Research Associate (The Place)

Role Description

Role

You will join a team of dedicated practitioners at The Place who work closely with parents, children, teachers and partners across the community. In this role, you will lead the design, development and implementation of a robust evaluation framework to measure the impact of The Place’s initiatives on educational outcomes, attendance and post-compulsory progression. You will also play a key role in early-stage evaluation and research - collecting and analysing data, writing up findings, and creating tools and training that enable practitioners to carry out both quantitative and qualitative evaluation, with a strong emphasis on participant voice.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

You will have a PhD in social sciences or equivalent experience and have substantial knowledge and expertise in social sciences research associated with education, social class, aspiration and/ or social mobility. 

You will have experience carrying out independent and collaborative research, with experience in delivery of qualitative research methods working with children, young people or in the community 

You will also have experience and skills that will help us to communicate our research findings across a range of platforms 

You should be committed to values and ethos that sit behind The Place and have a genuine interest in this research field. 

Interview Date: 17 December 2025

For informal enquiries: please contact Rebecca Clark, Head of Access, Outreach and The Place, by email at rebecca.clark@york.ac.uk 

Condition of employment

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Consequently, all applicants will be asked to declare both unspent and spent convictions on their application form.

Appointment of the successful candidate will be conditional on a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork