Address
Form of work
SalarySenior Research Analyst
Location Westminster, London and hybrid
Role Permanent, 5 days per week. Part time considered
Salary £40,000 to £60,000 based on experience
Start date As soon as possible
About Policy in Practice Visit our company website
About the role
We are looking for an impact oriented researcher with excellent quantitative research
and/or data science skills to deliver and expand our research work with clients and
research partners.
As part of our policy and research team you will contribute to, and lead on, projects and
insight that gain national coverage and influence. Our report on £19 billion in unclaimed
benefits is changing national discourse, our benefit take up campaigns are delivering huge
returns, such as over £100 million in Greater London, and we work with other industry
leaders such as the JRF, Nuffield Foundation, the Bevan Foundation and top tier
universities.
Some of our current projects include exploring the links between poverty and child welfare
using benefit and children’s social care data, examining income volatility, mapping poverty
metrics, and running an RCT trial to explore benefit take up barriers. Our work is
interesting, impactful and delivered to the highest standards.
Our ideal candidate will have a strong interest in social policy and be passionate about
making change happen, from central government policy to front line operations. You will
have experience in quantitative research or data science (post graduate level, or equivalent
in a non academic sector), and a desire to apply this experience to complex issues in the
welfare sector and beyond. You will have excellent people skills.
hello@policyinpractice.co.uk | 0330 088 9242
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
Your main responsibilities will be to ensure we deliver excellent research and analysis
projects, supporting the development and enhancement of our services, developing our
analytics offering to have a tangible and positive impact on people. Your high level of policy
and analytic knowledge will support the operations team, and you’ll work to maximise the
positive impact of our services.
You will support the Policy and Research Director, Senior Research Analysts and policy and
data analyst colleagues, as well as lead your own research projects, working closely with
our engineers to expand and improve our analytic capabilities.
The ideal candidate
The ideal candidate will have several years’ experience in research and analytics. You will
have expert-level quantitative skills and demonstrable project management and team
leadership skills:
- 2+ years’ experience in high level quantitative research or data science
- Independent self starter with good knowledge and a passion to learn about and
- Project and programme management and leadership experience, keen to foster
- A flair for engaging communication: The ability to translate data into meaningful
- Training in statistics, econometrics and/or panel data analysis, ideally with
- Experience or knowledge of data linkage methods is desirable
- Knowledge and experience of statistical methods for causal inference
- Familiarity with data analysis or coding software (ideally including Stata and/or R).
- Experience bidding for research funding is highly desirable
- Experience in running multiple research projects, managing funding requirements,
stakeholders, and taking responsibility for delivery
Job description
As part of a growing team your responsibilities may develop and change quickly. There is
potential for growth within the company.
hello@policyinpractice.co.uk | 0330 088 9242
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
Your initial responsibilities will include:
- Leading and delivering exceptional data led social policy research projects in
- Making the power of our work relevant to academics and policymakers, and
- Supporting our external client work and internal delivery processes to drive impact
- Developing our team and analytical processes through your academic training,
research and consultancy projects for local authority clients
- Working with the policy and data teams to analyse large administrative datasets and
- Carrying out academic level effective research into relevant policy areas related to
relevant content such as blog posts for communication externally
- Presenting research findings at conferences, in academic journals and case
- Holding responsibility for external research bids and internal development projects
- Applying for external funding and developing partnerships with central and local
government as well as third sector and academic collaborators
About Policy in Practice
We are a team of professionals with extensive knowledge of the welfare system who are
passionate about making social policy work . We help over 80 local authorities use their
household level data to identify vulnerable households, target support and track their
interventions . Our benefit calculator engages over 10,000 people each day. We identify the
actions people can take to increase their income, lower their costs and build resilience .
Our core services are our analytics platform and advisor software. Award winning, they are
used across the UK to track the effectiveness of policy and accurately reflect complex and
changing government regulations to show the combined impact of policy changes on
individual households.
- Our LIFT analytics platform tracks and forecasts the impact of policy changes on
intervene early and use resources more effectively.
hello@policyinpractice.co.uk | 0330 088 9242
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
- Our Better Off Calculator helps people understand (via GOV.UK) how policy
advisors to give more vulnerable customers access to clear, reliable and supportive
information, and the actions they can take to become more independent.
Underpinning our services is a comprehensive and accurate policy engine that makes up
to 4,000+ calculations on each case. Developed over four years, it models policies across
government departments and automatically updates to mirror current and planned
legislation as it comes into force. Our ability to access administrative data on over one
million families, to combine this with other datasets and to link this over time, gives us the
unique ability to track the effectiveness of policy. These core competencies combine to help
our clients act proactively, target resources more effectively and engage their customers,
intervening early and preventing major and costly issues including homelessness.
Our team are policy experts with personal experience of the benefit system and influence
across central government. Our analysis has had national media coverage and a tangible
impact on government policy.
Working at Policy in Practice
We are committed to creating an environment of collaboration, support and inclusion. The
research team works on a hybrid basis with the opportunity to work from home, or in our
office in Westminster, London. The role will involve attendance at national conferences and
team days in London at least once a quarter. New starters are paired with a senior member
of the team to provide mentoring and support. Normal working hours are 09:00 to 17:30
and flexibility with these times can be agreed with your line manager. We offer 25 days of
paid annual leave, membership of the NEST pension scheme and free eye test for all
employees, amongst other benefits.
Watch interviews with us about what it’s like to work at Policy in Practice.
How to apply
Please send your CV with a cover letter that clearly outlines your suitability and your
interest in the post to jobs@policyinpractice.co.uk.
For further information, or a chat about this role, please contact Rachael Walker, Policy and
Research Director: rachael.walker@policyinpractice.co.uk
hello@policyinpractice.co.uk | 0330 088 9242
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
