Post: Director
Department: Finsbury Institute
School: School of Policy & Global Affairs (SPGA)
Grade: Professorial Band 2 – Education & Research (focus on research)
Tenure: 3 years (potential for permanency on review of the success of the Institute)
Responsible to: Executive Dean SPGA

Context

The Finsbury Institute is a new outward facing hub for policy research and practice, based in the School of Policy and Global Affairs. The Finsbury Institute will be oriented towards the research and professional development needs of the City of London in particular and the UK policy community more generally. The Institute will be an additional income stream, primarily through (i) innovative CPD offers and (ii) offering consultancy services, writing policy briefs, and other forms of commissioned research.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Director will lead City colleagues and other affiliated researchers to build a world-leading Finsbury Institute that brings into union practitioner, policymaking, campaigning, and other organisations in order to confront and address the great local, national, and global policy challenges and crises of our time. They will work closely with and support the administrative, managerial, and academic members affiliated with the Institute.

Main responsibilities

• The Director will provide leadership in defining the social scientific ‘Research at the Frontier of Practice’ agenda of the Finsbury Institute (FI), aligned with the City, University of London and School of Policy and Global Affairs strategy, the 2030 Research Action Plan and the requirements of REF2028.
• Reporting to the Executive Dean, the Director will work with the Senior Leadership Team and wider SPGA community, its constituent departments and research centres, and doctoral and post-doctoral scholars, to advance their research and practice strengths, their internal and external engagement and impact.
• The Director will engage with the commercial and public sector policy communities in London and the wider UK to showcase City, University of London research expertise and identify opportunities for collaboration, including in policy advocacy and advice, commissioned research, CPD activities, and raising philanthropic income for research and research studentships.
• The Director will work to create the intellectual space for such knowledge production and especially co-production with external agencies, organisations, and actors, local, national, and international, and will be a powerful external advocate to develop, strengthen and maintain those networks. They will work with the Executive Dean, Deputy Dean, Associate Dean (Research), and other Centre Directors to promote an effective research and practice culture through the School.
• The Director will work with an advisory board comprising external members, faculty, the Executive Dean, Associate Dean (Research), and others as appropriate, to ensure the proper governance of the FI.
• The Director will build strong relations and links with the work of the other Schools of City, University of London, to promote activities and programmes that cultivate cross-School, inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary thinking, as well as bridging the scholar-policymaker/practitioner ‘gap’.
• The Director will seek and obtain external funding to ensure continuity and infrastructure support for the Hub’s range of activities, including promoting the Hub through an effective, up-to-date website, publicity material, including via appropriate forms of mass media, social media, workshops, conferences, and other forms of outreach to relevant external agencies and institutions.
• The Director will encourage and guide City colleagues in the development of quality published output from funded research, for both academic and practitioner/policy audiences, including sponsors, and to ensure effective dissemination.
• The Director will contribute to and oversee the management of taught Public Policy and other Masters’ programmes in the FI to ensure they are up to date with policy and scholarly developments, teaching and learning methods, and competitive with other comparator universities, and meets the needs of students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds.
• The Director will develop and manage a Visiting Fellows and ‘Pracademics’ programme for the FI in line with its aims and objectives and the aims of SPGA.
• The Director will participate in the wider life of the School, working with the Director of Marketing and Communications and Associate Dean (Research), and other appropriate members of SPGA departments and research centres, in promoting the research, teaching and impact and engagement of the FI.
• The Director will manage and be accountable for funds held by the Hub in accordance with the School’s accounting and reporting procedures, including providing regular reviews of the Hub’s activities and finances as a member of the School’s Research Committee, reporting quarterly to the Senior Leadership Team, and any other appropriate committees.
• The Director will facilitate the production of the Finsbury Institute Annual Report, intended for public consumption.

Additional information

• The post holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to City, University of London’s Equal Opportunities Statement.
• The post holder must accept responsibility for ensuring that the policies and procedures relating to Health and Safety in the workplace are adhered to at all times.
• The post holder must respect the confidentiality of data stored electronically and by other means in line with General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR) – the Data Protection Act 2018.
• The post holder must carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the non-smoking environment of City, University of London.

Sustainable development

City, University of London is committed to a policy of best practice to assist in building a sustainable way of life by taking a positive, solutions-orientated approach. All post holders are encouraged to contribute through their roles to improving the environment for City and the wider community.

The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such duties as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post. All members of staff are required to be professional, co-operative, and flexible in line with the needs of the post, Department, School and City, University of London.

Job descriptions should be regularly reviewed and at least prior to the annual appraisal, if applicable or on a regular basis to ensure they are an accurate representation of the post.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement (EDI)

City, University of London is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all its activities, processes, and culture for our whole community, including staff, students, and visitors.

We welcome applications regardless of age, caring responsibilities, disability, gender identity, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, pregnancy, race and ethnic origin, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background.

City operates a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The following criteria are considered essential and will be assessed by the application and interview unless otherwise noted.

Qualifications and Knowledge

• BA or equivalent. (Assessed by application only)
• Deep knowledge of the UK policy community and key actors and stakeholders within it.
• Experience of providing research leadership.
• Ability to articulate a strategy for development, implementation, and delivery of successful projects.

Experience

• Substantive experience working in the UK policy community or analogous sectors. (Assessed by application only)
• Extensive experience of commissioning research and/or providing commissioned research to clients.
• A track record of engaging with collaborative research partners and funders.

Skills and abilities

• Ongoing engagement in think tank, policy institute or equivalent.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written with strong presentation skills). (Assessed by application, interview and exercise)
• Strong advocacy skills and ability to represent the Finsbury Institute and City University in external fora.
• Ability to prioritise workload with minimum supervision and achieve deadlines. (Assessed by application, interview and exercise)
• Commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to the role.
• Proficient IT skills appropriate to the role. (Desirable) 
• Evidence of strong leadership, administrative and organisational development skills.