Senior Research Analyst - Crime and justice; fluency in Dutch

Overview

RAND is a not-for-profit research institute with over 30 years of experience in conducting policy research for governments, international organisations, research councils, charitable foundations, and other organisations. We believe that good research helps shape sound answers to pressing societal challenges, ultimately making communities safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous in the future. RAND Europe has offices in Cambridge, Brussels and The Hague and employs approximately 200 staff.

As part of its strategy to grow our work in the Netherlands, RAND Europe is looking for an experienced Dutch speaking Senior Research Analyst to be based in the Netherlands. The focus of this role is to help grow our portfolio focused on organised crime and corruption, criminal justice, drug policy, illegal markets, policing and prisons
. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a truly multidisciplinary team within the Defence, Security and Justice (DSJ) research group at one of the world’s most respected public policy research organisations.

The DSJ research group conducts a wide-ranging portfolio of research for a diverse client base in the UK, Europe and beyond. Our clients include national governments (e.g. Netherlands and UK), EU institutions (e.g. European Commission, European Parliament), international organisations, and various third sector and humanitarian organisations.

Our work covers a broad range of public policy issues across:

• Crime and Justice (organised crime and corruption; policing and prisons; drugs and illicit markets; rehabilitation and preventing crime)
• Security (terrorism; counter-violent extremism; human security; border security; energy security; resilience and cyber)
• Defence (defence strategy, policy, capability, and acquisition; defence economics; defence workforce and Armed Forces community)

The successful candidate will thrive on teamwork and collaboration with colleagues and research funders, take an active role in research and project management, and be keen to grow a body of work through eventual business development and proposal writing.

Your primary role will be to design, manage, and provide research and analysis on complex policy questions on behalf of our clients in the Netherlands. You will work as part of our wider international research team to ensure that projects are delivered on time, on budget and to the highest quality standards.

Specifically, the Senior Research Analyst role will involve:

• Undertaking qualitative (interviews, literature reviews, workshops, focus groups) and/or quantitative data analysis using appropriate tools and software with minimal supervision.
• Contributing to studies including research design, selection of appropriate analytical approaches, undertaking data collection, and analysing and reporting findings.
• Preparing clear and robust presentations and research briefs for policymakers. Identifying opportunities to disseminate research findings to academic, media and other audiences.
• Identifying business development opportunities by seeking new research opportunities.
• Managing projects and people with minimal supervision to deliver high quality work within available time and resources.

• Research expertise in one or more of the following areas: organised crime and corruption, criminal justice, drug policy, illegal markets, policing and prisons
• Excellent understanding of the institutional and policy context for criminal justice in the Netherlands
• Flexibility and interest to work on a broader range of themes within the DSJ portfolio.
• Experience managing research projects in professional services or public sector domains.
• Experience in communicating and dealing with clients in the public and third sector.
• Experience drafting and contributing to proposals that secure research funding in competitive environments.
• Experience of effectively managing small to medium-sized project budgets.
• Ability to apply a range of quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies in policy analysis.
• Fluency in Dutch and English

• Familiarity and experience of working with WODC, Nationale Politie and other clients in the Netherlands in the crime and justice space.
• Familiarity and experience with international research funders, including the EU
• Expert use of software packages for statistical analysis (e.g., STATA, R, SAS) or qualitative data analysis (eg. MaxQDA) and relevant programming languages (e.g., Python). Familiarity with LLMs and other AI tools to solve problems at scale
• Experience with different evaluation techniques and quasi-experimental designs

• Commercially astute, analytical thinker with the ability to see issues strategically and at a practical level from a variety of perspectives.
• Networking skills to build relationships, facilitate joint decision making and cultivate relationships with potential funders and collaborators.
• Hands-on, team player with strong people management skills and a strong commitment to rigorous and high-quality research,…