Principal Researcher (Maternity Cover)

About Nesta

We are Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society’s biggest problems. Our three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future where the economy works for both people and the planet.

For over 20 years, we have worked to support, encourage and inspire innovation. We work in three roles: as an innovation partner working with frontline organisations to design and test new solutions, as a venture builder supporting new and early stage businesses, and as a system shaper creating the conditions for innovation.

Harnessing the rigour of science and the creativity of design, we work relentlessly to change millions of lives for the better. Find out more at nesta.org.uk

The role

Nesta is looking to appoint a Principal Researcher into our A healthy life mission. In this role, we have a particular need for candidates with strong quantitative analysis expertise. Initially this is for an 18 month fixed term contract (Maternity Cover).

About this mission: A Healthy Life

Everyone deserves to live a long and healthy life, no matter where they live or their life circumstances. But right now, some people are dying years earlier than they should. In many cases this is because they are living with obesity, a condition that cuts lives short by increasing the risk of disease and other health problems. One of the main causes of obesity is unhealthy food and drink.

Nesta is working with partners across the public, private and non-profit sector to design, test and scale innovative solutions to reducing obesity. Our goal is to help people live longer, healthier lives by halving the number of people with obesity in the UK over the ten years to 2030.

We will do this by:

• Making food healthier by encouraging reformulation and smaller portion sizes
• Making healthier food more appealing by shifting promotional activity towards healthier choices
• Making healthy food more accessible, affordable and convenient.

• Work alongside a talented team of 30 with an unusual blend of skills - ranging from data analytics and behavioural science to design and communications.
• Play a key role in undertaking high-quality and innovative research to inform our approach to reducing obesity through improving our food environments.
• Design and implement high-quality research protocols, including experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of the solutions that we design and aim to test.
• Provide methodological guidance on a range of quantitative projects across the mission team.
• Supervise and mentor junior researchers and quality assure their work
• Build relevant research partnerships with academic and non-academic organisations. Disseminate research findings to relevant stakeholders.
• Contribute to the mission’s strategic thinking through your knowledge of the evidence base and analysis of existing datasets.

Essential:

• Qualified to PhD level or equivalent in a discipline relevant to our AHL Mission.
• For example this could be either in an area strongly related to health, nutrition or public health or it could also be in behavioural and social sciences (psychology, economics, statistics etc).
• The important thing is that the candidate has strong research methods experience that can be applied to the mission.
• Passionate about supporting high-quality research in non-academic contexts.
• Ability and enthusiasm to guide others in selecting the best approaches to answer their research questions taking into account practical as well as methodological needs.
• Collaborative and solution-focused approach to problem solving.
• Experience of participation in peer review processes.
• Willingness to work flexibly on topics outside of your immediate expertise.
• Excellent communication skills. You can explain complex topics in simple terms and write clearly and concisely. You can adapt your communication to suit different audiences.
• Strong ability to manage and develop yourself at work. You demonstrate high levels of initiative and willingness to take responsibility for your own workload and professional development.

Desirable:

• A strong background in health research, ideally obesity or nutrition.
• Experience working with large, messy data sets, coding in python or R.
• Experience working with industry and/or policy makers on applied research initiatives.
• Experience in raising research funding and knowledge of the research funding space in the UK.

What we offer

Salary: £55,200 - £68,700 (offers are expected to be made towards the bottom of the band) plus array of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more

Location: This role is based in London with a hybrid working arrangement; we expect all staff to work from our Blackfriars office at least two days a week.

Term: Fixed term contract 18 months

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

Start: As early as possible

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8:00am on 21st October 2024.

Successful candidates will be invited to a first round interview which will include a quantitative task. If successful, candidates may be invited to a second round interview.

Interviews will take place w/c 28th October 2024.

Please note that if we receive a large volume of applications we will do an initial shift by a single question before marking the rest of the questions.