This job is with BBC, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ business community. Please do not contact the recruiter directly. Title: Research Lead in personalisation in the public interest, Responsible Innovation Centre, BBC R&D The Responsible Innovation Centre (RIC) is a new independent research centre hosted in BBC Research and Development. It is funded by UKRI, a non-governmental public body that directs UK research and innovation funding. RIC delivers research to generate timely evidence and critical insights on the social, editorial and ethical challenges technology raises for public media, people and society. If you enjoy helping to successfully get new initiatives off the ground and have a passion for ensuring technology works for everyone, we want to hear from you. Job Reference: SF18366 Band: D Salary: Up to £60,000 pro rata depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights. Contract type: 18 months FTC - 0.6 FTE (3 days) Location: Office Base can be BBC sites - Media City, Salford and London. This is a hybrid role and the successful candidate will balance office working with home working. We're happy to discuss flexible working. Please indicate your choice under the flexible working question in the application. There is no obligation to raise this at the application stage but if you wish to do so, you are welcome to. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage. Excellent career progression - the BBC offers great opportunities for employees to seek new challenges and work in different areas of the organisation. Unrivalled training and development opportunities - our in-house Academy hosts a wide range of internal and external courses and certification. Benefits - We offer a negotiable salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance and 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care and gym. You can find out more about working at the BBC by selecting this link to our candidate pack. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process please contact the reasonable.adjustmentsbbc.co.uk. For any general queries, please contact: bbchrbbc.co.uk. Job introduction As a Responsible Innovation Centre (RIC) Research Lead in personalisation and the public interest you will be responsible for providing in-depth research and knowledge into how to operationalise normative approaches to personalisation aligned with public service media values and goals. This could include, for example, algorithmic personalisation on third party platforms, policy initiatives or approaches to the design, development and governance of personalised media content, products and services. A research lead in RIC is responsible for leading and conducting research activities in their specialist area. The post holder is required to work with RIC to carry out ground-breaking and academically rigorous research in key challenge areas to help build a desirable and resilient public media future in the face of rapid technological change. Our research seeks to help the BBC - and wider public media - innovate responsibly and contribute to wider technology development, policy and standards. Collaboration with the BBC and RIC's expert partner network is required in order to achieve these goals. The Responsible Innovation Centre (RIC) is a new independent research centre hosted at the BBC. It is funded by UKRI, a non-governmental public body that directs UK research and innovation funding. RIC delivers research to generate timely evidence and critical insights on the social, editorial and ethical challenges technology raises for public media, people and society. Located in BBC R&D and working with the BBC and 12 world-leading partner organisations whose work advances technology in the public interest, RIC produces scholarship and resources to help ensure a strong and resilient public service media sector now and in the future. RIC is led by BBC Research & Development's (R&D) Dr Rhianne Jones and is funded by a £1.9 million Future Leaders Fellowship grant, which enables emerging research leaders to work with their institutions to deliver world-class research and innovation. Working collaboratively with internal and external experts and members of the public, our work seeks to advance responsible and distinctly public service-oriented approaches to technology - to support a healthy future digital UK society. Our independence as a research centre means we can undertake research into fundamental, longer-terms questions, challenges and opportunities technology presents in public service media contexts. This benefits the BBC as host and provides a critical resource for public service media organisations around the world. When you join you will be joining a new team and will play an important role in helping establish RIC's research agenda. You will be part of a small team of highly passionate and motivated researchers who care about ensuring that technology works for public media, people and society. You will work closely with the research operations team and wider research team to have a direct impact on the work and success of the centre, helping the BBC and public media organisations around the world navigate important challenges. As a member of the team you will be supported to develop yourself and learn new skills and will have the opportunity to build interdisciplinary networks inside and outside the BBC. We offer a warm, flexible and inclusive culture that supports people in the team to grow and thrive. We want our team members to share our passion for the work and from knowing that what they are doing is making a difference and enhancing people's lives Interview process If shortlisted, you will be offered an informal chat with the RIC director, followed by an online interview lasting between 60-90 mins, where you will be asked to prepare a short presentation. Main responsibilities As a research lead, you will be responsible for leading and conducting research activities into normative approaches to personalisation, foregrounding public service media values and goals. You will work with the RIC director to carry out expert consultations in your specialist area and ground-breaking and academically rigorous research to help build a desirable and resilient public media future in the face of rapid technological change. You will be responsible for horizon scanning and providing ongoing examination of developments in technology and society and/or the regulatory environment in order to scope and respond to opportunities, challenges and risks for BBC and wider public service media sector You will be responsible for shaping the design and delivery of core team project work and initiatives in your specialist area through timely, specialist insight and advice You will conduct high quality research to an academic standard to advise the BBC on emerging opportunities and challenges stemming from technology and produce research to inform responsible approaches to technology and innovation You will produce key research briefing papers, industry reports and publish peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters. You will apply creative thinking, analysis and good judgement to propose innovative responses to socio-technical problems You will work with wider BBC teams (e.g. technology, strategy and policy) to translate research in ways that are usable You will provide advice and consultancy to help the BBC and its external partners make the best decisions within own field of expertise You will evaluate technology through a social, ethical and editorial lens to assess risks, opportunities and impact You will document research results for the BBC and external stakeholders - working with the RIC Communication & Engagement Lead to take a creative and user-centric approach to presenting and communicating research to maximise engagement and impact. You will use persuasion and facilitation skills to gain cooperation of groups across the BBC and externally and identify and advance collaborative projects You will help manage and review work by RIC affiliated researchers and represent RIC at events, conferences and forums in line with the BBC's expectations You will identify and act on opportunities for learning and development and stay at the forefront of relevant research, scientific and technology areas You will be an ambassador for RIC and Responsible Innovation and engage with the wider community of practice at all levels to support the RIC in delivering its goals Are you the right candidate For this role we are looking for someone with a passion for research aimed at advancing public interest technology who is looking to make positive changes to support good digital futures. We are looking for someone who gets excited at the prospect of interdisciplinary work, wants to advance ways of working across academic and industry and has a strategic research (and research communication) mindset. We are focused on building a small, highly effective and supportive team and on hiring for potential so the main requirement for the position is a passionate, collaborative, people focused outlook. Essential A PhD in a relevant social science or humanities based subject area (e.g sociology, science and technology studies, social policy, socio-legal studies, social history, media and communication studies) (or demonstrable equivalent research experience) Strong experience, knowledge and a proven record in research in normative approaches to personalisation and experience of social science or humanities approaches to understanding technology and society A good understanding of the UK public media context and one or more of the following: Responsible Research and Innovation, data ethics, mission driven innovation, value sensitive design. A record of demonstrating capability for original work and of originating and defining new areas of research, an enquiring mind and well-developed analytical and investigative skills, ability to keep up to date with research in field - including emerging trends and developments in relevant technologies Ability to make judgements necessary to choose the best research approach to address a knowledge gap or complex problem Experience of and skills in gathering and analysing data and evidence and reviewing, synthesising research and conducting research under research ethics, data management and safeguarding frameworks Ability to produce excellent peer-reviewed publications, evidence of prior publications, industry reports or policy papers Experience presenting and communication in industry and academic events and contexts Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team and independently, ability to work to deadlines Ability to summarise and explain complex ideas to non-specialist audiences; experience of presenting ideas in a variety of formats including written papers, reports, blogs and presentations Ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge and skills to engage with new technologies across multiple editorial and social contexts Self-motivated with the initiative to carry out projects according to plan, and the ability to quickly adapt in a fast-changing environment Good written and spoken communication skills, able to promote ideas by logical argument, capable of presenting results in a clear/effective manner. Time and resource management skills and ability to lead, motivate and direct others contributing to project work Able to travel in UK and internationally on RIC business as required About the BBC The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC for different reasons and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk. We don't focus simply on what we do - we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you've read about our values and behaviours here. Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential. We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC - whether that's to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise. To find out more about Diversity and Inclusion at the BBC, please click here. LI-DNI LI-DNI