Head of Central Social Science Team
| Posting date: | 01 August 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £65,430 to £79,160 per year |
| Additional salary information: | National: £65,430-£73,280 London: £70,690-£79,160 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’. |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 18 August 2025 |
| Location: | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 419893/3 |
Summary
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.
This role part of the Analysis and Insight Division (AID) which sits at the heart of Defra. As a central team, we cover a wide remit of issues that span the breadth of Defra’s responsibilities, working with policy teams and analysts across the department. We are responsible for leading cross-cutting and strategic analysis, including most recently on economic growth, supply chain resilience and artificial intelligence; delivering specialist expert advice on areas such as behavioural insights, operational research, and evaluation; and providing analytical assurance to support optimal investment decisions, better regulation and fiscal events.
In this role, as the Head of the Central Social Science Team (CSST) and Deputy Head of Profession for Social Research, you will have an excellent opportunity to lead a team that showcases the wide and varied range of social research approaches, and to champion the role of social science within analysis and policy-making. The team has a broad and changing portfolio, which includes meeting spending review settlement conditions in respect to evaluation and improving evaluation governance, providing cross-cutting social research evidence to the Department and embedding behavioural insights to plans for emergency response, climate adaptation and the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Encouraging diverse applicants
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups.
As Head of Central Social Science Team you will lead a group of around 14 social researchers in three teams:
You will also act as Deputy to the Head of Profession for Social Research, in Defra, agreeing and helping to deliver a programme of work to improve professional standards across the Department. |
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme