Jobs

New Local is a think tank and network of councils and other organisations working to energise local government and improve public services.

At the heart of our work is ‘community power’ – the belief that people should be given the means to transform the places where they live and the services they use. We believe this is key to sustainable, fairer public services sustainable and a better society for all. 

We publish research on community power. We campaign for change. And we work directly with public and voluntary sector bodies to help them hand more power and resource over to communities.

• To produce excellent, impactful research contributing to our flagship research programme, which is focussed on developing and embedding community power in policy and practice.
• To conduct a range of research and related activity including literature and policy reviews, interviews, surveys and other background research to support high-quality analysis.
• To write a range of engaging written materials including research reports, policy briefings, blogs and press articles to support the dissemination of your analysis, arguments and recommendations and to raise the profile of community power in general.
• To work on projects across the organisation including in our developing area of practice, which deploys teams including researchers to understand and support public sector organisations to implement practical actions to become more community powered.
• To represent the organisation externally at events and by presenting research to a range of stakeholders, including central government, the public sector, local government and the wider public policy community.
• To produce written materials for our membership network including briefings, case studies and email updates.
• To support our role as a network convenor, which includes facilitating workshops and other ad hoc activity to support peer learning and practice sharing.
• To actively contribute to our communications, campaigns and policy influencing work, collaborating with colleagues across the team to produce impactful and accessible materials.
• To maintain relationships with stakeholders relevant to the policy work of New Local.
• To contribute to developing and funding research project proposals.
• To undertake other reasonable duties as specified by the Director of Research or the wider Senior Management Team, and to contribute to the corporate activities of New Local.

Knowledge and Skills Required

(E = Essential; D = Desirable)

• Outstanding written skills, with a demonstrable track record of brilliant writing for a range of audiences and a deep understanding of how to present complex research in engaging and accessible ways. (E)
• Brilliant verbal communication skills, able to present ideas and arguments in an engaging way to a variety of audiences. (E)
• Experience of analysing, synthesising and communicating knowledge to a range of audiences. (E)
• Experience of leading and significantly contributing to a range of research projects. (E)
• Excellent research skills covering qualitative and/or quantitative methods. (E)
• The ability to grasp new ideas, develop them and make them your own. (E)
• The ability to manage projects within a fast-paced and busy environment and to juggle competing deadlines. (E)
• A champion for community power, who understands and is committed to its principles. (E)
• A friendly and supportive colleague able to work in a highly creative and collaborative environment that encourages autonomy and excellence from all members of the team. (E)
• Experience of workshop facilitation. (D)

New Local was founded in 1996 as the New Local Government Network. It relaunched as New Local in October 2020.

There is currently a team of 16 staff working on practice, research, communications, influencing and peer-learning with our network of over sixty councils and other partner organisations. 

Both Senior Policy Researcher roles will report to The Director of Research.

In addition to the advertised salary, we offer: 

• A minimum of 27 days’ holiday a year and ten days holiday over Christmas/New Year
• Highly flexible working and work location arrangements 
• Regular training opportunities 
• A number of other benefits listed in the job description.

Wellbeing: New Local is very strongly committed to staff wellbeing. Working long and late hours is actively discouraged and all staff at New Local are committed to creating a pleasant, friendly and supportive environment in which to work.

New Local is committed to being an equal opportunities employer.

We don’t just ‘value diversity’, we think it is central to what makes for a high impact, successful organisation. We positively encourage everyone to apply.

In order to monitor equal opportunities, we ask that the equal opportunities form is completed (this is entirely at the applicant’s discretion). 

The collecting of this data is part of our diversity strategy, to understand how we can improve equal opportunities for external applicants to New Local. 

All information gathered for equal opportunities monitoring is anonymous and then destroyed after 6 months, after which only aggregate data will be held.  Information collected for monitoring purposes will be treated as confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.

In order to apply, email recruitment@newlocal.org.uk:

• Your CV (required)
• A cover letter (required)
• A completed Equal Opportunities Form (optional) (All equal opportunities forms will be separated from their application.)

If you require any help applying for this role or taking part in the recruitment process, then do not hesitate to contact Katy Evans, our Operations Manager, at recruitment@newlocal.org.uk.

Data Protection: New Local will process and store and your personal information (this means any information that identifies or could identify you) for the purposes of recruitment, for a period of up to six months after the closing date, after which it will be securely disposed. For more information, please refer to our Job Applicant Privacy Notice.