- Part-time and flexible working arrangements including compressed hours and homeworking
- 27 or 31 days of annual leave (depending on role) plus bank holidays. Three of these days are taken as shutdown between Christmas and the New Year
- Long service uplift to 29 or 33 days after 5 years’ service (depending on role)
- 5 days Carers paid leave per year, plus time off for public duties
- Generous provisions for time off work, including family friendly leave and pay significantly higher than statutory minimum for parental leave, sick leave etc
- Flexible working arrangements between office and home
Join our team
Learning and Work Institute is an independent policy and research organisation focused on lifelong learning and better work. Our vision is for a fair and prosperous society where learning and work enable everyone to realise their potential. We research what works, influence policy, and develop new ideas to improve practice.
L&W is an Investor in People (gold) award holder, keen to learn from the experiences of our staff and committed to staff development including internal and external training and support. We are a Living Pension Employer.
We are passionate about equality and diversity, which drive our organisational values and mission. We are particularly keen to receive applications from all under-represented groups in society.
Our staff benefits
Learning and Work Institute offers a variety of employee benefits to staff.
Work-life balance
Learning, development and training opportunities
Including a Personal Learning Allowance of up to £200 a year and financial support for professional and academic qualifications relevant to role (apprenticeships, professional exams etc).
Future planning
- 8% employer pension contribution, through salary sacrifice
- Life assurance 3 times salary
Extras
- Staff Retail Discounts platform – “extras”
- Cycle to work scheme
- Eye test and glasses support
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Professional subscriptions paid
Current vacancies
Head of Research: Skills and Better Work
The Head of Research: Skills and Better Work is a new post for L&W. We’re expanding our team so that we can develop and deliver more – and better – policy-relevant research in the key areas of lifelong learning and progression to better work.
The post-holder will develop and lead research and insight projects. Those projects will be designed to influence policy change that will get more adults engaged in learning, developing their skills, and achieving their potential and ambitions in work. Income generation is part of this work: sometimes they will respond to reactive tenders, but we expect that they will also seek proactive opportunities to fund their work.
They will have the capability to lead a team of researchers, and work with colleagues with different methodological specialisms. The successful candidate will be confident with quantitative data, but might have a qualitative research background themselves, or they might think of themselves more as a ‘policy person’. The most important thing is that they have experience working out what insights are needed to solve a policy problem, and how to get them.
They will work across the lifelong learning, essential skills and better work pillars of our strategy – but key areas of focus for them are likely to include: increasing employer investment in skills; improving apprenticeship access and quality; reducing inequalities in lifelong learning; understanding and harnessing the rise of online, self-led learning; career change.
See the job description and apply: https://talent.sage.hr/jobs/43e2eeb6-f09e-42c2-81d2-ccbe38520bb8/L&W
Leicester, London – Hybrid working
£47,250 – £61,150
Closes: 23 October 2026
Research Intern
We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Research Intern to join our London or Leicester Office. This is a unique opportunity to contribute and gain insight into L&W’s high-impact research, policy, and campaigning activity across all areas of our Strategic Plan. You will be responsible for participating in our programme of research, as well as proactively supporting other colleagues across the organisation.
The ideal candidate will have an interest and some experience of statistical analysis and techniques, alongside knowledge or experience of qualitative research methods.
See the job description and apply: https://talent.sage.hr/jobs/275ba8d6-3a66-44d7-b156-d4e22a129381/L&W
Leicester, London – Hybrid working
£25,878 (Leicester) or £28,475 (London) pro rata per annum (Living Wage)
Closes: 31 October 2026
Join our consultants register
We are always looking to engage with like-minded professionals to join our consultants register. You will need a strong track record in learning, skills or employment, with excellent research or development skills.
To apply to Learning and Work Institute’s consultants register, please complete this short form or for further details, contact us at consultants@learningandwork.org.uk
