Do you have a network of contacts in policymaking bodies?  Can you broker policy-academic engagement relationships and facilitate the building of long-term relationships?  Are you able to bring robust research evidence into policy decision making with policymakers?

Interest and demand for research impact is growing, and so is our team. Leeds University Business School have an exciting opportunity for a candidate who is creative and proactive, with strong competencies in policy engagement and/or a background in a policy role (supra-, inter-, national or regional bodies) or in a significant NGO, with direct connection with policy making, to help connect our research with a range of policymakers in local regional, national and international policy. Applicants with significant experience as a policy engagement broker in higher education would also be considered.  Applicants wishing to work a fractional role should state this is a covering letter indicating their preferred working time.

This is a permanent position that will grow our policy-academic engagement activity; bringing empirical evidence from research to committees, government bodies or third sector organisations where it can make a transformational difference to economy, business or society.  The person appointed will be a key part of a team that supports academics in Leeds University Business School with achieving policy impact.  The role relates to both the Research Excellence Framework (REF), where we had an outstanding performance in REF2021, and to the broader HEI research impact agenda.

The Fellow will work with a variety of research teams/projects, helping them to connect with policy and to deliver significant policy impact from research.   This role is about building relationships as well as enhancing academic capability to directly influence policy decision-making at the highest levels.  The Fellow must be able to contribute to transforming academic evidence into tangible outputs for a number of topic areas.   

The role will also include working with colleagues in the Faculty Research & Innovation Office, in particular the Impact & Engagement Manager and Officers, on organising and building the faculty’s Policy & Public Sector Forum and contributing to training programmes covering policy engagement. The role supports the broader impact agenda which is a key part of our faculty strategy.

We value creative individuals who bring in new perspectives and contribute to our supportive team environment. This is a full-time position but we are willing to consider a fractional role for an appropriate candidate who wished to continue/pursue another part-time role in policy or higher education.  Equally, we are prepared to consider job share applicants.

Leeds University Business School is a leading, full-service business school and one of the most highly regarded in Europe. It is ranked 65^th in the world by Times Higher Education for Business and Management in 2022, and 80^th in the world by QS in 2021. The School also holds the “triple crown” of accreditations, being accredited by AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS, placing us in the top 1% of business schools globally. We have over 250 academic staff contributing to world leading research, scholarship, and teaching.  In the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, the 90% of the School’s submitted research was either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.  The results reflect the School’s mission to have a positive impact on society, the economy and the world.  Our impactful case studies ranged from influencing policy and practice for business growth, to improving financial wellbeing, helping the unemployed and advancing guidance on infrastructure spending. The School scored eighth for impact in the UK out of 108 business schools.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Kathryn Watson, email: [email protected] 

or 

Professor Mark Stuart, email: [email protected]