The Role:

Within the context of the All-Island Labour Market, the Research Officer will assist in the project’s overall goal to improve the evidence base on current cross-border challenges, opportunities, and identify potential solutions. 

By capturing the experience of workers and employers through project activities, analysing external national databases held by the Citizens Information Board (CIB) and Advice NI, and by considering comparable experiences found in other EU border regions, the project will provide policymakers with evidence to support the development of policies that enable the all-island labour market to flourish. 

Responsibilities: 

Working closely with the project team, the Research Officer is responsible for: 

• Capturing evidence of obstacles to mobility identified by project activities, e.g. public usage of the website, and emerging trends, public response to information shared via the public Facebook discussion forum and social media channels, and challenges raised by advice sector workers shared during practitioner group meetings and the online collaboration platform (SLACK).
• Working closely with the Social Policy Officers, preparing policy papers and case studies arising from Border People activities, and the recent All-island Labour Market Study.
• Liaising with project partners, Advice NI and CIB, and commissioned researchers regarding the (cross-border) analysis of data held in the national databases.
• Working with the Project Manager to commission research on challenges and solutions found in other EU border regions.

Essential Criteria:

Right to work in the UK from February 2026 until February 2029 – if you are unsure, please check your status https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Education:

• Honours Degree or equivalent professional qualification in a relevant discipline AND 2 years’ demonstrable relevant experience OR
• 5 years’ demonstrable relevant experience where a relevant qualification is not held.

Competencies:

• Experience of gathering and analysing data.
• Experience of writing policy briefings, case studies, and reports.
• Experience of using MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams).

Disposition and motivation:

• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Readiness to work cooperatively and supportively, and to strict deadlines, as part of a small, dynamic team.
• Willingness to work flexibly to meet the requirements of the post.

Special factors:

• Willingness and ability to travel to meetings and events in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• Access to a car or other suitable form of transport (if it is necessary to meet the essential requirements of the post).

Desirable Criteria:

• 2:1 Honours Degree or equivalent professional qualification in a relevant discipline.
• Experience of coordinating research commissioned to external teams.
• Knowledge of cross-border challenges encountered by workers and employers.
• Experience of organising in-person and online meetings and workshops.
• Experience of organising report launches and policy events.
• Experience of working with externally-funded projects.
• Experience of the community and voluntary sector.
• Experience of working on cross-border projects.
• Strong commitment to and understanding of the value of cross-border and all-island cooperation, and a strong belief in the value of such cooperation as a key part of the movement towards peace and reconciliation in Ireland and Northern Ireland.