Salary: £35,608.00 - £36,636.00 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 30 November 2025
About Insights North East
Launched in 2022, Insights North East is a policy hub created through a partnership between the region’s universities, the North East Combined Authority, local government, and the NHS to bridge the gap between policy research and practice and support regional policymakers in better design policies that address the needs of local communities. Supported by an investment of £2.78m from the Research England Development (RED) fund, INE was initially established as a demonstrator to develop methods for delivering actionable insights to the region’s policymakers and to develop capability for evidence-based policymaking.
The Role
The Policy Challenge Research Associate is central to Insights North East’s (INE) mission of mobilising knowledge to shape better outcomes for people and places across the region. Drawing on deep networks and a solid understanding of the policy environment, the role will act as both connector and catalyst—brokering relationships, triaging policy challenges, and curating research outputs that offer clear, actionable insights. From leading evidence reviews and coordinating cross-sector networks to representing INE on regional and national platforms, the successful candidate will bring a rare combination of intellectual rigour, political acuity, and collaborative skill. They will be instrumental in defining and delivering a high-quality, responsive policy offer—supporting long-term change in the North East while helping to establish INE as a nationally recognised leader in knowledge mobilisation for place-based policy innovation.
Launched in 2022, Insights North East is a policy hub created through a partnership between the region’s universities, the North East Combined Authority, local government, and the NHS to bridge the gap between policy research and practice and support regional policymakers in better design policies that address the needs of local communities. Supported by an investment of £2.78m from the Research England Development (RED) fund, INE was initially established as a demonstrator to develop methods for delivering actionable insights to the region’s policymakers and to develop capability for evidence-based policymaking.
The Policy Challenge Research Associate will sit at the heart of INE’s work, acting as both connector and catalyst across the region’s policy, academic, and civic ecosystems. You will use your understanding of the policy landscape—and your ability to translate complex evidence into practical insights—to support and shape the region’s policy and decision-makers.
You will lead the development and delivery of high-quality, responsive research projects that tackle real policy challenges. From curating evidence syntheses and coordinating stakeholder workshops to representing INE on regional and national platforms, you’ll ensure that our work has meaningful, measurable impact.
This is a role for someone who thrives on collaboration, enjoys complexity, and is motivated by the potential of evidence to drive long-term, systemic change.
This is a full time position available until 31 July 2026.
For all informal equiries please contact
Key Responsibilities
- Build and manage relationships with policymakers, decision-makers, and researchers across sectors.
- Broker and triage policy challenges, designing and facilitating workshops that help define problems and shape INE’s response.
- Lead evidence reviews and syntheses, producing accessible outputs with clear, actionable insights.
- Coordinate and deliver INE projects, ensuring they meet deadlines, budgets, and impact goals.
- Work with INE’s Research, Engagement and Policy Leads to curate knowledge and mobilise expertise across the INE Associates Network.
- Represent INE at regional, national, and global levels through events, publications, and digital engagement.
- Contribute to the sustainability and evolution of INE’s model, helping to develop funding bids and refine our approach to knowledge mobilisation.
About You
You are an experienced at knowledge mobilisation and policy-relevent evidence based outputs. You bring intellectual rigour, political awareness, and an instinct for collaboration.
You will have:
- Proven experience building and managing relationships with policymakers or practitioners.
- Strong analytical and research skills, with experience conducting or managing evidence. reviews resulting in a portfolio of academic and policy facing outputs.
- Experience identifying actionable insights for policy and practice audiences.
- Excellent communication skills—able to write, speak, and present with clarity across audiences.
- Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
- Experience of organising and running events.
- A sound understanding of UK policy environments, especially at regional or local levels.
- A PhD (or equivalent experience) in a relevant field, with strong research design knowledge.
- A genuine passion for improving outcomes for people and places in the North East.
Key accountabilities:
Providing high quality knowledge mobilisation service
- Relationship and network management with specific set of policy / decision-maker stakeholders.
- Upfront brokerage and triage for INE projects, identifying response mode and delivering workshops to help define the challenge where appropriate.
- Development of pipeline policy challenges /
- Work closely with Policy & Insights Lead to establish high-quality offer for the region’s policy organisations and professionals.
- Drawing on network, relationships and understanding of policy environment to spot opportunities for INE projects.
- Support development of
network, particularly in relation to policy / decision maker members and coordination of topic-based sub-groups.
Writing and curating strong outputs with clear actionable insights
- Lead on policy-challenge based evidence syntheses with support from academic specialists.
- Project management & delivery of specific projects on INE workplan within budget
- Engagement across INE Associates network to support engagement on INE projects and help develop project pipeline.
- Work closely with Research & Evidence Lead to mobilise and curate academic expertise and evidence.
- Work closely on outputs with Engagement & Content Coordinator from early stage in project development.
- Support curation of evidence to support long-term change in the region.
Supporting role of INE as a leading knowledge mobilisation organisation
- Representing INE at regional, national and global level through speaking opportunities, writing blogs and other outputs to support.
- Follow national and regional policy developments
- Provide flexible support, both leadership and hands on, as needed across INE.
- Contribute to reflective practice of INE and iteration of INE model.
- Contribute to development of policy engagement practice & field of research, working to help establish INE as a leader of policy and practice in place.
- Contribute to research funding bid development in support of the future sustainability of INE
The Person:
Criteria
Description
Stakeholder Engagement
- Proven experience of building and managing relationships with policymakers, practitioners, or decision-makers across sectors.
Knowledge Brokerage
- Demonstrated ability to identify policy challenges, facilitate challenge-definition workshops, and support the design and delivery of responsive research projects.
Research & Analysis
- Experience in conducting or managing evidence reviews, synthesising research findings, and identifying actionable insights for policy and practice audiences resulting in a portfolio of academic and policy facing outputs.
- An understanding of qualitative and/or quantitative research design, ethics, data collection methods, analysis and data management.
Project Management
- Track record of delivering complex projects on time and within budget, including multi-stakeholder initiatives.
- Experience of organising and running events.
Communication Skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to tailor content for academic, policy and non-academic audiences, write compelling reports, and contribute to blogs or public outputs.
Collaboration & Teamwork
- Ability to work collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams and across institutional boundaries, with a flexible and proactive approach.
Political & Contextual Awareness
- Sound judgement and political acuity in navigating the sensitivities of policy contexts and institutional landscapes. Ability to work in changing contexts.
Commitment to Place-Based Change
- Demonstrable passion for contributing to meaningful, long-term change in the North East through evidence-informed decision-making.
Knowledge & qualifications
- Strong understanding of UK policy environments, particularly at regional and local levels.
- Understanding of how universities work.
- Familiarity with knowledge mobilisation theory and practice.
- PhD in relevant subject area and understanding of research methods.
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a gold award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 28772