King's College London

About us

The Strand Group at King’s College London (KCL) is a small, complex unit dedicated to the understanding of British Government using a historical approach across teaching, research and events. Alongside teaching income, The Strand Group is sponsored by companies and organisations such as Amazon Web Services, Workday, BAE Systems, The City of London Corporation and charities such as the Chris Martin Foundation Trust and Portal Trust.

In September 2024, the Strand Group unveiled its first full MA Programme. The ‘MA in Government Studies’ provides an unrivalled insight into the inner workings of British Government. The Programme represents a prestigious academic offering for KCL. It requires academic staff who have a deep understanding of the policy-making process from the viewpoint of those who work in government, and can work with a complex array of stakeholders, such as business, government and other academic units.

About the role

The Lecturer in Government Studies in a fixed term maternity cover position who will be expected to teach on our core-modules partnered with No.10 Downing Street. This requires not only a deep understanding of the literature and historiography, but the ability to build and maintain relationships with senior figures in No.10 Downing Street.

The post-holder will also be fully responsible for the prestigious module ‘History of Prime Ministerial & Whitehall Defence, Security and Intelligence Decision Making’. This module has created in close alignment with the Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office and Intelligence departments. The role holder needs to know the history of these institutions to a PhD level.

The role holder will be required to teach both KCL postgraduates and UK Government officials on defence and security history of the UK from 1900 to the present day. They will also have to manage the relationship with the Ministry of Defence and other departments. The role holder will also support the MA Government Studies programme with responsibility for PhD supervision and academic administration.

The Lecturer in Government Studies will join a team of three other academic staff members. As part of a small team, the candidate will need to work collaboratively across a range of areas and research disciplines. The role holder will need an academic focus on British defence history, political history and the machinery of government institutions in the UK at the highest level.

To deliver these complicated and multi-faceted teaching objectives the candidate will have experience of teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and be expert in UK defence and foreign policy making. They will also need a comprehensive understanding of Prime Ministers, HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office.

This is a full-time maternity cover post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an  a fixed term contract until January 2027.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.       Degree and PhD in a relevant subject (completed or submitted by time of application). Academic specialism to PhD level in politics and contemporary history, and British Government with a focus on defence and security, foreign policy, machinery of government, the Civil Service and political institutions such as No.10 Downing Street and HM Treasury.

2.       Ability to supervise student research at MA and PhD levels and ability to provide support and guidance in the supervision and tutoring of Undergraduate and Postgraduate students.

3.       Ability to engage in innovative, research-led teaching.

4.       University teaching experience, including module design and development.

5.       Experience of building and maintaining partnerships with government and work in business sectors.

6.       Clear potential for excellent academic publications record.

7.       Strong presentational and communication skill, strong organisational skills (i.e module leadership, examinations).

Desirable criteria

1.      Administrative experience such as running module assessment processes, uploading information to student facing learning management systems such as KEATs.

2.      Experience of delivering research projects, from conception to delivery using both archival primary sources and interviews with key protagonists.

3.      Interest in and experience with online, blended and distance learning.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held on the week commencing 24th November.