Work with us
Below you will find all current employment opportunities within the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science
Head of Strategy and Operations
Grade UE09 (£53,348 – £60,022)
Fixed term July 2022 – September 2024 full-time (35 hours per week)
Application Deadline: 13th June 2022 at 5pm
The first of Scotland’s national graduate Schools, the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences (SGSSS) – established in 2011 – brings together the expertise of sixteen universities across Scotland and partners in the business, public and voluntary sectors to provide a world-class and inspiring research environment for social science PhD researchers. We draw together the best ideas and initiatives across Scotland from the full spectrum of social sciences to provide a deep and broad learning environment with interdisciplinarity, partnerships and collaboration at our core. By working at the national scale we are uniquely placed to maximise the potential, reach and impact of the research training, and adapt and respond to the key challenges in the global economy and society.
SGSSS has established its reputation for disciplinary strength, interdisciplinary working, and collaboration with the public, private and third sectors and has been recognised by its funders with renewed support. The Head of Strategy and Operations will be joining at a critical juncture in the SGSSS’s development as we seek to build on our recent successes to develop and implement our vision for the highest quality training, collaboration and impact, and interdisciplinary working.
Your skills and attributes for success:
Our ideal candidate will be an experienced, energetic and insightful leader, probably with a professional background in Higher Education; s/he will be adept in complex strategic planning and tenacious in advancing and completing projects, providing evidence-based recommendations for performance enhancement. S/he will be naturally able to engage with senior academic colleagues, institutional leaders, funding bodies and external agencies with diplomacy and tact and skilled in motivating and supporting her/his own team of professional staff.
Click here for a copy of the full job description
As a valued member of our team you can expect:
An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. We give you support, nurture your talent and reward success. You will benefit from a competitive reward package and a wide range of staff benefits, which includes a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family friendly initiatives, flexible working and much more. Access our staff benefits page for further information and use our reward calculator to find out the total value of pay and benefits provided.
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality
Applications will close on Monday, 13th June 2022 at 5pm.
Interviews will take place week commencing 27th June 2022.
As part of your application, please provide a cover letter highlighting your relevant skills and experience, a Curriculum Vitae, and two references.
Pathway Convenor - Socio-Legal Studies and Criminology
We are recruiting for a Pathway Convenor in Socio-Legal Studies and Criminology. This is a key leadership role within SGSSS, involving a time commitment of 0.1FTE from July 2022 (later starts up to September negotiable) for two years.
Applications are invited from colleagues at partner institutions that are pathway members. You should be a minimum of lectureship (grade 8) level or equivalent and with demonstrable experience of leading and convening academic networks.
SGSSS is the largest of the UK’s ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), funding around 60 studentships each year for seven years, and supporting the training and collaboration needs of all social science research students in Scotland. Behind the scenes, a small core team is supported by a network of dedicated colleagues at partner universities who promote our activities and provide essential input relating to management; administration; disciplinary training design/delivery; supporting staff and students applying for ESRC funding; and, assessing funding applications.
Essential to the success of the partnership is the 15 training pathways. The pathways are crucial to the functioning of the SGSSS and each represents a discipline or cross-disciplinary grouping. Pathways are grouped into three Hubs; Economies, Mind and Technologies, Society and Welfare, and People and Place.
Pathway Convenors provide leadership for their pathway. This involves coordinating representatives at HEIs involved in the pathway to support students and colleagues in developing strong applications for ESRC funded studentships. As convenor of a national network, the role also plays a key part in assessing applications and identifying and delivering disciplinary and cross-disciplinary pathway-level training.
Applicants should send a copy of their CV and a cover letter outlining why they are attracted to the position, along with relevant experience. Applications should be sent to team@sgsss.ac.uk including ‘Pathway Convenor Socio-Legal Studies and Criminology application’ in the email subject heading.
If you would like to discuss the post in further detail please contact the SGSSS Director, Professor Jamie Pearce and/or the relevant SGSSS Hub Lead, Dr Rachel Shanks. You may also want to speak with your HEI representative on the SGSSS Deans of Graduate Studies Network. The successful candidate will require a letter of support from their institution’s Dean confirming allocation of 0.1FTE, so we encourage candidates to start these conversations as soon as possible.
Closing date for applications: Friday 6 May with interviews expected during the weeks commencing 16 May and 23 May.
SGSSS Associate Director
We have an opening on the SGSSS Directorate this year for a colleague from a discipline within our Economies, Mind and Technologies Hub at one of our partner institutions with an interest in cross-university collaboration and the ambition to influence social science doctoral research at a national level. The EMT Hub Lead is 0.3FTE (managed as an institutional commitment from partner HEI to SGSSS) available from May/June 2022 (phased starts negotiable depending on commitments) and it is anticipated that interviews will take place w/c 25 April 2022 via Zoom.
Applicants should send a copy of their CV and a cover letter outlining why they are attracted to the position, along with relevant experience.
Applications should be sent to team@sgsss.ac.uk including ‘Associate Director EMT Hub Lead Application’ in the email subject heading.
As a member of the Directorate you will take the lead in overseeing the activities associated with the named role as well as an element of SGSSS strategy suited to your experience and interest. It is an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing development of the UK’s largest Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), supporting all social science research students in Scotland and to play an active role in the recommissioning of the Scottish Graduate School.
If you would like to discuss the post in further detail please contact the SGSSS Director, Professor Jamie Pearce (Director) or the outgoing role holder, Professor Mel Simms. You may also want to speak with your HEI representative on the Deans of Graduate Studies Network. The successful candidate will require a letter of support from their Dean confirming allocation of 0.3FTE so we encourage candidates to start these conversations as soon as possible.
Closing date for applications: Monday 4 April 2022.
Employability and Partnerships Manager
UE07, £33,797 – £40,322
Fixed Term, 12 months from 1st May 2021, 35 hours per week
1st May 2021- 30th April 2022
We are looking for an individual with a passion for developing people and supporting the career development journey. You will be part of a small dedicated team, within a large extended network supporting the Social Science Doctoral community across Scotland. The post holder will lead the development and implementation of employability initiatives including: coordinating a well-established internship programme, designing a development programme for ESRC-funded postdoctoral fellows; relationship management/development with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and partners; enhancing the visibility and impact of social science research; and, providing advice, guidance and support for all aspects of employability, impact and knowledge exchange for the social science doctoral and early career research community across Scotland.
You would currently be expected to work from home with a view to operating from the University campus (with occasional travel to Scotland-wide events) once Covid restrictions allow.
For the full job description and details on how to apply, please visit the University of Edinburgh webpages.
Knowledge Exchange and Partnerships Coordinator
UE06, £28,756 – £33,309 per annum)
CAHSS, Scottish Graduate School of Social Science
Full Time (35 hours per week)
Fixed Term (May 2022 – July 2024)
We are looking for an individual with a passion for higher education and employability; someone who enjoys planning and organising training events and works at a high standard. You will need to be able to invest in relationships with key partners and work collaboratively both within our small dedicated team and with external partners and stakeholders, including the Scottish Government, private and third sector.
You will be coordinating SGSSS’ internship scheme and training and professional development events including a large summer school, mentoring programmes, and individual events throughout the year, as well as the postdoctoral fellowship scheme.
Your skills and attributes for success:
- Relevant project management and organisation skills: You will ensure that multiple activities/projects for a range of stakeholders are delivered to high standard and to deadlines, demonstrating that you are proactive and the ability to prioritise and pay attention to detail.
- Strong problem solving skills: You will have the ability to deploy autonomous decision-making when working under pressure to resolve problems rapidly.
- High level of interpersonal and communication skills; You will need to show that you can adapt and relate appropriately to different stakeholders, business needs and objectively.
- Effective analytical skills; You will have the ability to collect, organise, and analyse data through Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for formal reporting and to contribute to continuous improvement of processes and activities.
For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Flaminia Raiteri.
Applications close 10 April, 5pm. Interviews will be held on 20 and 21 April 2022.
SGSSS Student Representative
We are now recruiting two new Student Representatives to join the SGSSS Student Rep committee. This position is open to any social science PhD student in Scotland at one of SGSSS’ 16 partner universities.
SGSSS has student representatives from across our University partnership, who represent the student body and support with thematic priority areas for the DTP, which include but are not limited to equality, diversity, and inclusion work; widening access; student engagement events, and student wellbeing. These are voluntary positions which provide Student Reps with the opportunity to work alongside SGSSS staff to contribute to the direction of our strategic priority areas.
Amongst other activities you will work with the existing team of representatives to organise the annual Student Led Symposium, take part in the new SGSSS Rep Award Scheme which will contribute to your personal and professional development, as well as other areas of decision-making.
We look forward to working with you and having you contribute more student perspectives to the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences.
If you have any questions about the role, please direct these to Dr Ashley Rogers, Associate Director (Student Engagement): a.s.rogers@stir.ac.uk.
To apply for this post, please send a document that contains the below to team@sgsss.ac.uk by 1 April 2022:
- Your name, institution, level of study, year of study, and how much time you have remaining.
- A 200 word blurb that includes:
- An area of the postgraduate student experience you believe should be a priority for the SGSSS and why
- Skills that you can bring to the role
- Skills that you would like to develop or enhance
