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Equality and human rights policy in Wales operates within a complex landscape of devolved and reserved responsibilities. With support from senior colleagues, you will help Members and committees understand how Welsh duties, UK-wide equality and human rights frameworks, and international obligations apply across devolved policy areas such as health, education, housing, social care, local government and community safety.

Your role will involve providing impartial and authoritative analysis that recognises these cross cutting boundaries and their implications for policy and legislation in Wales.

You will provide independent, impartial parliamentary research to all Members of the Senedd to support their scrutiny, legislative and constituency work. This includes preparing briefings for Members and political parties, supporting Senedd committees, and producing digital content such as research articles, explainers, and analysis for Members and the public.

Given the breadth and complexity of equality and human rights policy in Wales, and with support from senior colleagues, you will develop a strong understanding of:

Welsh, UK and international equality and human rights frameworks;
the interaction between devolved and reserved responsibilities;
relevant equality duties, human rights obligations, legislation, policy evidence and data;
the role of Welsh institutions, commissioners and public bodies in promoting and protecting rights; and
current and emerging debates on equality, rights and social justice in Wales.

You will work flexibly across the wider Senedd Research team, supporting colleagues and contributing to cross cutting work where equality and human rights policy intersects with other devolved areas. We have a culture of working across teams to help support each other in times of high demand. You will work in an agile way to support the Service through participation in cross service groups, editorial board activities and any service plan priorities.

You will be expected to adapt as the role evolves and may also be expected to move between teams as required.

Job description

The role of Higher Research Officer for equality and human rights is varied and demanding. Equality and human rights issues frequently have a high political and public profile, and the complex distribution of responsibilities within the UK means Members rely on clear, well informed and balanced advice.

You will support Senedd committees that scrutinise equality and human rights issues , working alongside colleagues where committees remits overlap because of the interconnected nature of the Welsh and UK systems.

Because equality and human rights intersect with every devolved policy area, you will rapidly develop broad interdisciplinary expertise. You will also be expected to advise colleagues on how to mainstream equality considerations across their work.

You will have opportunities for external engagement with bodies such as inspectorates, legal sector organisations, academics, think tanks, and counterparts in other legislatures. You will also develop and apply digital skills, including data visualisation of equality and human rights statistics, mapping analysis, and production of accessible digital explainers.

Key tasks:

Working with colleagues to provide timely, high-quality, impartial advice and analysis on equality and human rights policy.
Analysing and advising on UK level legislation and policy developments and their implications for Wales.
Providing clear, confident and effective research support to committee Chairs and Members on equality and human rights, with support from senior colleagues.
Building strong relationships with Members, support staff, academics, legal experts, and stakeholders
Producing proactive content, including briefings, blog articles, data visualisation and research papers on equality and human rights issues to support open and well informed public debate.
Developing a network of external expertise, ensuring Members of the Senedd have access to a wide range of evidence.
Contributing to Senedd Research’s “one team” ethos and supporting wider service development.

Person specification

Job Specific criteria:

Communication skills: You will communicate complex equality and human rights issues clearly, impartially and accessibly for political and public audiences, both in writing and in person.
Research skills: You will have excellent research skills. These include the ability to critically review, analyse and summarise legislation, policy, statistical data, evaluations and academic literature, synthesising a wide range of sources free from bias.
Sound judgement: You will demonstrate sound judgement when advising on politically sensitive or contentious equality and human rights issues, and have experience of making effective decisions in a challenging environment.
Subject knowledge: You will have good knowledge and understanding of equality and human rights policy in the devolved Welsh and UK context.

Desirable criteria:

The following qualities are not essential for this particular post but have been deemed as desirable. These will only be taken into account in the event of two (or more) candidates acquiring the same score at either application or interview stage.

Digital skills: You will have good digital skills with experience with equality datasets, social media content development, digital storytelling, or data visualisation.

Welsh language criteria:

The language skills for this post have been assessed Courtesy Level Welsh.

Candidates should have the ability to:

pronounce Welsh names, answer the phone and respond to simple greetings;
understand very simple phrases and greetings;
read very short and simple phrases, or able to interpret content using the technology available; and
write very simple phrases and greetings

If the successful candidate does not possess these skills, they will be expected to commit to learn them during an agreed period. For further information on the Welsh language levels, please visit our website.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,930, Welsh Parliament contributes £11,278 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).

Learning and development tailored to your role
An environment with flexible working options
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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

Candidates are required to complete an application form through our recruitment portal addressing the job specific and desirable criteria.

Your application must be submitted before midnight on the closing date.

You will be updated on your progress via the email address you first register with. Please check your Junk Mail and Spam folders to make sure you don’t miss any future correspondence.

Interviews will be held in-person, in Tŷ Hywel, Cardiff Bay.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

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

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

Job contact :

Name : Sarah Hatherley
Email : sarah.hatherley@senedd.wales
Telephone : 0300 200 6318

Salary range

£38,930 - £46,445 per year