Advisor - Social Cohesion and Integration

The Behavioural Insights Team

Location London
Salary £33,915 - £45,885 per annum, plus benefits
Team Home Affairs and International Programmes
  • Closing: 12:00pm, 17th Sep 2018 BST

Job Description

The Behavioural Insights Team

The then Prime Minister created BIT in 2010 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.

The Behavioural Insights Team 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 find out what has and hasn’t worked before; and we measure 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.

Roles and Responsibilities

You will be part of the Home Affairs and International Programmes team, working on a range of projects across policy domains, looking at ways in which behavioural insights can be applied to policy problems with a specific focus on social cohesion and integration issues. For example, can you find a way to reduce prejudice and discrimination in young people in schools? Can you design a scalable intervention that helps to increase trust between communities? Can you design effective counter-narrative interventions that tackle extremism?

You must be confident in your ability to apply behavioural science to come up with interesting and practical policy interventions. You will think on your feet in meetings with senior officials and suggest workable solutions to complex policy challenges. You can also spot potential issues with public policy interventions and identify how behavioural science can address them.

This role will support a range of projects, providing advice and project management. You will lead aspects of projects, working to a Senior or Principal Advisor. You will also undertake discrete pieces of work (such as literature reviews, quantitative analysis or qualitative field work). Broadly speaking, you will work on two types of projects: field trials, where you will support the design and implementation of large-scale randomised controlled trials with partners in the UK, but potentially overseas too; and policy advice at a more strategic level where you will not lead on the implementation of an impact evaluation.

Essential
  • An understanding of the behavioural science literature, particularly how it can be applied to public policy issues relating to social cohesion and integration;
  • Strong project management skills;
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication, for example the ability to write concisely for government ministers or senior officials;
  • Strategic and empirical thinking, challenging existing assumptions and thinking of creative solutions to problems;
  • A Masters or PhD in a relevant subject area (including, but not limited to economics, psychology, anthropology, design thinking, evaluation methods, criminology) or work experience in a relevant field; and
  • Experience working on the development or delivery of policy in government, academia, industry, or for a consulting firm or a design agency.
Desirable

Finally, it would be desirable if you have:

  • A good knowledge of wider research findings relating to Crime and Justice
  • Experience of working in an international context; and
  • Competent analytical skills and an understanding of mixed methods of research and evaluation.
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: www.bi.team
  • 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.

Removing bias from the hiring process

Applications closed Mon 17th Sep 2018

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Removing bias from the hiring process

  • Your application will be anonymously reviewed by our hiring team to ensure fairness
  • You’ll need a CV/résumé, but it’ll only be considered if you score well on the anonymous review

Applications closed Mon 17th Sep 2018