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Vacancy

Senior Advisor – MENA Region

We are looking for people passionate about the application of behavioural insights and research methods in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

As a Senior Advisor in our international programmes team you will lead projects in our portfolio in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Location and salary

Option 1: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Starting salary: AED 339,282.31 per annum (Approx. £76,000), plus benefits, e.g., visa, 2-week trip to London for orientation

The successful candidate will be employed via an Employer of Record (EOR) within the UAE and will need to have the right to work in the UAE in order to be able to undertake this role. BIT, along with the EOR, can support successful candidates with the visa application process if they are not an UAE citizen. However, the candidate will not be able to start work in the UAE until this process has completed.

Option 2: London, United Kingdom

Salary Range: £49,330 – £66,740 per annum per annum, plus benefits.   Starting salaries are offered at the beginning of the band.

The successful candidate will be expected to make frequent trips to the UAE. These will be approximately once every quarter subject to visa and right to work status.

You will need to have the right to work in the UK or the UAE 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.

What does a Senior Advisor at BIT do?

Our work in the MENA region covers an exciting range of policy areas. We have developed interventions to help improve women’s access to justice, run a flagship pilot to reduce food waste in the hospitality sector, created a BI toolkit to promote entrepreneurship and deliver an online trial to encourage parents to promote apprenticeships to their children.

As a Senior Advisor, you will oversee projects spanning a wide range of policy areas and countries that could include:

  • Running online experiments to understand how to promote more sustainable lifestyles.
  • Creating interventions to increase young people’s enrollment in technical and vocational training.
  • Running field trials to reduce domestic electricity usage and food waste in the home and retail sector.
  • Supporting the establishment of Behavioural Insights Units within government entities.
  • Delivering capacity training to senior policy makers in the region.
  • Scaling-up impactful interventions to deliver impact at a national or regional level.

In this role you will work with a team of junior researchers and policy advisors and will lead projects with our partners across governments, philanthropic organisations, and international NGOs organisations (such as UNICEF or UNDP). As a Senior Advisor, you would be involved in things like:

  • Leading and managing projects in the MENA region, particularly in the UAE, GCC and Levant throughout the project life cycle:
    • Leading BIT project teams.
    • Overseeing the development and delivery of project deliverables.
    • Applying concepts from behavioural science to the design of policies, communications, processes, and programs.
    • Overseeing the design and implementation of field experiments.
    • Leading work plan development and coordination.
    • Supporting the establishment of BI Units in the region.
  • Leading and managing people, e.g. line management responsibilities.
  • Contributing to the establishment and effective management of BIT’s MENA portfolio of projects.
  • Managing client and stakeholder relationships, e.g. understanding client and stakeholder priorities, developing new relationships, managing issues, and leading client meetings.
  • Developing and supporting new projects in the MENA region alongside delivery of work in the UAE, e.g. identifying opportunities and developing proposals for new projects in the MENA with the potential for significant social impact.
  • Represent the business externally through talks, potential media appearances, and written content.

What makes a great Senior Advisor at BIT?

We are looking for someone who has:

  • Have a good understanding of core BI concepts and their application. You should understand core behavioural biases and behaviour change techniques and be able to use them in identifying barriers to target behaviours and designing BI solutions.
  • Strong cultural sensitivity and experience adapting and delivering work in different contexts – a courteous, diplomatic yet (when needed) assertive manner when dealing with partners
  • Can effectively advise clients and coworkers on quantitative and qualitative research topics. This includes being able to communicate complex concepts in accessible ways to audiences who may not have any experience of rigorous evaluation.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication – for example, the ability to extract short, to-the-point summaries from complex research findings for Ministers or senior officials.
  • Understand how to support, and develop others. You can nurture talent and energise people to perform at their best. You care about the success, development and wellbeing of others and can have meaningful conversations.
  • Strong knowledge of priorities and geo-political circumstances in the region, with the ability to use these insights to identify business development opportunities.
  • Strong project management skills and experience, particularly in projects with a complex research component.
  • Experience presenting to large and/or influential audiences and facilitating workshops with research and policy professionals.
  • Arabic speaking skills are desirable.

Please do not feel discouraged if you do not meet all of the criteria. We are ultimately looking for exceptional people who want to have an impact on real-world outcomes and create environments where everyone can thrive. So whatever background you bring with you, please apply if the prospect of this role excites you.

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 are looking for a passionate and imaginative individual who is interested in 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:

  • You will work alongside a friendly, talented and driven team with diverse expertise – from economics to anthropology and neuroscience – and a wide variety of personal and professional backgrounds. What unites us is the goal to generate positive social impact through our work.
  • We have regular team lunches with a diverse range of guest speakers.
  • 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 have a beautiful office in Blackfriars overlooking the Thames! And, if you’re based in the UAE, you’ll work alongside two members of staff on secondment to the UAE.

How to apply

We use a platform called Applied to reduce bias in the recruitment process. Our initial selection is based on a few short questions which will be marked by members of our team. This part of the process is anonymous – the markers won’t see your CV or name.

Candidates with the top scoring answers will be invited to a structured interview where you will get to meet some of the team. At the interview stage you will be asked questions that reflect the role and also be asked to complete a short 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: 30th October 2023
  • First round interviews : W/c 6th November
  • Second round interviews (if necessary): W/c 13th November

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

Alternative roles

If we think that you’re suitable for an alternative role at BIT – e.g. an Advisor level or qualitative researcher – we may discuss this during the offer stage.

Apply now

Interested?