Psychology Assistant Jobs in Belfast

At The National Lottery Community Fund, we are committed to making a bigger difference in the years ahead.  That’s why being ‘impact-focussed’ is one of our core values.  We want to transform how we use evidence in our organisation so that we can identify the communities that most need our funding, demonstrate the difference we make and take an equity-based approach.  Our 2030 strategy ‘It starts with community’ sets stretching goals and puts impact at the heart of what we do. In April, we will launch a new Impact Strategy that will explain how we will do this.

We’re recruiting for a Research Programme Manager in our newly formed Evidence and Impact team. This is an exciting new role where you’ll oversee the Fund’s externally commissioned research activity, making sure it delivers evidence and insights that our organisation needs to support communities across the UK. 

Building strong, positive working relationships is critical. You’ll work with colleagues to identify and manage new requests for research contracts and ensure these are appropriately specified, designed, monitored and costed. The culmination of this work will be your annual bid for the research programme as part of our business planning process. 

You’ll play a leading role in governance too, owning and improving standards and processes related to commissioning research and learning contracts and regularly reporting to governance groups on their status. And together with the Head of Strategic Analysis, you’ll maintain a strong network of contacts within government, other funders and the wider VCSE sector. This will allow you to identify common evidence interests and commission joint research projects.

Interview Date: Interviews will be held w/c 24th and 31st March and will take place online via Microsoft Teams.

Location: We have a hybrid approach to working, work pattern and location will be agreed with the successful candidate. The role can be based at any of our UK offices, these are Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Newcastle and Newtown.

On application, please align your supporting statement to the criteria below 

Essential criteria  

• Extensive experience in designing and managing research contracts in an applied environment – with an excellent knowledge and understanding of different qualitative and quantitative methods. 
• Strong project and/or programme management experience - skilled at maintaining an overview of a wide range of related projects. 
• Experience of business planning, particularly in relation to externally commissioned research. 
• An understanding of risk management processes, including the identification, escalation and mitigation of operational issues and risks. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with different audiences. 
• Experience of working with multiple stakeholders, often with competing priorities, to gain agreement. 

Desirable criteria 

• A professional qualification or bachelor's degree that includes a significant research methods element, such as social research, statistics, economics or psychology. 
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams and able to see the benefits this brings. 

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion  

Communities in the UK come in all shapes and sizes. National Lottery funding is for everyone – therefore, we are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we work hard to ensure our funding reaches where it is needed.  

We also believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. That’s why The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We recognise and celebrate the fact that our people come from diverse backgrounds. We positively welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities or longstanding health conditions, people who are LGBTQ+, and people from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, as well as people of all ages. 

As a Disability Confident Employer, we take a proactive approach in making reasonable adjustments, if needed, throughout the recruitment process and during employment. (This can be related to a physical and mental health condition.)