Senior Research Officer

College of Policing

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 3 weeks

Democratic Services

Flexible

£47,720 - £52,758 per year

Job summary

Applications for this role are restricted to existing employees of the College of Policing, the Civil Service and officers or staff of a UK police force or UK policing organisation.

About us:

Our mission is: Leadership, Standards, Performance. This guides our work with individuals, forces, and policing partners towards our vision. We exist to support police officers, police staff and volunteers to deliver the best service to the public. Only through high-quality leadership, consistent standards and continual performance improvement can everyone in policing reach their full potential. Our mission guides our work with individual, forces and partners towards our vision.

Although we are a relatively small organisation, our work has a big reach. We are uniquely placed to work both with national policing organisations and local forces to support frontline officers, staff and volunteers in their day-to-day roles.

We offer a supportive and inclusive environment for people to thrive. Our extensive flexible-working policy, employee wellbeing support, family friendly policies, employers’ network for equality and inclusion membership (ENEI silver award winners), and status as a disability confident leader means everyone can bring their whole self to work.

Additional Information:

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.

Due to our status as Public Servants, we are not eligible to participate in the Civil Service transfer process. Therefore, while successful candidates can transfer in on their existing terms and conditions, any subsequent transfer out of the College to the Civil Service cannot be guaranteed on existing terms and conditions, and new starter/modernised terms may apply.

The College embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we comply with the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and apply the minimum selection criteria at sift stage of the recruitment process.

Our vetting

If you are successful at interview, you will be required to undertake pre-employment security checks. You will be sent a security questionnaire which must be accessed within 24 hours.

Please note, these checks can take up to 10 weeks. You will only be offered a start date after the checks have been completed. If the outcome of these checks is not satisfactory, your recommendation for employment will be withdrawn.

Job description

We are recruiting 2 Senior Research Officers – 1 permanent and 1 secondment to March 28 (may be subject to extension). This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in the design and delivery of social research to drive evidence-based police improvement and crime reduction.

Please see the attached job description which contains full details of the role.

Person specification

You will be expected to:

Lead research projects delivered by internal staff and/or external suppliers in line with agreed timescales and budgets, and Government Social Research and College standards. You will ensure project outputs are accessible to and meet the needs of internal and external stakeholders (including police, academic and public audiences) to enable them to make informed decisions.

Encourage internal and external stakeholders to take an evidence-based approach in their work, by helping them to develop, understand, critically appraise, and apply research evidence

Work with key partners across the College, policing and government to ensure policing policy and practice (such as national guidance and continuing professional development) is informed by the best available evidence.

To be successful in this role you’ll need:

Membership of the GSR profession (badging available as part of the recruitment process for candidates who meet the eligibility criteria (see GSR Membership and Eligibility Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-government-s… )

Proven track record in designing and delivering research and analysis to a high standard within expected timescales. Excellent planning and resource management skills and strong customer focus

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to adapt style to suit a variety of audiences, and ability to effectively challenge and influence others, including more senior colleagues and stakeholders, to ensure the right outcome is achieved

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Meets the Government Social Research competency framework for Senior Research Officers

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,720, College of Policing contributes £13,824 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

College staff have Public Servant status. As a Public Servant, you are eligible to join the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

The College is a great place to work. We're passionate about our people and offer a wide range of benefits. The benefits we can offer include:

Defined benefit pension scheme with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Up to 30 days holiday (this is in addition to 8 public holidays and 2.5 privilege days)
Educational funding and study leave
Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
Flexi-time (for certain grades)
Flexible working hours
Childcare vouchers
Benenden Healthcare
National Dental Plan
Discount scheme which provides cut-price on-line shopping
Free employee support line
Interest free loans for travel.
Staff networks: You will have the opportunity to join our employee-run networks to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be heard. There are currently 6 staff networks; Diversity Champions, LGBT, Carer’s, Women’s, Parenting and our Diverse Ethnic Action network. Each network has access to an executive level sponsor.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Vacancy reference: 7321 & 7259

Anticipated interview dates: w/c 26 Oct and w/c 2 Nov.

There are two roles available. One is a permanent appointment. The other is a secondment opportunity to March 28 (may be subject to extension). They are open to:

colleagues employed directly by the College or the Civil Service. Please note if applying for secondment you will be required to obtain the written support of your line manager prior to submitting your application.
serving police officers substantive in the rank of Chief Inspector, or those officers suitably qualified for temporary promotion in the rank of Inspector. All applicants must have the support of their Chief Officer which must be of NPCC rank, i.e., CC, ACC or DCC and this must accompany an application.
serving police staff at the equivalent rank of Chief Inspector or Inspector who have their chief officer's approval. Chief Officer’s approval must be of NPCC rank, i.e., CC, ACC or DCC. Approval for a secondment must accompany an application.

Central service conditions may apply.

Please ensure you return the attached secondment approval form either as an attachment when submitting your application or via email to recruitment@college.police.uk.

For further information on applying for a secondment please visit the “Secondments into the College” page.

Internal applicants who are at risk of redundancy or in need of redeployment and pass the recruitment process, will be given priority over other applicants.

An initial sift based on the lead behaviour “Making Effective Decisions” may be held if a large number of applications are received. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Candidates who are not currently a Government Social Research member will be required to pass the GSR Knowledge test before their application will be sifted.

The closing date for this vacancy is 4 Oct 2026, we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if a high volume of applications is received.

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to prepare a presentation. Further information will be provided to you in the invitation to interview email.

How to apply and contact information:

For further information visit our ‘Work for us’ page.

What it's like working at the College of Policing

If you would like to discuss the role in more detail please contact Davnet.cassidy@college.police.uk, Research & Analysis Manager

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

We believe that a diverse workforce brings many benefits to the organisation including diversity of thought and improvements to the way we work internally and with partners and communities. We strive to be fully inclusive but we know there is more to do. We genuinely encourage people from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups to apply for this role.

We want to continually improve our recruitment processes and to remove any barriers to equal opportunities that could disadvantage those from particular backgrounds. In order for us to have the information to do this, we ask you to please complete the diversity section of the online application process. We use a “blind” shortlisting process and we hope that by using this method we will be able to promote greater diversity in our workforce and remove any subconscious decisions based on biases.

The College is committed to support the Greening Government Commitment and reducing our Environmental impact. We have a dynamic Environmental Management Plan in place which encompasses various objectives, including our pledge to reduce business travel. To support our green agenda we have, in phase one, installed Electric Vehicle Charging Points at our sites in Ryton (12 points) and Harperley Hall (4 points) alongside two at our Harrogate office. We encourage employees to become an Environment Champion to help with promoting and delivering our Environmental Management Plan. Our One Step Greener approach encourages all College staff to make small changes to create a better future for everyone.

Please note that in order to work for the College of Policing you must have the Right to Work in the UK with indefinite leave to remain. In addition, you will also be required to provide an address history in the UK for the preceding 3 years.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Salary range

£47,720 - £52,758 per year

Senior Research Officer​