About The PSC
The PSC is a team of consultants who exist to make public services brilliant for organisations, society and individuals. We are united by the disruptive belief that better public services reduce inequalities and leads to a greater society. Our vision is to be first choice for public service leaders seeking to deliver high impact change.
Since 2006 we've committed ourselves to some of the biggest challenges facing the public sector – from transforming mental health inpatient services with Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust to assisting the UK Space Agency in building the Monitor Your Satellites system to track space debris, to supporting parts of the UK government in understanding smart data, sustainability and the use of AI.
We work together with ambitious leaders in some of the UK's biggest public service organisations, creating lasting public value and helping to build a sustainable future.
What you can expect from a consulting career at The PSC
Consultancy work is evolving and ever-changing - no two projects are the same and each new project may feel like starting again. The role demands resilience and the ability to navigate ambiguity. At the same time, there is a great commercial dimension: we must balance scope, resources, and time, ensuring our work is of high quality and provides real value.
As an Associate Consultant, you can expect to get stuck into a client project from day one, collaborating with other consultants, senior clients and front-line public service staff. Our project assignments vary from a few weeks to several months, and each one provides different learning opportunities. Your work will involve approaches and deliverables that have impact and make a real difference to our clients, including data collection, interpretation and analysis, researching directly with the users affected by public services, collaborative problem solving, and communicating clearly with client individuals from the frontline to the boardroom. Every team member plays their part in understanding complex and ambiguous problems, designing evidence-based solutions, gaining buy-in from clients, and implementing via hands-on performance improvement and impactful training delivery in a range of consultancy skills. At times, your role will therefore require an ability to work outside of traditional hours with regular travel to clients all over the UK. Client requests sometimes come at short notice so agile working and being comfortable with uncertainty is an important trait.
You can expect to develop your skills, knowledge, and experience quickly. As an Associate Consultant you will learn mostly through substantial client-facing project roles, supported by our structured New Consultant Development Programme, which includes a range of formal training (including data analysis, digital skills, programme management and facilitation), on-project mentoring, plus opportunities to learn from colleagues within your cohort and the wider company.
Joining a small, growing business, you will become more involved in the development of personal client relationships, which will become an important aspect of your role. You will have the opportunity to contribute to our business through internal initiatives and our business unit teams, ultimately helping to shape the company.
What we look for
We rely on exceptional individuals who can deliver our mission through our core values: curious and bold, honest and respectful. We are believers in a growth mindset and we therefore look for candidates who show potential and a willingness to learn and embody entrepreneurial spirit and thought leadership. All our consultants are exceptional problem solvers, with excellent interpersonal and analytical skills.
We are looking for consultants with a wide range of interests and skills, however, to ensure we can fulfil our anticipated demand for digital and analytical projects, this needs to include some individuals who are data literate, interested in the design of digital services, and open to prototyping, coding and analytical modelling.
How you will be valued and rewarded
Like the rest of the team at The PSC, you'll benefit from a supportive, inclusive and adaptable working environment:
* A variety of training courses including Delivering Fast Effective Projects, data analytics, digital skills, communication and equality, diversity and inclusion
* Merit-based progression
* A broad wellbeing offer including some private health insurance
* The opportunity to buy or sell up to 5 days of leave each year
* Unpaid leave entitlement after two years of tenure
* Equal maternity and paternity offer, including up to 12 months leave, 8 weeks at full pay and 18 weeks at half pay
* Pro bono time allowance 24-hour confidential Employee Assistance Programme
* Salary sacrifice benefits including cyclescheme, electric vehicle scheme and nursery scheme
* Quarterly profit share
Joining The PSC
Diversity and Inclusion
: We believe that diverse identities, experiences and ideas are essential to tackling the complex problems facing public services and are actively seeking candidates from diverse background. Successful applicants will become part of a diverse, high performing team united by the same mission. The PSC is an equal-opportunities employer and operates an anonymised recruitment process to ensure candidates are assessed on their skills, capabilities and potential. We are proud to partner with upReach, a charity which works to improve social mobility by creating conditions for undergraduates from less advantaged backgrounds to access and sustain top graduate jobs. If you have any accessibility needs, please contact us.
Sustainability
: The PSC is committed to driving positive, sustainable change across public services. Our sustainability policy sets out our specific commitments to ambitious targets as well as expanding our positive impact with clients and partners.
Visa Sponsorship
: We have a limited number of visa sponsorships each year for those eligible for a Skilled Worker visa. Please check your eligibility before applying.
Degree disciplines and recruitment criteria
: We do not have specific degree criteria, and our team covers a range of degree disciplines including STEM, humanities, languages as well as applied disciplines such as public health. We are looking for exceptional problem solvers, with excellent interpersonal and analytical skills. Relevant higher degrees are valued. Applicants should be motivated team players who share our genuine passion for delivering better experiences and outcomes for public service users.
Application process
: Please apply online via our recruiting tool, the link to which you will find on our 'How to apply' page. Our application process involves undertaking a timed numerical test and completing an online application. If you successfully pass the numerical test, we will send you a writing assignment to be completed within one week. All application stages are blind reviewed: we pride ourselves on removing bias from our application and interview processes by not reviewing CVs until the final decision stage. Applications will close on Monday 27th October. Two rounds of in-person interviews will take place in person at our London office in November.
Start dates
: Available start dates for this role are January and April 2026. During your application, you will be asked to indicate your preferred start date. Please note, we are asking you commit to the start date you choose and if your application is successful, you will receive an offer for your preferred date. If you are not yet ready to commit to these start dates, we are planning a further recruitment round in early 2026.
AI Declaration
We recognise that generative AI tools are increasingly becoming a part of everyday life and therefore have developed our AI policy to demonstrate our view on AI within our application process. As part of the application process, you will be required to agree and adhere to our Policy for the Use of AI.