Climate and Environment UK Parliament Thematic Research Lead

The Parliamentary Thematic Research Lead on Climate and Environment, will be embedded in the UK Parliament, working alongside parliamentary staff. This lead role will bring the research perspective to work carried out by select committees, libraries and Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST).

The role will include leading horizon scanning and futures work and supporting parliamentary staff to take a strategic approach to planning their work programmes, including supporting the development of committee Areas of Research Interest.

The Thematic Research Lead will identify upcoming needs for Parliamentary Academic Fellows and opportunities for co-production of briefings between academics and Parliamentary staff. They will connect and expand their networks (including research, learned societies and industry) to support parliamentary activities and will liaise with those in the Government CSA Network team. This will enhance engagement with those working in research to policy, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The Thematic Research Lead will liaise with UKRI and its research councils to enable increased parliamentary impact of UKRI investments. They will share insights from Parliament back to the research councils and UKRI; by doing so, they will contribute to the development of the research-policy ecosystem.

The Thematic Research Lead will support with identifying the skills and experience needs of members of the parliamentary thematic team and relevant development and training opportunities. They will also help to identify opportunities for secondments, placements or people-exchanges both into and out of Parliament.

Beyond working in their policy area, the Thematic Research Lead will work as part of a network with the other Thematic Research Leads to identify cross-cutting opportunities or issues and develop strategic responses, share information, learning, insights and best practice.