Senior Researcher

• Contract: 12 month maternity contract (starts Sept 2026). Secondments considered.
• Hours: Full time (35 hours per week).
• Location: We are London based (Farringdon). Our staff have the option to work from home 2 days per week.
• Closing: 09:30am (BST), Wednesday 1st July 2026.
• Salary: Starting from £53,588 per annum

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) is seeking an experienced researcher to lead on the design, development and execution of project deliverables under the Mind & Brain priority area work programme.

We are on a mission to place ethics at the centre of decisions regarding biomedicine and health so that we all benefit. In this new role, your main focus will be working across our Mind & Brain priority area, but you may also be expected to work on other projects and policy areas as necessary, particularly any complex or time-sensitive research and policy projects associated with NCOB’s priority areas.

You will act as an expert on your portfolio within the NCOB and be responsible for elements of project‑specific publications (including conception, drafting and delivery) alongside significant stakeholder management, outreach and coordination. This will include working with communications and public affairs colleagues to deploy communications strategies and creating different forms of content, seeing outputs through from inception to publication and evaluation.

As an experienced researcher and/or policy professional, you will also be expected to contribute to and support the development and implementation of NCOB’s wider strategic priorities or positions, and manage the work of researchers, external collaborators, and consultants, as required.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced candidate who is able to use project management skills and policy/research experience in a leading role in the high‑profile area of bioethics, supporting our ambitious policy‑influencing agenda.

You will have expertise and an active interest in the practical and ethical issues relating to emerging biotechnologies and/or neuroethics in a UK context. This will be supported by a broader knowledge and enthusiasm for bioethical issues and the policy, scientific, regulatory and legal environment around these.

You will have experience of designing, delivering and managing rigorous and collaborative research projects, using a range of research methods, that have ethical considerations at the heart of the research and will have real policy impact.

You will also be a skilled communicator, with a track record of producing high quality written outputs that have been adapted for different audiences.

Highly organised and motivated, you will be as comfortable leading a project as working within and across teams in the organisation.

Finally you will be a strategic thinker, with the ability to identify opportunities for impact, and to contribute to NCOB’s wider strategy.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is a leading independent policy and research centre, and the foremost bioethics body in the UK. We are on a mission to embed ethics in decisions regarding biomedicine and health so that we all benefit.

For over thirty years we have tackled some of the most complex and controversial bioethical issues facing society. We are funded jointly by the Nuffield Foundation, Wellcome and the Medical Research Council.

We aim to inform policy and public debate through timely consideration of the ethical questions raised by biological and medical research so that the benefits to society are realised in a way that is consistent with public values. Our work has led to shifts in public understanding and policy change on topics ranging from assisted reproduction and genome editing to managing the disagreements that arise in the care of critically ill children.

We are committed to inclusive working practices and during the application process we commit to:

• As a Disability Confident employer, we will offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the essential criteria for the job.
• Making any reasonable adjustments – for example providing documents in different…