About the Blavatnik School of Government
Our vision is of a world better led, a world better served and a world better governed. We are a global school committed to improving the quality of government and public policymaking worldwide, through three routes: teaching current and future leaders; generating research with impact; and engaging with governments and practitioners.
What we offer
The School is a collaborative, friendly, and dynamic department based in an award-winning building in Oxford. We host regular events and talks with well-known guest speakers – all of which are open to staff. On the social side, we have a regular events calendar that are designed to appeal to all, including our Christmas and summer parties.
As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:
- An excellent contributory pension scheme
- Family leave schemes and a comprehensive range of childcare services
- Cycle loan scheme and discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
- Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs
- Opportunities for hybrid working
More information about working at the School can be found on our jobs page.
About the role
The Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at the Blavatnik School of Government and Department of Economics is a leading research centre in development economics. This appointment offers a unique opportunity to provide research support for a strand of research aimed at improving the targeting of South Africa’s Social Relief of Distress Grant. The postholder will be part of a dedicated research team based at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of California San Diego, J-PAL Africa and Geospace International.
About you
You are required to hold a Master’s degree or equivalent in development economics or economics with a development focus or equivalent as well as being proficient in Python for large-scale record linkage and data cleaning, simulated means-testing and eligibility estimation, machine-learning targeting models, and reproducible, version-controlled analysis pipelines.
Previous experience in working in a research team and contributing ideas for new research projects would be desirable.
Application process
Please upload a supporting statement that outlines how you meet the selection criteria in your own words, along with your CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application.
The closing date for applications is at 12 noon (UK time) on 28 August 2026.
Interviews are scheduled to take place on 29 September 2026.
