If you are interested in helping academics and policymakers talk to each other more effectively and you know how to make that work in digital space, then this job is for you.

SPRE is looking for someone who can help manage the project’s own digital tools and also offer guidance to our research and policy partners on how technology can help them work together.

If you agree with us that evidence-informed policy is better policy, then why not join us and help make it happen.

Digital Resources Coordinator

Overview

Salary: £32,000 per annum.
Location: This is a remote working opportunity and could be based anywhere in Scotland, but it will involve regular travel to meetings around Scotland.
Working week: Full-time (35 hours). Part-time or compressed working patterns will also be considered.
Contract: Permanent.
Starting date: As soon as possible

Job Description

Role: This is a new post in which you will play a key role in establishing SPRE’s presence in digital space. Broadly the role can be divided into two parts:

1. You will work with the director to identify, source or develop content for SPRE’s website (www.spre.scot), blog, Twitter stream (twitter.com/SPRExchange) and newsletters. You will play a key role in the selection of any additional platforms and will ensure that outputs meet high editorial and design standards. You will have responsibility for monitoring and reporting analytics on the use of SPRE platforms.
2. SPRE exists to facilitate greater collaboration between academics and the policy community. You will advise on which tools can most effectively foster collaboration in digital space. You will work with the director and other stakeholders to encourage digital solutions to real world obstacles to greater engagement, particularly those that encourage greater diversity of participation.

SPRE is a relatively new project and the postholder may be asked to take on tasks beyond their brief from time to time, although support and appropriate training will be provided. Occasional work outside office hours may also be required.

Key relationships: You will be managed by the director of SPRE and will develop working relationships across Scottish higher education and the policy community. Much of the organisation’s business will be conducted digitally but travel for face-to-face meetings will be required.

Organisation: The Scottish Policy and Research Exchange was launched at the start of 2019. It helps strengthen the evidence base for policymaking through training for early-career academics and others, promoting collaborative tools in digital and real space, and advising research and policymaking institutions on good practice. It uses these techniques to improve the flow of evidence to the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament and other public bodies and, by doing so, improve policy outcomes for everyone living in Scotland.

The project is predicated on the belief that research-informed policy is better policy. It is committed to the idea that the effective use of research and evidence can improve both how policy is made and the outcomes it produces. Increasing the diversity of the voices contributing to the evidence base for policy is a particularly important focus.

The project is supported by institutions across the Scottish policy and academic sectors. Currently the postholder would formally be employed by the Academy of Social Sciences. It is expected that SPRE will become an autonomous charity within the next two years and would then directly employ its own staff. In the event of this happening, it is not anticipated that there will be any significant changes to terms and conditions.

Key responsibilities: You will work closely with the director of SPRE to:

• Ensure that SPRE’s digital content is kept up to date including planning and scheduling future content. You will work to establish the website and related feeds as the preeminent sources of policy-research engagement material in Scotland.
• Liaise with other organisations to identify blogs, events, reports, engagement opportunities and other content that should be promoted through our digital channels.
• Support and promote the organisation’s commitment to holding meetings primarily in digital space, including providing guidance or training where appropriate.
• Monitor and report on the usage of SPRE’s digital content and recommend new channels or platforms when appropriate. This should include encouraging feedback from users so as to enhance their experience of digital content over time.
• You will generate audio and video content for the site and social media, and work develop or commission graphic design where appropriate.
• Scope out advantageous digital technology that could enhance the organisation’s online presence.
• Identify opportunities for the use of digital technologies to support greater engagement between the academic and policy communities in Scotland.
• Ensure that all digital content is accessible to the widest possible audience, maintains editorial quality and conforms to SPRE’s style guidelines.
• SPRE is a relatively new organisation and the postholder will play a key role in its development. This may involve some work outwith this brief but appropriate support will be provided.

Essential Criteria

Experience/Knowledge

• Extensive experience of managing content from multiple sources and producing engaging and accurate content across digital channels
• Experience of creating eye-catching and engaging content in different media
• Use of the web and social media as tools to encourage engagement from new or hard-to-reach audiences
• Experience of effective website management including CMS experience
• Experience of using social media to successfully target key audiences
• Experience of effective working practices involving collaboration in digital space

Skills
• Ability to work independently, often with little supervision
• Ability to identify new ways in which the organisation might make an impact with digital tools
• Good communicator of technical and creative concepts
• Comfortable working with people of all levels of seniority
• An enthusiast for the opportunities digital tools present for working in new and better ways

Desirable Criteria

Education
• Degree or other recognised qualification in a related discipline

Experience/Knowledge
• Professional experience in the higher education, research or policy sectors
• An interest in the value of evidence in the policymaking process
• Experience of adapting technical or complex material for non-specialist audiences
• Knowledge of standard design packages, including PageMaker, Quark or equivalents.

Skills
• Offering in-house training on digital platforms

Application process

Application and interview. Please submit a CV and short covering letter setting out how you meet the requirements for the post. Applications should be received no later than 12 noon on 11 November 2019. Interviews will be scheduled for 21 November in Edinburgh.

Applications should be sent to contact@spre.scot or addressed to:

Nick Bibby,
Director,
Scottish Policy & Research Exchange
c/o The Royal Society of Edinburgh
22-24 George Street
Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ