Senior Research Officer - Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Verified Company
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

1 month ago

Tom O´Connor

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Tom O´Connor

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Description

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Reference number:


Salary:

- £39,439 - £47,039
  • National: £39,439 £43,569, London: £42,577 £47,039 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading 'Salary'.
  • A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
    Job grade:
  • Senior Executive Officer
    Contract type:
  • Permanent
    Business area:
  • DEFRA
  • Environment
  • Environment
Strategy
Type of role:

  • Analytical
  • Social Research
    Working pattern:
  • Flexible working, Fulltime, Job share, Parttime
    Number of jobs available:
  • 1Contents
Location

About the job


Benefits:

Things you need to know

Location

  • Bristol, London, NewcastleuponTyne, YorkAbout the job

Job summary:


Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy.

Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

This role is based in the Social Research team within the Environment Science and Analysis division.

The team provides specialist social research expertise to support teams working on natural environment policy issues across Defra's Environment Strategy (ES) and Natural Environment, Trees and Landscapes (NETL) directorates.


Job description:


As a Senior Research Officer, you will work alongside colleagues in an interdisciplinary evidence division, including social researchers, economists and scientists, reporting to a Principal Social Researcher.

You will be working very closely with policy colleagues to deliver a broad programme of research and evaluation and will be responsible for leading high-profile insights, research and evaluation projects, working across professions and complex policy areas.


The team is currently working particularly closely with the Access and Engagement with Nature team, the wider Access, Landscapes, Peatland and Soil division, and the Land Use division.


The role will contribute to a range of high-profile areas, including the 25 Year Environment Plan, in particular connecting people with the environment to improve health and wellbeing, the Environmental Improvement Plan, Green Social Prescribing, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme and the People and Nature Survey.


Person specification:

The role will include work in the following areas, with an opportunity to discuss the distribution of projects and other work when in post:

  • Developing, commissioning and managing social research projects, and helping to ensure findings are used in policy and by wider stakeholders. Current work includes the Farming in Protected Landscapes evaluation, Local Nature Recovery Strategies evaluation, and research into Green Social Prescribing and farmers' and land managers' attitudes and behaviours towards lowland peat management. Overall, work on these projects will require close working with policy and delivery colleagues and external contractors to ensure that the approach, analysis and reporting is high quality, and that findings feed into policy development and delivery
  • Effectively disseminating and communicating evidence and insight to policy teams and stakeholders, and providing ongoing research support, including helping to develop future evidence projects
  • Supporting public consultations and/or helping to ensure evaluation is embedded in the policy process across ES and NETL, through advising and supporting policy and embedded evidence teams to develop appropriate approaches and methods. The role requires constructive input at all stages of work with policy and evidence colleagues, and will require knowledge of research and evaluation design and methods
  • Have experience using social research methodologies with the ability to identify, champion, and use both qualitative and quantitative social research approaches to explore and answer policy questions
  • Have experience of managing research projects, ensuring relevant legal, ethical, procurement, and quality assurance practices are followed, ensuring high quality results and methodological rigour
  • Have experience of working across organisational boundaries and across evidence disciplines, building and maintaining a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on shared outcomes
  • Have experience of taking personal responsibility for shaping, planning and driving forward their work, including delivering at pace and managing deadlines across a broad portfolio of work
  • Are able to accurately evaluate competing data sources and identify salient points and trends to draw sound, logical inferences and produce advice to support key policy decisions
  • Have experience of communicating analysis, evidence and concepts clearly in a way that is easy to understand

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