Defence Research Leader

Reports to: Director – Defence & Security (DS)

Location: RAND UK office is in Cambridge

Position Summary

RAND Europe is a not-for-profit policy research organisation. Our mission is to help improve policy- and decision-making through evidence-based research and analysis. We realise our mission by undertaking objective, balanced and relevant research, sharing the insights and information widely, and working in partnership with a range of clients and collaborators. 

The Defence & Security (DS) research group conducts a wide-ranging portfolio of research for a diverse client base in the UK, Europe and beyond. Our clients include UK government departments (e.g. MOD, FCDO, Dstl, Cabinet Office, Home Office), EU institutions (e.g. European Commission, European Parliament), and international defence and security organisations (e.g. national defence departments across Europe, NATO, UN), and various third sector and humanitarian organisations. 

RAND Europe is looking for an experienced Defence Research Leader to design, lead and deliver research and analysis on a spectrum of defence-related issues for clients such as the UK government, NATO, the European Union and beyond. 

Key Responsibilities

• Leading or managing the development of competitive research proposals
• Leading or managing research projects, working collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary project team and demonstrating mature understanding of the policy context
• Frequently liaising with government and industry stakeholders as part of the research projects
• Developing and applying a good knowledge of the topic area (defence) and of different qualitative or quantitative research methodologies
• Ensuring research outputs (e.g. research reports, briefs, etc.) meet RAND quality standards (i.e. peer review standards)
• Demonstrating excellent time management skills to manage involvement in multiple parallel projects, proposals, corporate initiatives and other activities
• Managing project budgets to time and output
• Conducting outreach activities to promote RAND’s research with external audiences
• Delivering on research group target sales and supporting others to do so
• Mentoring and developing junior researchers 

Skills, Qualifications And Experience

You will have relevant professional experience and/or qualifications (such as a PHD) in defence-related research and you will have applied a range of research methods in either the public, private or academic sectors.

Essential

• Good knowledge of UK, NATO and European defence issues, including defence capability and industrial base
• Achieved impact through the delivery of high-quality research
• Designed research approaches tailored to specific policy research questions
• Excellent writing skills and have experience leading and coordinating the drafting of complex reports
• Managed or led multidisciplinary research teams providing intellectual leadership and coordination
• Communicate research findings effectively to policymakers through a variety of written and verbal means
• Engage effectively with a variety of government and industry stakeholders at all levels of seniority
• Qualitative and/or quantitative research methods to address complex research questions
• You have an excellent command of the English language
• You are eligible for UK Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) (note: this does not require you to be a UK citizen

Desired

• You maintain strong networks and relationships in relevant organisations and field
• You possess experience of managing external research partners and collaborators, including multinational consortia
• You have additional language skills beyond English – of particular interest are German, Russian and Mandarin languages.

Qualifications

• Higher Degree level qualification in a subject that includes significant use of qualitative and/or quantitative research.

Advert information