King's College London

About us 

The Department of International Development, King’s College London, is a young, innovative and contemporary department, with a focus on uneven development and global capitalism within the regional contexts of Latin America, East Asia, SE Asia, South Asia, the Middle east and Africa. We explore structural transformation in countries and how that leads to uneven development, with attention to processes and policies. Our distinctive global structural understanding of local level processes lends itself to a multi-scalar approach that challenges and expands disciplinary boundaries. 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. We also have a strong focus on social and economic justice and understanding how change for the better happens, both now and for the future. The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team currently working in a wide range of areas including political economy, inequality and poverty, gender rights, climate change and natural resources, international trade, migration, and social. gender and racial justice.

About the role 

We are seeking a candidate who has an outstanding early career profile of publications and grant capture, with an excellent record of teaching and administration.

They will be a specialist in development policy and practice in relation to government, voluntary, civil society, activist and citizen-based actors, with a focus on areas such as project management, sustainability science for development, global development policy and practice, and/or citizens’ movements and activism, including in respect of environmental, gender and racial justice. Our successful candidate will be methodologically proficient within their discipline and demonstrate evidence of high-quality relevant research and teaching in international development. They will join an interdisciplinary team currently working in a wide range of areas including political economy, inequality and poverty, gender rights, climate change and natural resources, international trade, migration, and social, gender and racial justice. This post will be responsible to the Head of the Department of International Development.

Key responsibilities include:

•            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 the design, assessment and examination processes in respect to International Development teaching in the Department of International Development.

•            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.

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

This is a full time role, and you will be offered an indefinite  contract

About you

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD qualified in qualified in development or a closely related social science discipline.
2. Evidence through publications of an ability to produce work in their specialist field at an international standard.
3. Demonstrable ability to design and deliver face-to-face and online teaching effectively at undergraduate and/or postgraduate level
4. Demonstrable commitment to and/or experience of working and teaching in a multi-disciplinary social science led environment
5. Demonstrable commitment to inclusive teaching practice, alongside interpersonal skills to develop and maintain good working relationships
6. Expertise in one or more of the following topics: project management, sustainability science for development, global development policy and practice, and/or citizens’ movements and activism, including in respect of environmental, gender and racial justice.

Desirable criteria

1. Work experience within the development sector and/or in civil society or public sector organisations in the global South.
2. Evidence of engagement with appropriate research and policy communities
3. Evidence of acquiring competitive research grants, or evidence of potential to attract research funding.     

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 next page after you click “Apply Now”. 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.

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. Please do not submit any other materials as these will not be considered. 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 during March 2026.