Associate Director, Devolution and Local Government

Main responsibilities

As an Associate Director, your role will include

• Developing and leading projects as part of our overall Devolution and Local Government programme, shaping them to take account of the wider context, including external events and government priorities.
• Identifying and creating opportunities to establish new work, to disseminate our existing work and to achieve impact.
• Communicating our conclusions and recommendations credibly and persuasively to a wide range of audiences inside and outside government, as well as in broadcast, press, online and social media, with a consistent focus on achieving change and impact.
• Working with others, alone and leading teams to generate high-quality outputs with minimal input from senior staff, to agreed deadlines, showing flexibility and responsiveness to fast-moving events.
• Convening and leading public events, private roundtables and workshops, to develop new insights about good government and to increase our impact.
• Producing clear, jargon-free and compelling products that maintain the Institute’s reputation for high-quality research, and embody our non-partisan stance and independent approach.
• Using qualitative and quantitative evidence to make an argument, and maintaining a high standard of intellectual rigour and clarity.
• Participating in cross-cutting projects with other teams, including our UK Government and Public Services research teams, our cross-cutting Economics function, and the IfG Academy, which delivers training.
• Building and maintaining a wide and varied network across government and other sectors – including at the devolved, regional and local level – and confidently maintaining relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Developing partnerships with external organisations to support our work and further our impact, including working with our partnerships team to secure funding for elements of our work.
• Making a strong wider contribution to the Institute – through developing others, leading corporate activities and contributing to our research and impact strategy.

Personal specification

• The successful candidate will have several years of relevant professional experience, for instance of working within government at the central, devolved or local level, or of engaging with government and the policy process, for instance in a think tank, consultancy or other sector.
• You should have a demonstrable interest in – and good knowledge of – devolution and local government, and a desire to shape the government’s policy agenda in these domains.
• We are keen to identify candidates who can help us strengthen our evidence base for whether and when devolution ‘works’, for instance in improving economic outcomes, public service delivery, or the health of democracy.
• You will be a collaborative team player, motivated by the IfG mission and strategic priorities, and the opportunity to make a direct contribution to them.
• You will have good research skills – ideally both quantitative and qualitative –and the ability to extract relevant insights from evidence, and turn these into actionable recommendations for decision makers.
• You will have strong project management skills, and attention to detail, with the ability to deliver high-quality work to tight deadlines.
• You should be a strong and persuasive communicator, able to articulate and explain complex ideas to a wide range of audiences – both orally and in writing, in formats ranging from research reports to blogs.
• You will demonstrate credibility and good judgement, including as a representative of the Institute in engaging with senior stakeholders from across the government and policy sector.
• You should be intellectually curious, eager to identify and answer complex questions about the nature of government, especially at the devolved level within the UK.
• You should have some relevant professional networks in government and the wider policy sector, ideally including at the regional and local level.
• Ideally, you will be able to demonstrate experience of partnership and fundraising work, and at a minimum the willingness to build skills in this area.

Salary and benefits

Salary : £55,000–60,000 per annum, depending on experience.

Benefits

Contractual

• 30 days of annual leave in addition to eight days of bank and public holidays for full-time staff.
• The IfG has a pension scheme which you will be auto-enrolled into in your third month of employment. The contribution is a minimum of 5% from the employee and a fixed 10% contribution from the employer.
• Death in service life assurance of 4 x salary is given to all staff.
• 20 days sick pay in the first year and thereafter 30 days per rolling 12-month period.

Non-contractual

• Staff may take two weeks each year when the requirement to work from the office in London does not apply.
• Lunch is provided when working in the office.
• Employee Assistance Programme and online 24-7 GP is available.
• Six months maternity leave at full pay.
• Six weeks paternity leave at full pay.
• Shared parental leave – some paid, subject to circumstances.
• Cycle to work scheme.