Job Description

We are recruiting for an Interim Analyst (A Fairer Start)

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.

About this mission: A Fairer Start

Our mission, \' \', aims to close the attainment gap in the UK between disadvantaged children and their peers at age 5. We use our innovation methods, including design thinking, behavioural science, data science, evidence and experimentation, arts and more to achieve our goals.

Your role

You will provide research, analysis and project management support that supports the work of Nesta\'s A Fairer Start Mission. Alongside your core duties, team members have the opportunity to support missions more broadly, by supporting overall delivery of projects and/or working as a mission representative for critical organisational priorities, such as Nesta\'s commitment to Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI).

This role will suit someone who is curious and excited to develop new skills by working on a range of projects: one day you might be conducting user research to understand how a service works (or doesn\'t); another you may be conducting data analysis, or helping to design and implement a new way of doing things to improve outcomes.

Your responsibilities:

Support on the delivery of projects. This means working on the end-to-end project cycle; conducting primary and secondary research, contributing to the creation of a theory of change (a plan for how we intend to achieve the impact we are aiming for), devising novel solutions, working closely with stakeholders and writing up project findings for external communication.

Working across a variety of projects you must quickly get to grips with new areas, topics, and contexts.

Support project coordination and management, including liaising with partners, preparing agendas and minutes for meetings, and coordinating updates.

Communicate the team\'s work externally

Support development of new work including scoping, research, and writing bids and proposals.

Essential

Research skills: you understand the fundamentals of exploratory research (quantitative and/or qualitative) and evaluation (interpret research findings; understand common statistics, assess the strength of evidence for something; understand good practice for key research activities and analyse data sets to pull out key summary statistics and trends).

Ability to quickly build contextual competence in unfamiliar topics (e.g. learn what key jargon means, be credible in conversations with stakeholders, understand what is measured and what is important).

Project/ programme management skills: you can plan work and execute against that plan; identify and act on risks and issues; ensure that key stakeholders are engaged throughout; keep track of spend against budget; we use specific tools to do this, which you will have the opportunity to be trained on.

Demonstrate at least one of the following:

Experience applying one or more of the following disciplines: quantitative analysis, behavioural science, design thinking, experimental design, robust qualitative data analysis;

AND/OR

Experience in the practice or policy context of early years.

Desirable

Experience in the education sector (for instance as a teacher, or in a related policy or research role)

Facilitation skills: e.g. running workshops.

Excellent writing skills to tailor content to different audiences.

Some visual communication skills (e.g. advanced PowerPoint, data visualisation or animation).

NB: the role does not require a Master\'s qualification, we value experience as well as education

What we offer

Salary: \xc2\xa335k- \xc2\xa348k 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 Blackfriars, Central London (hybrid working arrangement, with at least two days each week spent working in the Nesta office)

Term: Maternity cover

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements

Reports to: Mission Manager

Making an application

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8:00am on the 25th of September 2023.

Interviews will take place w/c 2nd of October 2023.

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.

Nesta