King's College London

About us 

The Department of Geography at King’s College London invites applications for a full-time (1.0 FTE) position as Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA). The post is for 1.5-years (18 months) and based at KCL’s Strand Campus in central London, working on the Plumbing Poverty research team of Professor Katie Meehan.  

About the role 

This Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) role is a full-time, fixed-term research position within the Plumbing Poverty project, an interdisciplinary study examining insecure water access, affordability, debt, and service disconnections across cities in Europe and the United States. The primary purpose of the role is to co-lead and manage data analysis across multiple international case studies, advancing both theoretical and policy-relevant understandings of water poverty at the household level. The postholder will work with complex qualitative and quantitative datasets to advance the theoretical and applied environmental justice aims of the Plumbing Poverty project.

The PDRA will undertake the development and implementation of cross-cultural, mixed-methods analytical approaches across the project’s case studies. This includes comparative (metatheme) analysis of cross-cultural ethnographic and qualitative data generated by the project’s case studies, and quantitative analysis and management of household water insecurity survey data. A key component of the role is the co-leadership of a household water insecurity survey in a European city (likely Barcelona), which involves overseeing fieldwork logistics, training and supervising enumerators, and ensuring high standards of data quality and management.

The postholder will also contribute significantly to the production and dissemination of research outputs, including peer-reviewed journal articles, policy briefs, and reports. They will coordinate and collaborate with a network of international researchers and partners, and play an active role in translating research findings for academic, policy, and public audiences. In addition, the PDRA will support the organisation of project-related events and contribute to the development of a European research network on household water insecurity.

The PDRA will report directly to Professor Katie Meehan, Principal Investigator of the Plumbing Poverty project, and will work closely with other members of the project team and its wider network of collaborators. While the role does not involve formal line management responsibilities, the postholder will be responsible for supervising and training research assistants, managing coding teams, and overseeing survey enumerators in the field. They will also take responsibility for coordinating collaborative research activities, ensuring data quality and consistency across the project, and contributing to overall project management and delivery.

This is a full-time post (37.5 hours per week) offered on a fixed-term, 18-month contract from the start date. The start date is flexible within September 2026 or early October, with 5 October 2026 as the latest possible start date.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more informa

About you

 Essential criteria 

1. A completed PhD in Geography or a cognate discipline in the social sciences
2. Evidence of advanced knowledge and skills in cross-cultural research design using ethnographic and qualitative data, such as coding and metathematic analysis
3. Demonstrates excellence in applying relevant social theory to research design, with knowledge of methodological approaches informed by critical poverty studies, and/or water governance and water insecurity
4. Experience in survey research skills (e.g., development of survey instrument, survey enumeration and administration, analysis of survey data) and quantitative skills for social science research
5. Experience in coordinating or leading household survey administration — designing and piloting a household survey; on-the-ground implementation in the field; and managing the training, logistics, health, and safety of enumerators.
6. Excellent people management and leadership skills: proven ability to train peers and research assistants in methodological techniques; track record in successfully managing research assistants; and experience leading on maintaining team-wide data quality and ensuring analysis reliability at scale
7. Excellent written and oral communication skills, to a diverse set of audiences
8. Track record in publishing peer-reviewed outputs; experience in co-authoring or leading research outputs

Desirable criteria

1. Expertise in working with sensitive societal topics and/or marginalised populations
2. Proven ability to work effectively independently and collaboratively in team settings
3. Experience in leadership in research and/or practice-based networks, including building networks/communities of scholars or practitioners, coordinating multistakeholder events, and developing sustained partnerships that support collaborative research and knowledge exchange

Further information 

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university. 

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

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 person specification section of the job description. 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.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

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