Graduate Researcher
Permanent, Full Time
Up to £32,035 per annum
Location: Chelmsford
Working Style: Anywhere worker
Closing Date: 14th June 2023
About Us:
Are you looking to become a crucial part of a flexible and high achieving team? Do you want to help shape the future of our local authority and our county? This could be the opportunity you are looking for!
Benefits:
- Healthy work life balance; flexible and hybrid working options
- Wide range of learning and development opportunities
- IT equipment and home-working equipment provided
- 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + option to purchase extra
- Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme
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Access to hundreds of discounts and benefits through Essex Rewards
- Access to our Health & Wellbeing Platform with Lifeworks
- Two paid days for individual volunteering and two paid days for team volunteering each year
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Disability Confident Leader; we’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job
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Plus, many more exciting benefits coming soon!
What one of our Researchers says about the role:
“Working within a research team, no two days are the same... We work on designing and conducting research to investigate a particular question or problem and no one person can solve all the problems or answer all the questions. This may involve developing research questions, producing hypotheses, designing primary research projects; recruiting and selecting study participants; collecting and analysing data; interpreting and reporting findings.
We also engage in critical thinking and problem-solving, as well as staying up-to-date with the latest research and insight methods within our profession. It really is a role for anyone who is curious, creative and collaborative”
The Role:
The Junior Researcher role is part of a flexible team within the Research & Citizen Insight team which sits within the Chief Executive’s Office, providing key stakeholders with the insight and intelligence needed for effective leadership, governance and decision making, which are informed by robust research and evidence, while keeping Essex citizens at the heart of everything we do.
The role will employ a range of research techniques and will support the Researchers and Senior Researchers within the team on every aspect of the research project life cycle. Typical tasks may include scoping; literature reviews; research design; materials design, such as survey or discussion guides; respondent recruitment; fieldwork, including interview, focus groups or facilitating workshops; analysis and report writing. The role will work across a range of business and service areas and will require collaboration with insight professionals across the organisation.
The role requires the ability to demonstrate research skills in a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and will be supported to develop these by a team of senior researchers and researchers.
About You:
- Evidence of continual professional development and knowledge in a relevant professional area, such as qualitative and quantitative research.
- Knowledge and understanding of the practical implementation of the Data Protection Act and researcher ethics in relation to handling data for analytical and research purposes.
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills, and experience of working as part of a team as well as unsupervised.
- Ability to communicate clearly and appropriately with a range of different audiences. This could include report writing, data visualisation, facilitation, and presentation skills.
- Good project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects at once.
- Clear and creative thinker, uses evidence to identify problems, trends, and patterns, and present complex or abstract information in clear ways.
Essential Requirements for the role:
- Educated to RQF level 6 (Bachelor’s degree) or equivalent by experience, or be studying towards this and completing your studies this academic year.
- Evidence of professional development, knowledge and interest in a relevant professional area, such as qualitative and quantitative research.
- Be available for video interview between 28th June – 5 th July and for final interview in-person at County Hall, Chelmsford between 27 th July – 2 nd August 2023.
- Be available to commence work in September 2023.
What will you be doing?
- Support our research team to understand and define needs to develop research projects, using a variety of primary and secondary research techniques. Provide powerful insight aligned to priorities and activities within the Everyone’s Essex plan.
- Supported to build and maintain relationships with different research service providers and internal/external stakeholders.
- Organise and prepare research materials and data collection documents such as questionnaires, discussion guides, informed consent forms and interviewer briefing notes.
- Undertake desk research to collate, summarise, and evaluate secondary evidence reports to understand current landscape of topics to inform research design and decision making.
- Gather, analyse, and interpret a range of primary research data using digital and non-digital methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, surveys, verbatim coding and ethnographic / observational techniques.
- Support the recruitment and screening processes of participants for the use of research projects, including scheduling interviews, focus groups and workshops.
- Working with a range of researchers supporting high quality insight that draws on a range of sources and uses the most appropriate medium to visualise insight to tell compelling and actionable stories with clear recommendations to improve outcomes for local people or organisational effectiveness
- Understand and apply research best practice to support the delivery of high-quality ethical research and evaluating services within Essex County Council and partner services.
- Support the evidence-based practice service as part of the Research & Citizen Insight team offer, liaising with stakeholders and dealing with requests as and when required.
- Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
- This is an ‘anywhere worker’ role, but there will be a need to work with the team in County Hall, Chelmsford, intermittently depending on business need.
Why Essex?
Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.
Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.
We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.
To read more about us please visit: Chief Executive's Office - Working for Essex
Entry to Work: https://www.workingforessex.com/working-here/entry-to-work
Seize the day! Discover your future as a Graduate Researcher by applying NOW!
- To be considered for this opportunity you must include a supporting statement as part of your application. Applications that are received without a supporting statement may be rejected.
- Please ensure your CV includes details of how you meet the Essential Requirements for the role including your Degree, or the Degree you will be completing this academic year as we may not be able to consider your application if these details aren’t readily available.
As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service
Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
Additional Information:
If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community here.
If you have queries on this role or require further information, please email: work.placements@essex.gov.uk
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