The research programme
The DeliverEd research programme is focused on researching how delivery approaches—vis-à-vis delivery units or processes—adopted by a government body could affect the way bureaucrats implement policies and programmes.
The role
The casual Research Assistant will contribute to a global mapping of delivery approaches around the world. The DeliverEd research programme identified approximately 152 delivery approaches in the public sector worldwide and have systematically coded various design features and functions they performed; including the level of government at which they were set up; the structural and staffing arrangement of the approach; their funding source, the types of reform goals they monitored and the functions they leveraged to monitor and ensure progress. In addition to the design of these approaches, the team collected data on when these approaches were established.
The Research Assistant will support with research on the lifecycle of these approaches.
The tasks are likely to include:
- Conducting thorough research of the end dates for the list of delivery approaches identified in the global mapping database. The research will entail searching through secondary data published online, including reports, policy briefs, academic papers, government websites, press releases, case studies, etc.
- Update the global mapping database with the year in which the delivery approach was shut down, as well as any qualitative notes regarding the life cycle of the delivery approach.
- Filling in data gaps in the database where the year in which the delivery approach was established is missing from the database.
- Reporting to the research team regularly on the search process.
The contract would be for 100-150 hours of work. There is some flexibility around how the RA chooses to distribute the hours across weeks; however, we anticipate that the research will be completed within 6 to 8 weeks.
Payment will be at the rate of £15.60 per hour. We expect the successful candidate to be able to start in mid-January 2022.
You would be based at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford, but remote working in the UK may be possible. You must have the right to work in the UK.
Selection criteria
Applicants will be judged against their ability to demonstrate the following:
- Interest in public sector reform
- Ability to conduct secondary research
How to apply
Please email your application to recruit@bsg.ox.ac.uk with the subject “Application for casual research assistant - DeliverEd”.
Please include:
- your CV
- a brief cover letter/email addressing the selection criteria. Also, please include any constraints around availability (e.g. term dates, thesis deadlines, future commitments, etc.)
The closing date for applications is 12 noon (GMT) on Monday 6 December 2021