a relevant subject area (including, but not limited to computer science, criminology, behavioural economics, psychology, design thinking, evaluation methods).

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.

To find out more about the organisation and the type of people who work in the team visit: http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk

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.