TASC is hiring a Democracy Researcher

TASC is hiring a Researcher to join our Democracy Stream

TASC is looking to hire a researcher to increase the capacity of TASC as we advance our work in Democracy. The researcher will focus primarily on democracy-related projects but may be asked to support TASC’s other streams.

This unique role will give the successful candidate the opportunity to work on local, national, all-island, and EU-level initiatives. If you care about people and their rights, understand the gravity of the catastrophe we face in terms of climate breakdown and wish to work on solutions that address inequality, empower people and accelerate climate action, this might be the right opportunity for you.

This is a full-time fixed-term contract of one year starting ideally in June 2024. Subject to funding and candidate availability, the post may be extended beyond one year. The position reports directly to TASC Executive Director Dr Shana Cohen while interfacing with other members of the Climate Justice, Health Inequalities, and Social Inclusion streams, as well as administrative and communications staff. Working locations for this position are flexible but may require time in our Dublin office / the Dublin area.

About TASC

TASC is an independent think-tank whose mission is to address inequality and sustain democracy by translating analysis into action. TASC’s Constitution presents its main objectives as:

• Promoting education for the public benefit
• Encouraging a more participative and inclusive society
• Promoting and publishing research for public benefit

As a public education charity, TASC engages in research and public outreach concerning inequality, democracy, and climate justice in the current political, economic, and social environment. Through its work, TASC seeks to increase public knowledge of economic and social policy, improve working conditions, facilitate a just transition to advance climate action and protect livelihoods and communities, and more generally, contribute to positive social change in Ireland and the EU.

TASC’s Democracy stream seeks to advance research and practical responses to the distrust, alienation, and distance many feel from politics and policymaking, undermining democracy as a political system and perpetuating political inequalities. Inversely, this stream seeks to develop ways to connect political participation and input into policymaking with tangible change at a local and national level, demonstrating how the political process can respond to public concerns and aspirations.

The democracy stream also involves conducting policy research that supports the work of government, charities, and business in their own engagement with social and economic inequalities.

Core Responsibilities include:

• Work with the Executive Director to support the democracy workstream.
• Work to advance the participatory democracy dimension of the People’s Transition, in cooperation with the Climate Justice team.
• Working with communities to identify issues and needs, as well as assets and capacities that are latent within communities as part of the participatory democracy work.
• Undertake reviews of academic and policy literature to support the co-creation of community-based strategies for policy input and political engagement.
• Conduct desk-based research to support democracy-related policy research.
• Collect qualitative data using methods such as interviews and focus groups and analyse desk-based, qualitative and quantitative data, and summarise results.
• Draft and input into documents to inform the democracy stream’s activities, including position papers, concept notes, agendas, proposals and presentations.
• Keep abreast of the policy context in which the democracy stream operates and the processes it seeks to inform and influence.
• Support applications for future funding.
• Assist with the wider work of TASC including research and helping to draft reports.
• Undertake duties as required by the TASC Director.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• A postgraduate degree, ideally in political science or social sciences more broadly, community development, or development studies or human rights; other relevant qualifications may be considered.
• Experience in using both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including sensitivity and appreciation for diversity.
• Proven track record of strong project coordination.
• Experience in developing and implementing projects that require the engagement of local community groups and stakeholders with different perspectives and aspirations.
• Experience in facilitating in person and virtual meetings, workshops, and community events.

Required Skills

• Effective listener with the ability to distil out critical, substantial, and contextual information from conversations.
• High level of emotional intelligence with a genuine care for people, their sense of belonging, their stories and their aspirations.
• Good interpersonal skills with the capacity to work in a multicultural setting.
• Excellent written, computer and oral presentation skills.
• Able to effectively prioritise and organise own workloads and operate under pressure.
• Fluent English (Irish and other European languages are very desirable).

Key competencies

• The successful candidate will conduct themselves with integrity and will treat people with empathy, politeness, and kindness.
• The successful candidate will encourage colleagues and value collaboration and teamwork that shares in success and learns from shortcomings.
• The successful candidate will not fear making mistakes, being wrong, or coming up short.
• The successful candidate will have the ability to understand and appreciate issues from a wide range of perspectives and adapt their own thinking and approach based on this understanding.

Expected hours of work

This is a full-time post (5 days/week). The successful candidate will need to be flexible in terms of working as some community facilitation work may occur beyond a typical 9-5 schedule.

Compensation

The salary for this role is between 34,000 – 38,000, depending on experience.

Applications

Send your CV with a 1-page cover letter to contact@tasc.ie by April 22. Unfortunately, due to capacity constraints, we can only guarantee a response to shortlisted candidates.

Research has shown that candidates from underrepresented groups often don’t apply for roles if they don’t meet all the criteria – unlike majority candidates meeting fewer requirements. We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested; we’d love to know how your experience can advance TASC’s climate justice work.

All information received from candidates will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR; 2018)