Research and Policy Officer

The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is looking for a full-time Research and Policy Officer to join our team on a permanent basis.

The Electoral Reform Society is the UK’s leading voice for democratic reform. We operate on a simple premise – that politics can be better than it is. We work with everyone – from political parties, civil society groups and academics to our own members and supporters and the wider public – to campaign for a better democracy in the UK.

Job Description

Job title: Research and Policy Officer

Reporting to: Director of Policy and Research

Location: Central London / remote

Job Purpose

Help to maintain and grow ERS as an influential expert on elections and related topics by conducting and high-quality research, analysis, and policy formulation, often within a short timeframe, to support the development of arguments for voting and other democratic reforms

Main Duties And Responsibilities

RESEARCH

• Produce high quality pieces of research to support the Society’s goals, including data analysis, election modelling and electoral system research and a range of quantitative and qualitative research on wider reform issues to support our campaigns
• Manage delivery of the Society’s research outputs and ensure accuracy, clarity and consistency
• With the Director of Policy and Research, play a key role in shaping the Society’s research strategy and programme, ensuring that it has clearly identified goals, audiences and impact
• Regularly write, edit, comment and produce easy digests of research for blog posts, articles and occasional papers/briefings/reports
• Regularly analyse and interpret externally produced research
• Support specialist information needs of key staff (for presentations, media briefings etc)
• Build relationships with key players to include academics, think-tanks, polling companies and other organisations in support of our campaigns
• Contribute to and support development of the ERS website, particularly its research and information sections.

POLICY

• Work with the Director of Policy and Research to develop public policy positions on key issues and maintain the Society’s policy manual/documents.
• Produce policy statements, briefing papers and other documents for internal and external audiences that communicate the Society’s policy analysis and positions on campaign issues.
• Advise colleagues on policy positioning

OPERATIONAL DELIVERY

• Assist with preparing management reports on research work
• Ensure that staff are kept up to date with new information and key publications from research bodies
• Organise or assist with the organisation of relevant ERS events such as seminars or events to promote research reports
• Support research students and ERS Lakeman Fellows in research-based projects
• Contribute to the ERS contacts database and help keep it up to date
• Provide support with administrative tasks such as data entry, briefings, mailings and preparing materials in support of the Society’s campaigns

ORGANISATIONAL ROLE

• Contribute to the intellectual capital and development of the ERS via team meetings, blogs, staff meetings and planning/away days and by supporting colleagues as required
• Work with colleagues to maximise the recruitment of new members, identified through campaigning and other activity
• Undertake administrative and ‘back office’ tasks as required, including supporting events, operations and media
• Support and comply with the Society’s Equality and Diversity Policy
• Undertake other related duties as required that your manager reasonably considers would assist the Society in meetings its objectives

Please visit our website for more information and to download a job pack – https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/who-we-are/jobs/

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