Post Doctoral Research Associate, “Digital technologies, innovation and skill development"

About us:

The two Research Associates will be hosted by and managed at King’s Business School (King’s College London), one of the academic partner institutions of The Productivity Institute. The projects form part of a cluster of projects exploring skills, innovation and productivity.

Project 1 is managed by Prof Damian Grimshaw and Prof Marcela Miozzo at King’s College London. Project 2 is managed by Prof Marcela Miozzo at King’s College London and Prof Beatrice D’Ippolito at the University of York. The Research Associates will also join the network of Research Associates and other academics working on projects funded by the ESRC Productivity Institute.

About the role:

This is for two full-time posts relating to funding received from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded Productivity Institute.  Each Postdoctoral Research Associate will work full-time for 12 months on complementary projects focusing on original data collection and qualitative research. Project 1 will investigate companies and organisations in the agri-tech sector. Project 2 will investigate companies and organisations in the creative industries (broadcasting and games).

The research investigates three questions:

1. How do organisations develop skills and knowledge in response to the pervasive nature of digital technologies (including generative technologies such as AI)?
2. How do firms handle the generative potential of digital technologies to develop unique capabilities and competitive advantages?
3. How do they reconcile the need for efficiency gains and strategic innovation while integrating digital technologies into new and/or existing organizational practices and routines?

You should hold a PhD in management, innovation studies, organisation studies or strategy and have a track record of conducting qualitative research at a high standard and delivering presentations at academic conferences.

Please include a PhD chapter and/or paper submitted to a journal with your job application.

Interviews are due to be held on 21 March 2025

This is for 2 full time (35 Hours per week) roles, and you will be offered an fixed term contract for 1 year, with a start date as soon as possible.

About you: (the candidate)

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

Essential criteria

PhD in management, innovation studies, organisation studies or strategy (we will consider candidates who have submitted their PhD dissertation, and waiting to have their viva defence)*

Research experience with:

1. organising and conducting interviews and
2. adopting qualitative approaches to theory building

Research expertise in digital technologies, skills and/or innovation and the strategic challenges faced by organisations

Excellent oral and written communication skills

Desirable criteria

Submitted a paper to a high quality refereed journal in a relevant field (i.e., management and organisation studies)

Interest in one of the following is desirable:

artificial intelligence, creative industries or agri-tech

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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