Matt Whittaker is the Chief Executive of Pro Bono Economics an independent charity and economics think tank that works with policymakers of all political parties and none, in government and in opposition, to build consensus for solutions to the challenges facing the social sector and affecting wellbeing in the UK. What is your job title?…
Jonathan Simons has worked in the policy sector in a variety of roles starting in the Civil Service through to the private sector, think tanks and charitable foundations. He is a Partner at Public First, a policy, research, opinion and strategy consultancy. What is your job title? I am a Partner and Head of the…
There are lots of good reasons to want to work in academia: research freedom, the opportunity to teach, and a community of like-minded scholars. But as a doctoral candidate or early-career postdoc researcher, you might not find those sufficiently compelling; or you might simply be put off by an academic job market where permanent or…
Imogen Watson has spent many years working in Parliament, both in the Parliamentary Research Service as well as for MPs. She has covered a range of different policy areas and currently focuses on the environment, food and rural affairs as well as culture, media and sport. What is your job title? Policy Specialist. Where do…
Caroline Cooke is a domestic policy maker who started her career working on affordable housing policy. She also worked across Local Government policy and finance, mortgage finance and Preventing Violent Extremism policy. Caroline has experience of working across many different policy job roles, including working as a private secretary to a Local Government minister. She…
Helen Barnard was an Associate Director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, helping to develop new solutions to solve poverty. She worked for JRF in policy and analysis for many years and from April 2020 to June 2021 led the organisation as Director. What is your job title? I am currently Associate Director for the Joseph…
Work4Mp is a website dedicated to those working in the Houses of Parliament. They list all the current jobs available in Parliament. If you want to work for an MP, either as a caseworker or a researcher then this is the site to head to!
Civil Service Jobs is another great resource for those looking to start in government. The Civil Service employs thousands of policy professionals and you can usually find an interesting role in a variety of different departments.
Working in the think tank sector – once a year a network of think tanks host an online event for individuals from under-represented groups to de-mystify the world of think-tanks. They share some useful links here.