Postdoctoral Research Associate in Comparative Welfare Experiences

About the role

The purpose of this role is to be the lead UK qualitative researcher on an ambitious, innovative €3m project (WelfareExperiences) comparing the experience of claiming benefits in five different countries: the UK, Norway, Estonia, Hungary and Spain.

The project will be one of the first international comparisons of the experiences of individuals receiving public benefits, looking across Norway, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Hungary. By ‘experiences’, we mean issues related to concepts such as justice, security, and dignity. We aim to both change the way people theorise public benefits systems in academic work, and to improve experiences in each of the five countries.

Crucially the project is coproduced (we are currently working with claimants across Europe to develop a conceptual framework for ‘experiences’, and will work throughout with people with lived experiences of claiming benefits).

Your role will be to take the lead on the UK qualitative fieldwork. You will be conducting innovative qualitative longitudinal research, which involves (i) an initial, usually in-person interview with a claimant; (ii) engagement from distance for 6mths, where claimants tell you about every interaction they have with the system; (iii) responsive follow-up phone interviews around key events. We expect that you will have capacity to do this with 15-18 diverse claimants.

You will also be responsible for analysing this qualitative data, as part of an international team that includes parallel qualitative researchers in each of the five countries. Comparative qualitative research is relatively uncommon, and this will be an excellent opportunity to learn how to do it well, and to work as part of a committed international team. You will also need to work in partnership with our coproduction partners, both our UK partners (APLE Collective, Inclusion Scotland, Poverty Alliance) and the broader international partners in each country; and in partnership with the quantitative work packages. 

This is expected to be a full-time post (35 hours per week), but applications for undertaking this part-time are welcome (as long as this is at least 75% FTE). If undertaking this full-time, you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30/04/2027

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: 

Essential criteria

• A PhD in sociology, social policy, anthropology, social psychology or related discipline.*
• Strong experience in qualitative research methods (including interviewing, analysis and research ethics).
• Excellent written and oral presentation skills.
• Experience in publishing academic journal articles.
• Good collaboration skills, including people with lived experience, across research methods, across disciplines, and across countries.
• Some knowledge of co-production methods within social sciences.
• The capacity to work independently, systematically, and purposefully.

Desirable criteria

• An excellent understanding of the British social security system.
• Experience of conducting qualitative longitudinal research.
• Experience of co-production methods in some form.

Full details of the role and the skills and experience required, can be found in the attached job description which provided on the next page. 

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Advert information