CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR VISITING RESEARCH FELLOWS
1. INTRODUCTION
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) is seeking to appoint a limited
number of Visiting Research Fellows to provide world class advice, insight and challenge
across its research work programme. This will assist the UKCES to advance its reputation as
the go-to organisation for authoritative information and intelligence on employment and skills in
the UK.
Individuals sought for this role will have the highest professional reputation and credibility built
on a proven track record of robust and insightful research and policy advice in the employment
and skills arena. As leading-edge thinkers or thought leaders they will be able to demonstrate
an outstanding contribution to policy development through the delivery, application and
interpretation of research for national governments or high profile national, multi-national or
global agencies. They will be acknowledged independently as experts in national or
international labour markets or of aspects of them. Applications are welcome from both
professionals, with experience of policy development through turning research in to action, and
academics that meet the necessary criteria.
Key activities and outputs to be delivered by the Fellows will include but not necessarily limited
to peer reviewing draft outputs, assisting with the interpretation of evidence and results across
multiple and key projects, and contributing to debates and discussions.
2. ABOUT THE UK COMMISSION FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS
The UKCES aims to transform the UK’s approach to investing in the skills of people as an
intrinsic part of securing jobs and growth. It is a challenging aim but significant progress has
already been made. In 2011 the UKCES launched a new vision for employer ownership of skills
and the UK Government has committed £340 million to test the vision. Further information
about the UKCES, its aim and how it will deliver it are provided in its Business Plan.
The work of the UKCES is led by its Commissioners that form a social partnership of
employers, trade unions and governments of the UK. Employers from a wide range of sectors
and of all sizes are represented. Individually Commissioners are leaders in their field who
commit their leadership, expertise and resources to the full range of UKCES activities.
Commissioners are chaired by Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership.
2.1. Research
The UKCES’ research asset delivers specialist labour market information, research evaluation
and policy analysis to support other assets of the UKCES. It is developing its reputation as the
‘go-to’ organisation for authoritative research, intelligence and insight on skills and employment
which better informs choice, policy development and practice.
Our approach to research is distinct in combining the expertise of Commissioner insights with
robust research methods to capture the employer perspective. It has a UK-wide,
international, sector and cross-policy perspective and is impartial owing to the social
partnership model of leadership, which encourages rigour, collaboration and transparency.
Research delivered by the UKCES is recognised for its:
• High quality and high profile intelligence products such as the Commission’s two large scale surveys of UK employers and analysis of the labour market which are used
extensively.
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•
•
Evidence which underpins Commission activities such as messaging, investment
decisions, and enables objective assessments of best practice and what works.
Evidence of innovative thinking driving improvements in policy and practice amongst
key partners (e.g. through developments to policy/infrastructure from evaluation studies
and strategic inquiries).
The research work programme is agreed with Commissioners and consists of the three themes
shown in Figure one (labour market intelligence, research and evaluation, and insight). The
three themes are delivered with two audiences in mind (government and outward or employer
facing audiences). Examples of each of the three themes are provided in Table one by way of
hyperlinks to current or published work.
Figure one: UKCES research
Table one: Examples of UKCERS research by theme
Labour market
UKCES UK Employer Skills Survey 2011
information (LMI) Employer Perspectives Survey 2012
Working Futures 2010-20
LMI for ALL
Research and
Review of employer collective measures
Evaluation
Formative evaluation of best market solutions
Understanding Employer Networks
Training Levies
Insights
Employer Ownership of Skills Vision
Sector Skills Insights
Scaling the youth employment challenge
International review of approaches to high performance working
Review of adult vocational qualifications in England
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3. THE ROLE OF VISITING RESEARCH FELLOWS
The appointed Fellows will play a vital role in helping to ensure that the UKCES is positioned as
the authority on employment and skills in the UK. As such they will work on high profile
projects of national importance. Their role will also be stimulating, challenging, rewarding, and
will draw heavily on their individual expertise. An example of the types of project they will be
involved in is provided in the box below (The labour market story).
The labour market story
The UKCES has commissioned an overarching assessment of the UK labour market and how it
is performing relative to our international competitors. This will update and refine our
understanding of developments in the UK’s labour market and the contribution that skills make
to growth and jobs. Such a contribution is all the more important in the aftermath of the
economic crisis and the absence of other holistic assessments in recent years. It will also
assess the effectiveness of our skills investment approach within the UK.
Following the economic crisis there are immense pressures to ensure a balanced approach to
skills investment in the UK and that the country has the skills it needs to raise its international
competitiveness. The labour market story will demonstrate:

the contribution skills make to economic performance and competitiveness relative to
our global competitors

how skills can have a more significant role in driving future growth
The UKCES has an extensive evidence base on skills and employment, including key drivers of
demand, trends and a range of policy levers for transforming investment behaviour. This is
updated continually and we need to take stock of what this is telling us holistically. Given recent
policy developments and the UK Commission’s strategy to drive a more effective skills
investment approach through greater employer ownership of skills, we need to ensure we are
using the evidence intelligently to shape more effective investment in skills. Key to this is the
issue of ensuring the effective alignment between public and private investment and a stronger
collaboration between Government and business.
The labour market story will provide an up to date assessment of the state of the labour market
including international comparisons of performance. It will enhance our understanding not only
of skills priorities but how effective the UK skills investment approach is and where future action
needs to be targeted. It will also form a vital part of the evidence base for the UKCES’
submission to the triennial review that it will undergo in 2014 as a non-departmental public
body. To this end the appointed Fellows will help to ensure the evidence base in the labour
market story and the interpretation of its findings are as strong as possible. An outline structure
for the Labour Market Story is provided in Annex 1.
The overall aim of the engaging Fellows in the UKCES’ work is to provide expert advice, insight
and informed challenge on key projects and/or specific topic areas to the benefit of the UKCES
research programme and ambition. The specific activities through which this will be delivered
may include but are not limited to any of the following:
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Peer review of UKCES draft outputs
Assist with the interpretation of evidence and results across multiple and key projects
Contribute to debates and discussions and attend project meetings (where
possible/necessary)
Provide high quality input on key projects/topics through, for example:
o Specific pieces of analysis using specialist techniques and methods
o Short written and/or verbal briefings based on an authoritative and detailed
understanding of the evidence that offer unique insights at national, international
and sector levels.
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o Synthesis and distillation of findings and messages that build on the existing
evidence base to create intelligence and advance our understanding of key labour
market issues
o Supporting internal and external dissemination events
As a Fellow, you will need to be available to undertake clearly defined pieces of work for the UK
Commission between mid September and the end of March 2014. However, the UK
Commission may wish to extend this arrangement to June 2014.
Specific arrangements in terms of the timing and number of days of work delivered by individual
Visiting Fellows will vary as this will depend on the nature of the work required, your specific
expertise and availability as an individual. It should be noted that appointment as a Fellow is
not a guarantee of work; rather the aim is to establish a pool of experts with whom we can
build on-going relationships and call on to support our work as necessary. Overall agreement
values per Visiting Fellow will be limited to a maximum value of £20,000 including any
expenses but excluding VAT (if required).
4. APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
Individuals sought for this role will have the highest professional reputation and credibility built
on a proven track record of robust and insightful research and policy advice in the employment
and skills arena that positions them as leading-edge thinkers. This will be demonstrated by
their outstanding contribution to policy development through the delivery, application and
interpretation of research for national governments or high profile national, multi-national or
global agencies. They will be acknowledged independently as experts in national or
international labour markets or of aspects of them. Applications are welcome from both
practitioners and academics providing applicants meet the necessary criteria.
Those wishing to apply should send their CV and a covering letter by email to
[email protected] by Noon on Monday 16 September 2013. Applications arriving
after this deadline cannot be accepted by the UK Commission unless we have formally
extended the deadline for everyone.
The covering letter must include clear evidence of how the applicant meets the following
selection criteria by cross referring to their CV:
Selection Criteria – 75% of total marks
Marks Available
(out of 100)
40
Significant expertise in national or international labour markets or of
specific aspects of them that positions the applicant as a leading-edge
thinker or thought leader amongst their peers.
Ability to contribute to the UK Commission’s research programme, 20
particularly its insight theme
Evidence of professional / academic standing and reputation built on the
following:
 Delivering robust and insightful skills and/or employment research
for national governments or high profile national, multi-national or 20
global agencies that achieves impact
 Supporting the development of skills and/or employment policy
through the application and interpretation of research and or policy
advice for national governments or high profile national, multi20
national or global agencies that achieves impact
A minimum score of 70% of the marks available in this section must be achieved in order for
your application to continue to be considered.
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Price – 25% of total marks
Applicants must state their day rate inclusive of VAT, and give an indication of the time
they would be able to offer under the Fellowship between the end of September 2013 and
March 2014.
Candidates will be contacted by telephone/letter about their application by Monday 23
September.
5. CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
Individuals engaged in delivering current projects for the UKCES and meeting the criteria for
Visiting Research Fellows may apply for this role but will not be given work in connection to the
project they are delivering for the UKCES.
6. TIMETABLE
The following timetable will apply to this call for applications.
Activity
Completion Date
Call for Applications placed on website
12 August 2013
Closing date for questions on this opportunity
1600 hrs, Monday 2 September 2013,
Closing date for UK Commission to respond to
questions
1600 hrs, Tuesday 10 September 2013
Deadline for receipt of applications
UK Commission
applicants
Applicants
application
informed
selection
of
of
decision
Noon, Monday 16 September 2013
successful
on
their
Commencement of work
By Friday 20 September 2013
By Monday 23 September 2013
end of September 2013
7. MANAGEMENT
The panel will be managed by a Senior Manager at the UKCES who will also act as day-to-day
contact.
8. QUESTIONS
All questions about this tender should be sent to [email protected] by the deadline date
and time for questions, where they will be answered as soon as possible. All correspondence
will be available to view publicly on the tenders page of the UKCES website as a question and
answer document. Please note the deadline for questions in the timetable above.
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ANNEX ONE: LABOUR MARKET STORY – STRUCTURE
Chapter
Content
Relevant sources (including UKCES research)
PART ONE: THE CURRENT POSITION
1. The performance of the UK economy
– labour market
How can we return the UK economy
to growth through skills - what
contribution can skills make?
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2. State of UK skills – learning market
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Occupational and skills composition of the
workforce (historical trends)
Changes in Broad and generic skills over time
Changes in Basic skills over time
(nationally/internationally)
Distribution of skills nationally, internationally
(qualification levels, PIAAC)
State investment in skills
Individual patterns of learning/investment in
skills
Employer investment in skills
Skill deficiencies/mismatch (shortages, gaps,
underemployment/over-qualification, migration
patterns)
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Different dimensions of the learning market:
Current nature of skills investment?
Is skills investment wise enough?
Growth in output/productivity and recent
effects of the economic crisis (international,
national, sub-national, industrial)
Changing competitiveness – relative global
position and challenge of growing competitive
forces internationally
Social inclusion - Broad employment pattern
(key characteristics of those in and out of work
and key employment challenges)
Key drivers/route to productivity growth i.e.
Innovation, enterprise, competition, investment
and skills
The value of skills
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Working Futures evidence report 41 (UKCES)
LFS
ASHE
OECD data
ONS productivity and employment data
Value of skills evidence report 22 (UKCES)
UK Skill levels and international competitiveness
evidence report 61 (UKCES)
Ambition 2009/2010 (UKCES)
UKCES Equality briefing series
HMT productivity reports
BIS competitiveness indicators
UK Skills Levels and International Competitiveness
evidence report 61 (UKCES)
WF qualifications (LFS)
Skills and Employment Survey 2012 (and previous
surveys UKCES/ESRC)
OECD PIAAC
UK Commission Employer Skills Survey and
Perspectives survey
Collective measures evidence series (UKCES)
Sector insights (UKCES)
Continuing Vocational Training Survey 4
WERS (BIS/UKCES/ESRC)
LFS (under-employment, migration patterns)
Strategic Labour Market Information projects
(UKCES)
3. Effective skills use in the workplace
– understanding product markets
How can
we
maximise the
contribution
of
skills
in
the
workplace? Are we making the best
use of people?
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Management and leadership
Take up of High Performance Working
Pattern of unionisation and employee
engagement across the UK
Changes in work organisation/quality
work/skills utilisation (historical trends)
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HPW projects evidence series (UKCES)
Skills and Employment Survey 2012 (and previous
surveys)
OECD PIAAC skills use
WERS (BIS/UKCES/ESRC)
Employer investment thematic analysis (UKCES
Occupational regulation (ER 40)
Understanding Employer Networks evidence report
66 (UKCES)
Understanding Occupational Regulation evidence
report 67 (UKCES)
Understanding training levies evidence report 47
(UKCES)
PART 2 - FUTURE SKILLS POSITION
What future skills do we need to drive
growth?
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Drivers of change
Changes in the structure of employment
(sectors and jobs and skills)
Future scenarios
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PART 3: SUMMARY PRIORITIES AND CONCLUSIONS
What are the implications for skills
priorities and actions?
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Working Futures (2013-23 forthcoming)
The future of UK jobs and skills: qualitative
foresight (forthcoming)
Sector skills assessments and insights (UKCES)