Job description

The Department of International Development, King’s College London, is an innovative and contemporary Development Studies department. Our focus is on middle-income developing countries where foreign aid is largely irrelevant. The mission of the department is to explore the sources of success as well as understand the major development challenges these countries continue to face.  

The Department is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in International Development and Quantitative Social Science. The successful candidate will be producing outstanding research on middle-income countries using quantitative methods and will have a PhD in a relevant subject such as development studies, economics, politics or sociology. The post holder will be expected to teach quantitative methods at the undergraduate and post-graduate level, and to supervise dissertations using quantitative methods.  

The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team currently working on a wide range of topics including political economy, inequality and poverty, gender rights, natural resources, international trade, migration, health policy, and other pressing issues facing emerging economies today. The post-holder should demonstrate evidence of relevant research and teaching and fulfil the requirements as set out below. 

This post will be responsible to the Head of the Department of International Development. 

At King’s, we are deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all of our activities so that the university is an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work and study, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. King’s offers inclusive benefits to staff including flexible working, Enhanced Parental Leave, funds for Parents and Carers and the potential to join community staff networks. The Department of International Development is committed to the provision of equality of opportunity and the recognition and promotion of diversity for all our students, staff and visitors. We hold Bronze Athena SWAN Certification and King’s was awarded a Race Equality Charter Bronze Mark in 2020. Our policies align with the College’s equalities policies, including efforts to build an anti-racist university as outlined in the King's Race Equality Action Plan 2020-2024. We work to ensure that applicants from under-represented backgrounds and those with protected characteristics feel confident applying to work in our Department. 

This post will be offered on a full-time, indefinite contract.

Key responsibilities

• To undertake and publish high-quality research consistent with the Department’s research strategy, and to contribute to impact, knowledge exchange and postdoctoral research training.
• To take an active role in seeking funding for research activities and projects, for example from the AHRC, ESRC or ERC.
• To undertake the supervision of postgraduate research, at Master’s and PhD levels.
• To take a role in the planning, organisation and delivery of teaching activities (both on-campus and online) within the Department in accordance with established practice.
• To participate fully in assessment and examination processes as appropriate using a variety of methods and techniques and provide effective, timely and appropriate feedback to students to support their learning.
• To contribute to the ongoing development and design of International Development teaching in the Department of International Development.
• To assist with difficulties encountered by students, e.g. learning support/problems.
• To engage in professional development as appropriate to update skills, and to support teaching excellence.
• To accept academic responsibility within the Department, involving departmental administrative responsibilities where appropriate.
• To undertake any other reasonable duties that may be requested by the Head of Department.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

1.       PhD in quantitative social science as applied to development, such as development studies, economics, politics or sociology

2.       Demonstrable expertise as applied to middle-income countries

3.       Ability to teach quantitative research methods

4.       Evidence through publications of an ability to produce work in their specialist field at an international standard

5.       Demonstrable ability to design and deliver teaching effectively at undergraduate and/or postgraduate level, both on-campus (essential) and online (desirable)

6.       Demonstrable commitment to and/or experience of working in multi-disciplinary research and teaching

7.       Demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

8.       Excellent interpersonal skills to develop and maintain good working relationships

9.       Ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences

10.     Collegiality and willingness to work as part of a team

Desirable criteria

1.       Evidence of acquiring competitive research grants, or evidence of potential to attract research funding

2.       Evidence of engagement with appropriate research and policy communities

3.       Proven experience of academic leadership appropriate to career level, of collaborating with and influencing research users, and of writing research proposals to external funding organisations

4.       Demonstrable leadership qualities

Further information

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a presentation to the department and an interview. The post is scheduled to start in September 2023 or as soon as possible theeafter.