Research Leader - Social Inclusion (Education, Employment and Skills) in Cambridge

RAND Europe is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation whose mission is to help improve policy and decision-making through rigorous and independent research and analysis. We benefit the public interest through the impact and wide dissemination of over 200 projects per year. Our work at its most impactful changes policy, practice and process to the benefit of the public good. That is also our organisational mission.

RAND Europe has approximately 200 staff across offices in Cambridge, Brussels, and the Hague. Our staff represents 22 nationalities, speaks over 20 languages and covers 31 academic disciplines. Our multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches to research generate unique perspectives and insights for our wide-ranging government, foundation and other NGO clients.

The Education, Employment and Skills (EES) Research Group undertakes policy-facing research and evaluation for a wide range of clients in the UK, Europe and internationally. Our clients include government departments, international organisations, What Works Centres, research councils, charitable foundations and other public-interest organisations. Our work covers a broad range of public policy areas, including:

• Social inclusion and equalities (including violence prevention, and intersectional inequalities)
• Employment and skills (including skills, employability, labour migration, and child and family policy)
• Education (including early childhood education and care, special educational needs, and edtech)
• Workplace wellbeing (including productivity, culture, and occupational health and safety)

We are seeking a Research Leader to join the EES group and help lead and grow our Social Inclusion workstream. This is a senior role for an experienced researcher with a strong track record in applied research and evaluation, who is motivated to win and lead high-quality work, build client relationships, and support the development of colleagues. The role is based in our well-appointed Cambridge office. We work flexibly as an organisation and support hybrid working arrangements, which typically require office attendance once a week. The EES team usually meet on Wednesdays. Some travel to client meetings may also be required both UK and international.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading business development activities in the Social Inclusion workstream, including reviewing and responding to invitations to tender, leading and contributing to proposals, and engaging in strategic planning and proactive business development.
• Developing and sustaining strong client relationships, for example with some of our current clients (including the Department for Education, the Home Office and the Youth Endowment Fund amongst others) and developing new ones.
• Building research consortia involving multiple organisations and coordinating delivery of partnership work.
• Overseeing the design and delivery of high quality, objective research, including independently leading projects and ensuring delivery of high calibre work and outputs within time and resource constraints.
• Providing methodological thought leadership, shaping high quality research designs and selection of appropriate methods, analytical approaches, and reporting.
• Providing methodological and mentoring support to junior researchers in the team.
• Identifying project and workstream risks, and taking appropriate mitigating actions.
• Delivering presentations to maximise research impact by supporting effective dissemination of findings to policy and practitioner audiences, through reports, briefings, presentations and wider engagement, and will contribute to RAND Europe’s thought leadership in social inclusion and equalities.
• Ad hoc duties as required.

Requirements

• Management & leadership
• Experience leading research/evaluation projects, including close collaboration between in-house teams and external partners.
• Experience leading competitive proposals, again including consortia partnerships.
• Experience of building and leading client relationships.
• Experience in supporting junior staff and creating high-performing teams.
• Experience contributing to senior leadership or management environments.

• Commercial awareness
• Experience of writing winning research proposals and securing funding in competitive environments.
• Experience of effectively managing medium to large sized project budgets.

• Personal skills and experience
• Ability to work autonomously, flexibly and to deadlines.
• Collaborative leadership supporting whole-team achievement with no one left behind.
• Experience of managing and leading in virtual and in-person environments.

• Subject and methodological matter expertise
• In-depth knowledge of policy areas relevant to social inclusion, equalities, and/or violence prevention.
• Track record of undertaking research for policy and/or practitioner audiences, including overseeing delivery of high-quality outputs that translate complex research findings for policy, practice and lay audiences.
• Experience of leading delivery of high calibre research and/or client deliverables to publishable standards.
• Applied understanding of a variety research and evaluation methods (e.g. impact/process/cost evaluation, qualitative and quantitative primary research, evidence reviews).
• As a note, this role would suit a specialist in one or the other technical area, or a generalist with broader knowledge across specialisms, considering that individual team members on our projects typically bring complementary skill sets, and recognising that the complexity of our projects means that no single person can be a deep expert in all the technical and policy related areas.

• IT skills
• Intermediate Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Knowledge of STATA or R; or Nvivo or MAXQDA (desirable).

Fluency in English

Qualifications

PhD or equivalent (desirable). Candidates without a PhD will be considered if they fulfil the following criteria: educational attainment or accreditation to postgraduate (e.g. MA/MSc) level and in addition at least one of the following: career experience working in senior leadership role(s) connected to the subject matter along with an understanding of research; leading and working in research teams; career experience in a consulting role; achievement in higher education settings; named author on peer-reviewed publications in academic journals.

Benefits

• Pension - 8% Employer contribution
• 33 days holiday allowance, including the Bank Holidays
• Annual salary review
• BUPA medical insurance
• Generous company sick pay
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Group income protection scheme
• Group life assurance
• Compassionate leave
• Flexible working arrangements
• Learning and development opportunities
• Employee wellbeing training and support
• Fresh fruit every day
• Free on-site parking
• Cycle to work scheme
• Access to company bikes
• Service awards

How to Apply

If you believe you are suited to the above role, please submit an application comprising of a CV and covering letter below. Closing date for applications is 28th February 2026. If you have not been contacted within 30 days of application deadline, please assume your application has not been successful.