At a Glance
- Tasks: Build and maintain data infrastructure, design automated pipelines for social media data.
- Company: The University of Bristol is a leading research institution located in Bristol, UK.
- Benefits: Open-ended contract with fixed funding until August 2028 and opportunities for postgraduate teaching.
- Other info: Full-time position with a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and data science training.
- Why this job: Contribute to significant research on democracy and elections across Africa.
- Qualifications: Experience in Python, R, SQL, or Spark; strong skills in data pipelines and workflows required.
The predicted salary is between 35000 - 45000 £ per year.
Organisation: University of Bristol
Location: Bristol, UK
Application Deadline: 30th June 2026
Responsibilities
- You will play a leading role in building and maintaining large-scale data infrastructure to support the project’s research objectives, including designing automated pipelines to collect, clean, and manage data from social media platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok, alongside interrogating additional political and electoral datasets.
- You will help develop scalable data warehouse solutions that support sophisticated cross-country and cross-party analysis while ensuring compliance with GDPR, ethical standards, and data governance requirements.
- Working closely with colleagues across SPAIS and the Jean Golding Institute, you will contribute technical expertise to interdisciplinary research design, translating substantive political questions into computational workflows and analytical tools.
- You will support the operationalisation of FAIR data principles across the project lifecycle and produce technical documentation to support collaboration and long-term sustainability of the datasets.
- The role also includes contributing to research publications and reports, particularly in relation to computational methods and data structures, and developing your own research interests within the broader aims of the project.
- In collaboration with the Jean Golding Institute, you will support the delivery of data science training activities and may have opportunities to contribute to postgraduate teaching and supervision.
Qualifications
- You should have experience working in computational, data-intensive, or technically focused environments and be excited by the opportunity to apply these skills to major political and social research questions.
- Strong technical skills in areas such as Python, R, SQL, Spark or related data engineering tools, alongside experience developing data pipelines, research workflows, or data warehouse solutions are required.
- We are looking for candidates who can work effectively across disciplines and communicate complex technical concepts to a range of audiences.
- You should be highly organized, adaptable, and capable of managing multiple priorities while maintaining excellent attention to detail.
- Experience working with social media datasets, research projects within higher education, or interdisciplinary collaborations would be advantageous, as would an understanding of FAIR data principles, research governance, and data security requirements.
- This role would particularly suit someone who is intellectually curious, collaborative, and motivated to contribute to an internationally significant research programme focused on democracy, elections, and political parties across Africa.
Additional Information
- Contract type: Open-ended with fixed funding (01 September 2026 - 31 August 2028).
- Work pattern: Full time / 100% time / 1.0 FTE.
- This advert will close at 23:59 UK time on Tuesday 30th June 2026.
Senior Research Associate in Digital Politics and Data Systems in Bristol employer: University of Bristol
The University of Bristol offers a vibrant academic environment in Bristol, UK, with a commitment to impactful research. Employees benefit from an open-ended contract with fixed funding and opportunities for professional development through teaching and training activities. The team focuses on interdisciplinary research, particularly in political and social contexts.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Research Associate in Digital Politics and Data Systems in Bristol
Data Infrastructure Development
Automated Data Pipelines
Data Cleaning and Management
Social Media Data Analysis
Data Warehouse Solutions
GDPR Compliance
Data Governance
