Research Associate in Slavery in War (Forced Migration)

Organisation/Company KINGS COLLEGE LONDON Research Field Other Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Established Researcher (R3) Country United Kingdom Application Deadline 2 Nov 2025 – 00:00 (UTC) Type of Contract Other Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

About King’s:

This role is one of several new roles being recruited under the new Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War, which is based in the School of Security Studies, King’s College London. The new Centre is structured around four interconnected research strands—(Re)conceptualising, Understanding, Forecasting and Tackling—and aims for far-reaching, historically informed insights that transform understandings of war and global responses to modern slavery in conflict settings.

About the role:

The role falls under the “Tackling” strand, and the postholder will be based in the Department of War Studies in the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy. This strand will critically assess interventions aimed at slavery before, during, and after conflicts, to propose new strategies for preventing slavery in warzones, responding during crises, and supporting survivors in post-conflict recovery. Key research questions include: how should interventions to reduce slavery in conflict respond on the ground and in the diplomatic sphere? How have interventions sought to address slavery in and after war? What makes interventions effective in addressing slavery in and after war? How have organisational and governance interventions evolved over time, and what has shaped these changes? How do survivors’ perspectives shape our understanding of how we should prevent and respond to slavery in and after war? By assessing intervention approaches, evaluating implementation, effectiveness, and impacts, this Centre strand will establish how to incorporate new perspectives into intervention design and develop new tools for stakeholders working to prevent and mitigate slavery in war.

The focus of this post is on the intersections of forced migration, slavery and war. We are especially interested in candidates who bring critical perspectives and expertise in collaborative, participatory methodologies to the role.

The role-holder will work collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary team, as well as undertaking independent research. They will use approaches, methodologies, and techniques appropriate to the research. Specific projects will be identified in line with the role-holder’s expertise and skills, as well as Centre need, and are expected to include, at varying points in the role:

• Planning and conducting both independent and collaborative research using recognised and innovative approaches, methodologies and techniques within the research area, integrating forced migration, conflict and slavery studies.
• Development of co-creative, participatory research methods to conduct collaborative research
• Development of research ethics application and ongoing reflection on and contribution to research ethics processes.
• Writing outputs, including academic articles and outputs for broader audiences
• Contribute to the Centre’s Lived Experience Engagement activities and structures
• Engaging with theoretical and definitional insights, including from other Centre strands.
• Leading team sessions on current developments and best practices in own research area.
• Participating in ECR cohort-wide initiatives and professional development.
• Organising and contributing to workshops, conferences, and other engagement and dissemination activities.
• Engaging with stakeholders and contributing to the development of strategic partnerships.

The role-holder will have the opportunity to use their initiative and creativity to identify areas for research, develop research methods and extend their research portfolio within the thematic area of slavery in war.

They will have a public-facing role and represent the team externally.

There will be opportunities to work collaboratively with people who have lived experience of slavery, trafficking, and exploitation in conflict settings.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/12/2027

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

• PhD in International Relations, Migration Studies or closely related subject area
• Significant research expertise in forced migration in relation to war, conflict, trafficking and/or slavery
• A track record of publication in forced migration, slavery, trafficking, war and/or conflict
• Strong skills in collaborative, participatory research methods
• Proven track record in planning and managing to completion research activity and meeting own/team research objectives and deadlines in collaboration with others.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information with clarity.
• Strong organisational and project management skills and experience in the organisation of events.
• Experience in engagement with non-academic audiences
• Experience in working with people with lived experience of forced migration, war and/or slavery
• Strong skills in arts-based research methods

Full details of the role and the skills and experience required, can be found in the attached job description which provided on the next page.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King\’s.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

This role meets the requirements of the Home Office and therefore we are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who require the right to work in the UK.

Grade and Salary: £45,031 – £52,514 per annum inclusive of London Weighting
Job ID: 127826
Close Date: 02-Nov-2025
Contact Person: Dr Leonie Ansems deVries
Contact Details: leonie.ansemsdevries@kcl.ac.uk