Principal Research Advisor – Research and Evaluation

• Permanent: 39 hours per week

• Salary range: £58,140 - £78,660 pro rata per annum, plus benefits

• Based in Central London

The Behavioural Insights Team is recruiting a Principal Research Advisor, who will support the Chief Scientist to work across a wide range of projects at the cutting edge of BIT’s work programme in a number of areas, including evaluation, social capital, and Data Science and BI Ventures. The successful candidate will play a leading role in BIT’s 40 person research community and be responsible for helping to lead our London office’s Core Research Team.

About the Behavioural Insights Team

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

As well as displaying professional excellence, BIT selects staff on the basis of our company values: always prioritising social impact; empiricism and humility; fresh thinking, collaboration; and public service.

Role and responsibilities

The successful candidate will lead the development and execution of a strategy for BIT’s evaluation portfolio, covering evaluations in education, crime and justice, energy, consumer behaviour, mental and physical health, and children’s social care, supporting BIT’s vision to see a doubling of our evaluation team over the next three years. The role will also support the management of other core research teams, including qualitative research, data science, and social capital.

You will have an excellent understanding of evaluation methodology and be keen to learn and expand your horizons in this regard. You will help to set the standards for our analysis and evaluations, and to advocate with clients and publicly for improving use of rigorous evaluation in government policy.

You will be responsible for developing relationships and securing work that aligns with that strategy and provides a solid financial base for the team. You will be able to demonstrate that you can deliver excellent quality work, generating impactful insights that will inspire our partners and communicating them in a compelling way to a range of audiences. When the Director or your peers are away, you will be capable of stepping in to support across a wider range of policy areas and projects.

You will be responsible for organising your team, resourcing it effectively and motivating the team to do their best work and build a positive and collaborative culture. A core part of the job will be line managing senior team members, and investing in the skills and personal development of all members of the team. You will also be expected to contribute to the senior management of BIT, supporting the overall company strategy and taking on at least one corporate priority, for example managing the staff survey.

Experience

Essential:

• A good degree (masters or higher) in a relevant subject (such as economics, political science, or psychology);

• Good working knowledge of quantitative research methodology, and particularly randomised controlled trials;

• Ability to manage a workload of several projects and to deliver to a high standard on deadline;

• The ability to communicate complex topics to a large audience clearly and effectively;

• Excellent communication skills, including ability to communicate to non-technical and policy audiences; and

• Experience in a commercial environment, including managing project budgets and business/grant development.

Desirable:

• Substantial experience in working in research institutions and/or in central government policy;

• An independent research or policy profile; and

• Experience of meeting financial targets.

For more information and a discussion about the role please contact michael.sanders@bi.team