Senior Research Analyst, India

Become a subject matter expert within the FCDO.

The work of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is highly interesting and varied. With responsibility for protecting British citizens’ interests and safety and promoting the UK as a force for good, we tackle everything from reducing poverty through to cyber-crime. Our work takes us to every country in the world, and we therefore have a multi-national workforce numbering around 17,300 people, with offices, embassies and high commissions internationally. India is a country of great importance to the FCDO, and as such, this role presents an interesting opportunity to become a subject matter expert on South Asia both within the FCDO and across Whitehall.

As a member of the South Asia & Afghanistan Research Group (SAARG), your astute analyses will help us provide the evidence needed to challenge and refine policies impacting on these countries, and to make effective decisions affecting the UK's relationship with the entire region. With a variety of projects to get involved in, you will work flexibly to build valuable relationships between policy-makers and external experts such as academics, think tanks and expert commentators, and you will deliver timely insight on India and the wider South Asia region, with a particular focus on Bangladesh. This will include assessing the domestic politics and the political systems of the region, plus any internal security and historical issues. It is expected that you will initially spend around 2/3 of your time on India with the remaining 1/3 on Bangladesh, but this may evolve in due course.

If you would like to take on a role that has worldwide significance, then you will excel in our forward-thinking team. To be equal to the challenge, you will therefore have the flexibility to undertake familiarisation visits to the region, and you will have experience of working on India, with a keen interest in the wider region (particularly Bangladesh). With an expert knowledge on the domestic politics of India, internal security and historical issues, you will be capable of drawing evidence-based conclusions from large amounts of information.

As you will be tasked with organising in-house seminars, expert roundtables, policy-challenge sessions and training events, you will be an organised individual who is keen to share expertise with our staff, thereby enabling them to become world-class diplomats. Good verbal and written communication skills are important, as is the ability to network and work as part of a team, and you will be comfortable working to tight deadlines. If you have any foreign language skills this would be helpful, and we can support you in developing relevant languages such as Hindi. Crucially, you will be a British citizen, and you will have been a resident of the UK for five of the last 10 years.

As a member of our ambitious team, you will find the most fulfilling opportunity of your life. Here we provide our employees with plenty of development opportunities, and with the scope to network across teams, we are confident that you will find a unique career path with the FCDO. Against the backdrop of a highly inclusive and diverse workplace, you will also receive a competitive benefits package that includes access to our desirable pension scheme, plus generous annual leave. If you are ready to take your career to the next level, then we would welcome your application.