**Job Title:** Research Officer
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
* Provide timely, accurate, high-quality, and impartial research and analysis to individual MLAs, Assembly Committees, and senior managers within the Assembly Secretariat.
* Retrieve, synthesise, and analyse information from a wide range of regional, national, and international sources, including online databases.
* Author Bill Research Papers that are published prior to the Committee Stage of the Assembly's legislative passage.
* Produce a range of research outputs, including customised research papers, legislative analysis briefings, financial impact assessments, blog posts, data visualisations, and digital dashboards.
Research Requirements:
* Draft research to publication standard; be well-written, concise, and accessible.
* Presentation of research briefings to Assembly Committees and responding to Committee members' questions in public and closed sessions.
* Research briefings can include making recommendations on potential lines of questioning of Committee witnesses and departmental officials.
Collaboration and Support:
* Advise Assembly Committees on subject-specific aspects of forward work programmes and inquiries that focus and assist scrutiny.
* Support the legislative scrutiny function of MLAs, Committee Clerks, and Committees.
* Provide specific support to Members and the Committee Clerk for Committee visits that may involve travelling with Committees to external events and longer visits to other jurisdictions.
Leadership and Development:
* Lead, direct, and/or represent Ra ISe at public events.
* Maintain good communication with Committee Clerks, MLAs, and senior managers to understand and develop their research requirements.
* Prepare joint papers with colleagues in other Parliaments and assisting colleagues in other Parliaments with queries for MPs & TDs etc.
Professional Development:
* Proactively forge and develop links with government officials, departmental liaison officers, external research bodies/communities, and other parliamentary library and research services.
* Support the development and enhancement of parliamentary library and research services in other jurisdictions through training, mentoring, and practical advice.
* Prepare and deliver training for MLAs, party support staff, and the secretariat.
Qualifications and Experience:
* Hold a second-class honours degree (or equivalent or post-graduate qualification) containing at least 50% of the course content relating to the subject area of education.
* Have at least two years of work experience in conducting objective, evidence-based research and producing and delivering evidence-based research findings to help inform discussion and decision-making relating to policy development in the area of education.