ESRC-funded Innovation Fellowship opportunity - CENTRE-UB Senior Behavioural Research Fellow
The postholder will be recruited for 4 years/48 months to the University of Birmingham as part of a £17.5m Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) investment in UK behavioural research, and will be seconded into Cabinet Office for a minimum of three years of this period, with option to extend the secondment within the overall term of the appointment.
Full details of the position, including information on how to apply, can be found here
The ESRC have recently invested £17M to develop a National Capability in Behavioural Research, establishing a hub, Behavioural Research-UK (BR-UK), and a new Centre for Doctoral Training Plus, the Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (CENTRE-UB).Crucially, this includes building capability in the heart of government in applying behavioural and social science methods, frameworks, theory and evidence to develop strategy, policy and practice. We are seeking an exceptional researcher to lead the development of a new behavioural research capability-building strategy within government.
This role will involve the application of behavioural research knowledge, the use of social science research methods, and the application of relevant pedagogies. This post is the first of its kind with the post holder employed within CENTRE-UB and seconded to the Government Skills Directorate (GS), Cabinet Office.
The post holder will be a behavioural researcher with an established national, and developing international, reputation gained through original research work, who has a clear record of impact and knowledge translation. They will be passionate about evidence-based policy making and will be knowledgeable of the conditions for this to happen, particularly through building skills and capability.Investment in behavioural science expertise exists already within government (e.g., through Go-Science or the Behavioural Science Network), therefore, the successful candidate will take a leading role in further developing these networks and building on early investments.
This unique role builds links between academia and government; therefore, the ideal candidate is expected to have doctoral-level qualifications and expertise in conducting behavioural research, and a track record of designing, delivering and/or evaluating training (or teaching) and learning opportunities, preferably in sectors beyond academia.
This post offers unique professional development opportunities for a researcher who wishes to develop their expertise working in a policy environment. There is considerable potential for impact for someone passionate about upskilling others to increase adoption of behavioural research and insights within government.We recognise that the post holder will come with an established research profile that they want to maintain. Therefore, 20% of the time (equivalent to 1 day per week FTE) within this post is allocated to the post holder’s own research. There is the potential to increase this time allocation where the goals of the post holder directly align with the deliverables of this post.
In leading the development and implementation of a new behaviour research capability-building strategy for government, the successful candidate will lead on research, likely to include participatory consultations and primary or secondary data collection to: identify learner profiles, the strengths and limitations of existing training, learning and development, and the types of information, tools and skills within the area of behavioural and social sciences that are relevant to the work of civil servants and ministers.
They will translate the insights gained from this research into the development of evidence-based capability-building interventions, working closely with the Centre-UB team, Government Skills and the behaviour science community across government.This is likely to include curating existing effective interventions into professional development pathways, developing new interventions (including with Centre-UB), and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the interventions and the strategy more broadly.
The post holder will produce appropriate publications, presentations and research reports on these aspects of the work.
Cabinet Office is based across multiple UK-wide locations. The post holder can be based within a Cabinet Office in York, Bristol or Glasgow, or can be homeworking. Regardless of location, the post holder is expected to travel to Birmingham monthly for whole-day meetings to work with the team at the University of Birmingham (located in Edgbaston) and will need to travel to London monthly to meet with government colleagues.Some overnight stays may be needed. There is no minimum office attendance requirement, and candidates are encouraged to identify the right hybrid work pattern that meets their personal circumstances and supports delivery in the role.
Main Duties
Research
Lead sustained high value impact activity in knowledge transfer and enterprise (including policy engagement, business engagement, public engagement) that is of manifest benefit to Centre-UB and GS (e.g., planning, designing and developing training programmes that meet the needs of civil servants related to behavioural research and evaluating their success), and: (a) makes a significant contribution to policy development and delivery at national and international level; and (b) involves the development of links and comparable networks and initiatives within government, and between Government, Centre-UB and Behavioural Research-UK (BR-UK).
In addition, research responsibilities will include some but not all the indicative responsibilities from grade 8 listed below.- Project manage capability building and research activities, and/or supervising other staff
- Develop, carry out and report robust and proportionate evaluations of behavioural research capacity building initiatives in government, simultaneously contributing to the development of evaluation capacity within government.
- Pursue sustained research activity through original research and scholarship, including research-related contributions through conference papers and presentations and/or consultancy projects and advice. Where appropriate for the discipline this may include some but not all of the responsibilities listed below.
- Make a major contribution to the management of research activities associated with Centre-UB
- Lead successful funding bids which develop and sustain research support for Centre-UB and the partnership with GS
- Publish leading research that results in a sustained, highly respected reputation of international quality in the subject area
- Provide expert advice internally and externally, which builds research and evaluation capacity
- Provide leadership of research that contributes to the progression of research and pedagogy within human behaviour.
- Lead the development of a new behaviour research capability building offer for government. This will involve representation on Centre-UB boards and representation on government working groups/networks. Where appropriate to the discipline, this may include some but not all of the responsibilities listed below.
- Develop and manage staff and resources in support of major research activities associated with Centre-UB and the secondment to GS
- Contribute significantly to the development and delivery of knowledge transfer, enterprise, policy engagement, business engagement and public engagement activities with a sustained high value impact of manifest benefit to Centre-UB and GS
- Develop and implement a culture (including policies and procedures) that promotes equality and values diversity and inclusion.
- Advise on personal development
- Contribute to administrative activities within Centre-UB and GS.
Finally, the candidate will be required to:
- Meet the security checks and other clearance and declaration of interest processes required by the host. This post requires BPSS clearance, which usually requires a criminal record check and baseline personnel security standard checks.
- Observe the provisions of the Civil Service Code and the Official Secrets Act 1989.
This mission is delivered through the Government Campus which unifies a wide range of learning and development interventions organised around an innovative and future-facing core curriculum for Civil Servants. This work is central to the Government Modernisation and Reform policy area.
The Curriculum team is at the heart of GS, owning and developing the Government skills strategy and translating this into the Curriculum for Government, as well as designing and implementing a range of interventions focused on developing the core and specialist skills of all civil servants.
We are growing our evaluation work in the Campus. You can find more information about GS and the Government Campus on our GOV.UK page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-skills-and-curriculum-unit including our Evaluation Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-campus-evaluation-strategy