Future Skills Research Fellow - Quantitative

Kingston University London is a national leader in Future Skills education, embedding the teaching and assessment of skills such as problem-solving, digital competency and collaboration into every undergraduate degree. This work has been made possible by funding from The Mohn Westlake Foundation (MWF) and is now entering a new phase of evidence-building and impact evaluation.

To support this, we are recruiting a full-time Research Fellow, funded by MWF, to form the core delivery team for the next phase of Future Skills Research. As a Research Fellow you will bring strong quantitative, statistical and psychometric expertise to the project. You will be expected to:

• Design, conduct and manage quantitative and psychometric research across the Future Skills Research Framework, including longitudinal tracking of undergraduate Future Skills participants and analysis of the Kingston Graduate Attributes Index.
• Analyse alumni survey, employer and engagement datasets to assess long-term skills use, career advancement and graduate-level employment outcomes across demographic groups, including disadvantaged and care-experienced graduates.
• Apply advanced statistical and psychometric methods (e.g. scale development and validation, multilevel and longitudinal modelling) to evaluate the impact of Future Skills on student and graduate outcomes.
• Contribute quantitative analysis to the mixed methods process evaluation of Future Skills implementation to feed directly into continuous curriculum improvement.
• Prepare and disseminate joint-authored research findings in high-quality peer-reviewed journals, conferences, policy briefs and white papers.
• Support the preparation of external research funding applications, contributing to the University's pipeline of income generation.
• Provide guidance on quantitative data collection, analysis and interpretation.
• Contribute to quarterly reporting to the Future Skills Research Steering Group and annual reporting to The Mohn Westlake Foundation.
• Participate in internal and external networks and public engagement activity (e.g. conferences, panel discussions) to exchange knowledge and build collaboration.

Please note that this is one of two posts, advertised separately. The two posts are deliberately complementary: one bringing strong quantitative expertise, and one bringing strong applied, qualitative and pedagogic research expertise. Together they will deliver the analytical depth, methodological breadth and research capacity needed across the multi-year programme, while also building early-career researcher capacity and a pipeline towards external research income.

This post will report directly to the KERI Director for Behaviour, Business and Policy (PI) who will allocate workload flexibly across work packages in collaboration with nominated Academic Leads.

Person specification – Essential

• A PhD in psychology, social sciences, statistics or a related discipline, or equivalent research experience.
• Outstanding expertise in quantitative research design, including experience of longitudinal and/or psychometric research methods.
• Demonstrable ability to manage and analyse complex datasets using statistical software (e.g. SPSS, R, or equivalent).
• Experience disseminating research findings through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
• Experience contributing to research proposals and securing research funding, in accordance with quality standards.
• Ability to provide guidance to others on data collection, analysis and interpretation, and to help resolve methodological issues.
• Strong communication and IT skills, and the capacity to deliver outcomes on time and to agreed standards.
• Commitment to research integrity, inclusivity, and collaborative working across university departments and external partners.

Person specification – Desirable

• Experience researching student outcomes, graduate employability, skills development or education evaluation.
• Experience of psychometric scale development and validation.
• Knowledge of the UK higher education and employability policy agenda.

This post sits within the Behaviour, Business and Policy (BBP) KERI, one of Kingston University's four Knowledge Exchange and Research Institutes, which brings together academia, industry and policymakers to generate evidence-based solutions to societal challenges at the intersection of human behaviour, business and policy.

Both Research Fellow posts are essential to delivering Kingston University's Future Skills Research programme and offer a rare opportunity to help shape a flagship research programme from the ground up, working closely with researchers from across the University's four Kingston Engagement and Research Institutes (KERIs).

This is a full-time, fixed-term position for four years, with a starting salary of £45,025 per annum. Please note there is a possibility of extension to a fifth year depending on funding. Posts will be based at Kingston University, London Penrhyn Road campus.

Interviews are expected to be held on Monday, 21 September 2026. For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Debra Gray, KERI Director BPP.