The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is recruiting a Research Advisor, who will be embedded in the Youth, Education and Skills team to design, conduct, and evaluate Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), with a particular focus on RCTs in education, be that in primary or secondary schools, further education or universities.

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.

As well as applying behavioural science to public policy, BIT is also at the forefront of a revolution in evidence-based policy. The team has conducted over 400 RCTs across the policy spectrum, in fields ranging from health, to energy, to charitable giving and employment – and more than a dozen trials in education. We also apply quasi -experimental methods including matching, difference in difference and regression discontinuity design. While the role will be based in the Youth, Education and Skills policy team, it will also involve being part of the Research and Evaluation team, which heads up the design of these trials and their analysis, is responsible for ensuring the rigour of these trials is kept to the highest possible standard, while ensuring that BIT continues to conduct impactful, pragmatic research.

You will work across a range of behavioural insights projects relating to Youth, Education and Skills policy providing specialist trial design, implementation and analysis. This role will suit a candidate with a strong background in econometrics and trial design. This role will provide you with the opportunity to:

• Put your expertise in econometrics to practical use on today’s biggest education and skills policy problems in the UK and beyond;
• Work with colleagues to develop and run RCTs across the policy spectrum, but with a particular focus on education trials; and
• Continue to design and implement trials in collaboration with senior members of the team and policy colleagues.

• An understanding of the academic literature around education research and behavioural science;
• Experience and knowledge of UK education policy;
• Good working knowledge of Stata and/or R, (this will be tested);
• Ability to manage several projects at one time and to deliver to a high standard on deadline;
• Ability to work collaboratively, with a range of stakeholders in delivery, policy and academic fields;
• A good, intuitive understanding in econometrics or statistics;
• Excellent communication skills, including ability to communicate to non-technical and policy audiences; and
• The ability to think creatively and solve problems emerging during a trial in real time.

• Experience applying for grant funding and/or writing proposals;
• Experience of running large and small scale RCTs in education; and
• Experience managing research assistants working on site in multiple settings.

• 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.
• 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.