The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is looking for two exceptional candidates to join as an Advisor working on crime, justice and home affairs

#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.

The Home Affairs and Security team currently works closely with the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and several Police forces. You will work on a range of projects across these policy domains looking at ways in which behavioural insights can be applied to policy problems. For example, can you find a way to reduce re-offending by examining the potential for ‘teachable moments’ within an offender’s journey through the criminal justice system? Can you design a scalable intervention that helps to increase trust between communities?

Whilst much project work is focussed on operational or public policy matters, such as crime prevention or social cohesion, BIT also supports partners in organisational behaviour matters too. For this reason, the successful candidate may also be someone with expertise in organisational behaviour. For example, how can you increase morale and staff engagement among Prison Officers? How can we help public sector bodies successfully recruit staff who proportionately represent the communities they serve?

You must be confident in your ability to apply behavioural science to come up with interesting and practical policy interventions. You will think on your feet in meetings with senior officials and suggest workable solutions to complex policy challenges. You can also spot potential issues with public policy interventions and identify how behavioural science can address them.

As an Advisor you will support a range of projects, providing advice and project management. You will lead aspects of projects, working to a Senior or Principal Advisor. You will also undertake discrete pieces of work (such as literature reviews, quantitative analysis or qualitative field work). Broadly speaking, you will work on two types of projects: field trials, where you will support the design and implementation of large-scale randomised controlled trials with partners across the criminal justice system, predominantly in the UK but potentially overseas too; and policy advice at a more strategic level where you will lead on the implementation of an impact evaluation.

• An understanding of the behavioural science literature, particularly how it can be applied to public policy issues relating to crime and so called ‘hidden crimes’ like domestic abuse;
• Strong project management skills;
• Experience of running lab or field trials, evaluations and presenting analyses;
• Knowledge of RCTs, evaluation methodologies, research methods, trial design and their limitations and merits;
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, for example the ability to write concisely for government ministers or senior officials;
• Strong experience of working in a team;
• The ability to think strategically, challenge existing assumptions and think of creative solutions to problems; and
• A master’s degree in a relevant subject area (including, but not limited to behavioural economics, psychology, design thinking, evaluation methods, criminology) or work experience in a relevant field.

Finally, it would be desirable if you have:

• A good knowledge of wider research findings relating to crime, justice and home affairs;
• Competent analytical skills and an understanding of mixed methods of research and evaluation; or
• Experience working on the development or delivery of policy in government, academia, industry, or for a consulting firm or a design agency.