Senior Policy and Insight Officer (Innovation) – fixed term until 31/12/2028. Waverley Court.
Salary: £46,023 – £54,476. Hours: 36 per week, 52 weeks.
This position is part of the City of Edinburgh Council's participation in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Innovation Team (i-team) programme.
Charged with helping city officials and civic partners design and implement solutions that meet pressing local challenges, the i-team will expertly deploy data, collect insight, and collaborate across sectors to develop resident‑centred interventions that improve people's lives. The i-team will receive technical assistance from regional and global specialists, and benefit from learnings from peers in city halls across the region and around the world.
To date, the Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team initiative has reached over 100 cities across 16 countries and four continents, representing more than 100 million residents – and inspired hundreds of other local governments to embrace innovation systems and practices.
About the role
Our Council Business Plan outlines three ambitious and interlinked strategic priorities: to create good places to live and work, to end poverty, and to become a Net‑Zero city by 2030.
To support these objectives, we are establishing a new Innovation Team (i-team) in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ i-teams programme. This exciting initiative empowers cities to tackle complex challenges through innovation, collaboration, and data‑driven approaches. As part of the i-team, you will work on two key challenges: retrofitting heritage‑listed buildings and removing stigma and complexity for those seeking support for poverty. These roles offer a unique opportunity to shape transformative solutions that deliver real impact for residents.
As the Senior Policy and Insight Officer, you will play a central role in driving evidence‑led solutions. You will lead policy insight work that rigorously integrates public engagement, robust evidence, and design thinking to shape the team's strategy and solutions. This involves combining quantitative and qualitative research to understand complex systemic barriers and inform policy development. You will be instrumental in ensuring the team's transformative solutions are grounded in resident‑centred insight and deliver real impact.
About you
Experience: You are an experienced professional with a background in evidence‑led policy development or organisational insight roles and education to degree level or equivalent experience.
Leadership: You must have proven ability to lead and manage citizen and stakeholder engagement processes (digital and in‑person), including designing and facilitating activities like surveys, focus groups, and citizen panels.
Data expertise: You will demonstrate a strong understanding of data analysis, KPIs, and public sector datasets, with experience in applying data analytics to inform decision‑making and track outcomes.
Evaluation methods: Experience in designing and executing robust evaluation methodologies (e.g. pilot studies, randomized control trials or difference‑in‑differences analysis) to measure the impact of interventions would be beneficial.
Communication and interpersonal skills: You possess exceptional written and verbal communication skills, capable of tailoring complex insight for senior audiences. You thrive on strategic thinking, analytical and problem‑solving skills, and have the ability to build strong interpersonal and trusting relationships across diverse teams and stakeholders.
Ambiguity and complexity: You must be able to work with ambiguity and complexity, adept at balancing long‑term systems thinking with the delivery of short‑term, impactful deliverables within a fast‑paced environment.
Benefits of working for us
We provide a range of employee benefits, including an occupational pension scheme via Lothian Pension Scheme, a generous holiday allowance and flexible working opportunities.
We support a life‑friendly approach for all our employees to strike the right balance between work and family responsibilities. Our support includes maternity, partner support, and adoption leave, employee assistance programme, career breaks, flexible working and more.
We're committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included and able to be their best at work. We recognise the benefits that a diverse workforce with different values, beliefs, experience and backgrounds brings to us as an organisation.
Our interview and assessment process is moving from a competency‑based approach to a behavioural and technical skills‑based approach, allowing us to assess how you think and apply Our Behaviours of Respect, Integrity and Flexibility to your ways of working.
The City of Edinburgh Council is an equal opportunity employer, welcoming applicants from all backgrounds and encouraging applications from diverse groups.
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