Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Regenerative Agriculture

JOB DESCRIPTION

Reports to: Senior Lecturer in Architecture & Urbanism

Contract: 3-year fixed-term

Location: London, UK or Dumfries House, Scotland with hybrid working possible

The King’s Foundation

The King’s Foundation is a charity founded by King Charles III and was first formed in 1990. Inspired by the vision and values of His Majesty, the Foundation focuses on creating better communities where people, places and the planet can coexist in harmony.

The charity offers education courses for over 15,000 students annually, health and wellbeing programmes for nearly 2,000 people every year, and spearheads placemaking and regeneration projects in the UK and overseas to revitalise communities and historic buildings.

The King’s Foundation is headquartered at its flagship regeneration project, Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, and acts as custodian of other historic Royal sites including the Castle of Mey in Caithness, Scotland, and Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, which are open to visitors. The Foundation also carries out its work at educational and cultural hubs in London, based at The King’s Foundation School for Traditional Arts in Shoreditch, Trinity Buoy Wharf on the River Thames and the Garrison Chapel in Chelsea.

The work of The King’s Foundation is underpinned by our Founder His Majesty The King’s philosophy of harmony: that by understanding the balance, the order and the relationships between ourselves and the natural world we can create a more sustainable future. We have a diverse and inclusive workplace, creating a welcoming, safe space for everyone. This means that every member of our team can bring their whole self to work. We encourage qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply to and join The King’s Foundation and bring their valuable skills and experiences.

The Foundation is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees, including the provision of workplace adjustments. We do not tolerate discrimination based on protected characteristics (age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership) or other difference such as socio-economic background or social origin.

The Role:

The King’s Foundation is seeking an exceptional early-career researcher to lead its academic activities in regenerative farming and agricultural transitions. This new post is designed to offer a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of academic research and agricultural policy, developing and disseminating new knowledge for networks of UK farmers.

The Foundation operates the MacRoberts Farming and Rural Skills Centre on the Dumfries House estate in Ayrshire, Scotland. The MacRoberts Centre has strong links to farms and schools in the local area, and acts as a hub for education and discussion of farming issues within the wider borders region.

The primary emphasis of this role is to develop, conduct and disseminate a research pilot project working with partner farmers to find pathways in transition to regenerative agriculture. The research will centre on working with six partner farms on distinct aspects of agricultural transition, with the aim of developing a knowledge cluster as a model for transition around the UK and internationally. This will build on the network and findings developed in an existing workshop series that brings together farmers, researchers and industry professionals to discuss transition to regenerative farming.

The role will be central to the development of research in regenerative agriculture at The King’s Foundation. The candidate will bring their own research interests and expertise, embedding research into the project at all stages. A key output will be dissemination of the project’s findings through existing channels (such as the ongoing workshop series) as well as new channels, which the candidate will have an active role in growing and shaping. The role will also involve working within The King’s Foundation’s academic team to help to guide a doctoral project and establishing partnerships with universities and other external organisations. This will include working with visiting researchers on adjacent themes, including traditional craft and sustainable textiles.

Key Tasks

Specific Duties will include:

Research

• Lead the design and setting up of a new pilot project working with partner farms.
• Develop and conduct an individual research project within the wider pilot project.
• Design research projects with existing and new partner universities and institutions.
• Produce high-quality academic outputs and contribute to grant applications.
• Contribute to The Foundation’s wider research and publication programme.

Events, Dissemination & Community Engagement

• Lead the planning and delivery of academic and public-facing events, including conferences, symposia, workshops, and seminars.
• Translating research into accessible formats for non-academic audiences, which might include:
  • Organising and supporting community engagement initiatives.
  • Representing the Foundation at relevant academic, industry and community events.

Knowledge Sharing and Learning Delivery

• Supervise PhD students on collaborative programmes where appropriate.
• Support the development and delivery of learning opportunities such as community workshops, practitioner training sessions, short courses and summer schools, and teaching at Master’s level where appropriate.
• Contribute to building local capacity by sharing knowledge in practical and engaging ways, supporting wider community understanding of regenerative agriculture topics.

General

• Contribute to efficient management and administration by performing duties as allocated and otherwise as directed.
• Work collaboratively across departments and with external partners.

The Foundation works with a wide range of partners, meaning it is inevitable that tasks and responsibilities may change and adapt over the life of a project. All staff are therefore expected to work in a flexible way when the occasion arises, including undertaking tasks which are not specifically covered in their Job Description.

Person Specification

The essential skills, knowledge and experience required are:

Knowledge

• A strong knowledge of a key element of sustainable/regenerative farming, practice-led research and agricultural transitions evidenced by a degree at PhD level in a relevant subject area.
• A solid understanding of the challenges faced by farmers in the UK today.
• A broad subject background enabling wider contribution to research and teaching programmes across The Foundation.
• Interest in the philosophy and practice of The King’s Foundation.

Skills

• An ability to develop, plan and manage a range of high-quality research activities.
• Demonstrated capacity for independent research and academic writing.
• Evidence of ability to disseminate new research to a range of audiences.
• Evidence of effective communication of new and complex information, both verbally and in writing, engaging the interest and enthusiasm of the target audience.
• Ability to discuss and advise on others’ research and resulting dissemination, and to dovetail research for coherent outcomes.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills.
• Evidence of ability to manage time and work to deadlines.

Aptitude

• Confidence to represent the interests of your organisation and manage a range of partners.
• Ability to work proactively and take initiative in developing and managing workload.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
• Ability to work alongside interdisciplinary teams and external partners.

Qualifications

• PhD or close to award of a PhD, in a subject relevant to regenerative agriculture or farming transitions.
• Applicants, as early-career researchers, should normally be within ten years of the award of a doctorate.

Previous Experience

• Research in an element of agricultural transitions and regenerative architecture, or research working with farmers and/or farming communities.
• Experience in planning academic or public events.
• Engagement with professional or scholarly communities.
• Management of research applications and of research programmes is desirable.

Personal Qualities

• Commitment to The King’s Foundation’s policy of equal opportunity, and to work harmoniously with colleagues and students of all cultures and backgrounds.
• Wider interest in related fields such as sustainability, sustainable design, traditional building and craft, architecture and urbanism, community engagement, and related fields.

Other:

• The post will be based at 19-22 Charlotte Road, London, EC2A 3SG with the requirement to travel on occasion. There would also be scope to be based at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland with regular time spent in London.
• A degree of flexible hybrid working may be possible, while the position may also require periodic travel in the UK or internationally.
• Your working hours will be 37.5 hours per week.
• You must have the legal right to work in the UK.
• This post is considered to be a regulated activity therefore any offer will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure check with the Disclosure Scotland.

Applications: Please submit a cover letter and CV (please note one A4 page maximum each for CV and letter) to Gordon Watson, via the 'Apply' button above (E: hr.recruitment@kings-foundation.org) and request an application form.

Closing date for applications: Monday 6 October 2025 at 5pm