Research Product Manager
Overview
The Research Product Manager will play a central role in a fully funded, multi-million dollar project to rapidly accelerate the global creation, exchange, and uptake of knowledge about modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour – and how to fight them successfully.
Working within a small team of knowledge professionals, data scientists, and communicators, the Research Product Manager will drive the generation and dissemination of research findings for the Alliance 8.7 Knowledge Platform. This will involve identifying and addressing the needs of both scholars and policy practitioners alike, relating to what works in the fight to achieve SDG 8.7. A key responsibility of the position is to ensure that the platform serves relevant academic networks and policy communities. The Research Product Manager will therefore help to transform data, evidence, and research into the content, features, and functionality of the Knowledge Platform.
Background
The United Nations University (UNU) is a global think tank with a mandate to help global policymakers access the best available evidence to fight global problems. UNU has recently received funding from the UK government’s Modern Slavery Innovation Fund and the International Labour Organization to build a Knowledge Platform to support efforts to end forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour by 2030. The Knowledge Platform aims to rapidly accelerate and scale-up the global scientific knowledge and evidence base on modern slavery risk and vulnerability factors, and on factors in the effectiveness of prevention and response interventions, while also facilitating global uptake of the resulting insights by policymakers, business, and other practitioners. The two-year project will lead to the development of an online Knowledge Platform, which will be designed as a global public good and will generate research-, policy-, and practice-impact related to modern slavery.
About UN University
About you
You are an experienced and creative research product manager with a track record of managing knowledge creation, exchange, and uptake products for both academics and policymakers. You are comfortable working with data scientists, creatives, policy wonks, and government officials alike. You have superior written and visual communication skills. You have a demonstrated track record of effective personnel management, including working in dispersed creative and multicultural teams. You apply a “customer-centric” approach by keeping the needs of key stakeholders in mind, understanding who they are, and what research and policy challenges they face. You apply these insights to drive knowledge generation and the creation of knowledge products.
Responsibilities
Working with the Project Director and Project Manager, the Research Product Manager will lead the development of research products for the Alliance 8.7 Knowledge Platform.
The responsibilities of the successful candidate will include:
- Collaborating with the Editor to curate research content and analyses for the Knowledge Platform
- Developing research partnerships to promote the generation and uptake of relevant knowledge
- Engaging in outreach with a global network of external academic and research partners, including with regard to the platform’s content and functionality
- Identifying appropriate dissemination products, including academic/refereed journals, policy briefs, online learning, workshops, and in-person events
- Collaborating with the project team to develop a long-term sustainability plan for the Knowledge Hub, including by developing a strategic roadmap
- Advanced university degree in social science, public policy, international relations, or a related field
- Minimum of five (5) years of relevant work experience, including three (3) years of research management experience
- Demonstrated ability to create marketable research products and knowledge solutions
- Basic knowledge of research product development involving interactive media and digital publishing
- Superior English-language oral and written communication skills; professional experience working in one of the UN’s other official languages is an advantage
- Strong ability to establish priorities, multitask, and work within tight timelines
- Solid interpersonal and problem-solving skills demonstrated by the ability to work in a multicultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity
- Genuine interest in and understanding of modern slavery
- A cover letter setting out how the qualifications and experience match the requirements of the position
- A curriculum vitae and a completed and signed UNU Personal History (P.11); please avoid using similar forms provided by other United Nations organisations
- Full contact information of three (3) referees
- An indication of the reference number of the vacancy announcement (2017/UNU/ONY/PSA/RPM/74)
