Are you looking for a new challenge and want to join a successful and rapidly growing organisation? Do you have a passion for exploring new ways to change people’s lives at a national scale through government policy? If so, we want to hear from you – we are looking for a Research Advisor to join our International Programmes Team.

What does a Research Advisor do?

We are looking for a quantitative researcher to join our International Programmes Team. In our work, we try to understand and address challenges like:

• What are the most effective ways to encourage vaccine uptake in Kazakhstan?
• How can we encourage reducing food waste in the UAE?
•  How can AI enhance chatbots best support survivors of gender-based violence in South Africa?

Becoming a Research Advisor means you will be involved in things like:

• Playing a fundamental role in BIT’s international development work, focusing mainly on quantitative research;
• Working with your team to identify the most appropriate evaluation technique for a particular project. This might include using randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental research designs, pilots, mixed method evaluations and implementation and process evaluations;
• Running power calculations to identify the required sample sizes;
• Cleaning and analysing data using R or Stata;

• Working on several projects at one time to deliver work to a high standard on deadline;
• Working collaboratively, with a range of stakeholders in delivery, policy and academic fields;
• Communicating methods and results with non-technical and policy audiences.

What makes a great Research Advisor in International programmes at BIT?

We are looking for people who understand what we do, share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with the skills listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas.

• Good working knowledge of Stata and/or R and a good, intuitive understanding of econometrics or statistics;
• A solid understanding of ‘causality’ and statistical reasoning. You have experience with design and analysis of complex field experiments.
• International development. You have a working understanding of some of the key topics in international development, awareness of cultural dynamics, and ideally, working experience from the Global South.
• Managing projects. You can manage your own time, and where appropriate that of your colleagues, to produce high quality work within a reasonable time frame.
• Managing and developing yourself at work. You are a diligent highly motivated professional, with high self-awareness and ability to self-manage. You are aware of the impact that your actions and words have on those around you. You are resilient and accept responsibility for decisions whether they achieve the desired outcome or not.

Who are we and what can we offer you?

The Behavioural Insights Team is the world leader in applying behavioural science to public policy challenges in order to strengthen communities and improve lives.

We design and rigorously test new ideas across a range of areas such as health, crime and education, to establish what works and what doesn’t. We have helped Tuberculosis patients take their medicine; reduced police susceptibility to cyberattacks; and helped organisations close their gender pay gap.

We are looking for a passionate and imaginative individual who understands behavioural science and shares our thirst for evidence-based solutions to join our dynamic and growing team.

BIT really is a great place to work:

• We encourage flexible working and have a culture which enables this; for example flexible start and finish times and an IT set up which allows for easy working from home options.
• We offer 25 days of annual leave (in addition to public holidays) for full-time employees, rising to 27 days after 2 years continuous service.
• We have a generous pension scheme with 7% employer contribution
• We offer enhanced parental leave payments.
• We have regular team lunches with inspirational guest speakers.
• We have a flexible benefits programme which currently includes things like gym memberships, pension top up, cycle to work schemes, Medical and Dental Cash Plans and the ability to buy extra annual leave at the start of the year.
• We’re a social bunch and have a variety of interest groups including Film Club, BIT Kids for our parents & 5-a-side team to name a few.
• We have a great office, which has an amazing  cafeteria with discounted breakfast and lunch, great coffee and snacks.

How to apply

We use a great platform called Applied to reduce bias in the recruitment process. You will need to answer a few work-based questions which will be anonymously marked by members of our team. Our selection is based on performance in these questions, rather than looking at your CV.

Candidates with the top scoring answers will be invited to a structured interview where you get to meet some of the team. At the interview stage you will be asked questions that reflect the role and also to complete a work-based task, so you have the chance to demonstrate your skills. It’s at this stage we first see your CV. We always give all applicants feedback, no matter what stage your application reaches.

Key dates:

• Role closes: Monday 1st April  at 12:00pm BST (midday)
• Interviews and task completion: w/c 8th April
• If necessary, second round interviews: w/c 15th April

Please note that all dates are subject to change (but we’ll do our best not to change them!)

Please note:

You will need to have the right to work in the UK in order to be able to undertake this role. We will ask all applicants short-listed for an interview to provide evidence of their right to work during the recruitment process.  If you do not have the right to work for BIT but are the most suitable person for the role we will explore with you whether sponsorship may be an option. However, this may not be possible for all roles.

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. For full details on how BIT collects and uses your personal data please visit our Global Recruitment Privacy Notice.

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.