Senior Advisor - Education and Skills

The Behavioural Insights Team

Location London
Salary £44,413 - £60,088 per annum, plus benefits
Team Youth, Education and Skills
  • Closing: 12:00pm, 26th Mar 2018 BST

Job Description

The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is looking for an exceptional candidate to join as a Senior Advisor in the Education and Skills team in London.

The position will involve working on and managing projects across the Education and Skills team, as well as engaging with partners inside government and the Education and Skills sector to develop new project opportunities. Tackling challenges in this area, some of the highest priorities in government, will offer the successful candidate the opportunity to oversee projects of work that apply knowledge of behavioural insights to some of the UK’s most pressing problems.

Outside this main function, the role will also include line management of members of the Education and Skills team, feeding into cross-cutting BIT policy work and supporting internal BIT corporate activities. The candidate in this role will need to be able to effectively liaise with schools, colleges, academics and policymakers.

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.

Roles and Responsibilities

This role will be filled by someone who has excellent knowledge of the education and skills policy area (UK and internationally) and the behavioural science literature. As a Senior Advisor in the education and skills team, you will be responsible for leading projects (e.g. teacher recruitment and retention, essential life skills) and line managing team members and providing expert advice on YES policy. This will include ensuring projects are managed and delivered to tight deadlines and within budget. In doing you will be expected to demonstrate the value of the behavioural insights approach to the YES policy areas.

Alongside the management of projects and team members, you will also be responsible for helping to develop new project opportunities in the education and skills area either with government or other organisations within the sector.

Working with team members, you will be expected to make a substantial contribution to BIT’s education and skills policy thinking, developing powerful new insights. You will also be expected to demonstrate the pragmatism and agility to apply these new insights in the field whilst respecting the requirements and limitations of our partners.

The successful candidate will be responsible for driving the management of projects forward, including by managing key relationships with stakeholders including academics, education providers, educators and schools. The role will also involve developing policy notes, running large workshops, undertaking quantitative and qualitative research, preparing publications and research papers.

Essential
  • A strong record of managing and delivering successful projects in the public policy context;
  • A deep understanding of the education and skills policy area in the UK and internationally;
  • A deep understanding of the behavioural science literature and how it can be applied to solve complex problems;
  • Strong experience working with partners in government and understanding the policy landscape writing proposals, responding to competitive tenders and preparing bids;
  • Ability to support the design and implementation of rigorous evaluations, including but not limited to randomised controlled trials;
  • Excellent client and stakeholder management skills;
  • Strong leadership and teamwork skills, including supporting team members to develop their own skills and expertise, in particular as a line manager;
  • Excellent written and verbal communication (for example ability to write short, to-the-point policy papers for Government Ministers or senior officials); and
  • Strategic thinking and creative problem solving skills.
Desirable
  • A Masters or PhD in a relevant subject area (including, but not limited to: behavioural economics, education, psychology, law…); and
  • Experience working on education or skills policy in government or a government related body.
Please note:
  • 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.
  • To find out more about the organisation and the type of people who work in the team visit: http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk
  • 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

Removing bias from the hiring process

Applications closed Mon 26th Mar 2018

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Removing bias from the hiring process

  • Your application will be anonymously reviewed by our hiring team to ensure fairness
  • You’ll need a CV/résumé, but it’ll only be considered if you score well on the anonymous review

Applications closed Mon 26th Mar 2018