Researcher: AI & Data Science in Assessment

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Further Information

Pay Band – 8    £38,280- £46,203 plus london weighting £3,300

Contract Type – Indefinite Contract 

Location –  UK - Manchester Cardiff London Edinburgh Belfast 

 Requirements –Candidates must have the pre-existing (permanent) right to work in location.  Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided. If you are currently sponsored by the British Council, in a country or regional role, please check with your local/regional HR colleagues if you are able to remain in your current location for this global role.
Closing Date –1st April 2024 at 23.59 UK Time

 

 

Role Purpose

 

The Assessment Research Group (ARG) sits within the wider English and Exams Strategic Business Unit (E&E SBU). This position will contribute to ARG work in support of teams working with language assessment across the British Council, including specialized test development teams such as Global Assessments and IELTS, assessment in learning products, and British Council educational reform projects. The ARG leads on research in key language assessment areas including innovative language test design and development, the use of educational technology in language assessment, Language Assessment Literacy engagement aimed at teachers, policy makers, and other stakeholders, and research and expert advisory work supporting assessment and language education reform projects in education systems. ARG works with teams across the British Council, including the E&E SBU and English for Education Systems teams situated in the Cultural Engagement SBU. ARG coordinates and oversees an active thought-leadership agenda, including publishing and presenting as experts in the field, providing editorial direction on specialized publications and research reports, and convening conferences and events that bring together international experts on language assessment, learning and policy 

 

To contribute to the British Council’s position as a world leading language assessment provider by contributing to and supporting projects in the areas of language assessment research, development, and validation, with a particular focus on the use of AI, machine learning, and educational technology in assessment.

 

To strengthen the British Council’s position as a world leading language assessment provider by providing expert technical expertise in the application of data science, machine learning, and AI technology in the design and development of language assessment and learning products. 

 

The role will report directly to a Senior Researcher in the Data and Insights hub within ARG and will work with the Manager of ARG, the Head of Assessment Research and Development and Senior Researchers in Data Science and Measurement to implement the British Council’s research agenda for the application of machine learning and AI technology to assessment and learning products. A significant element of the role is to work with other Researchers on the ARG team to access and manage large data sets from testing and learning platforms, ensure they are accessible in useable formats and to design and implement efficient analysis procedures with specialist software to support research and development projects. 

 

The role will also support the ARG team on tenders and procurement excercises that involve relevant AI and machine learning approaches, e.g. for automatic speech processing and auto-rating solutions.

 

A key aim of the ARG is raising the profile of the British Council’s research in the academic and professional community. The post holder is expected to support the dissemination of the research that is carried out within the team, via both spoken presentations and written reports, and be able to communicate effectively with both expert and non-expert audiences. 
The role is designed for a researcher who is looking for an opportunity to apply data science techniques to innovative research and development projects in the area of language assessment and learning.

 

 

Main opportunities and challenges for this role:

 

Subject/Sector Expertise
•    Contributes to building a body of work through research, publication and dissemination which builds and enhances the British Council’s position of international leadership and authority in language assessment and learning, with a particular focus on the use of AI, machine learning, and data science techniques.
•    Works with ARG Senior Researchers and Researchers on the design, data collection and analysis and implementation of research and development projects focusing on the application of innovative uses of AI and machine learning in language assessment and learning. 
•    Designs and implements procedures to collate, clean, and archive test and research data sets to support the scope of research and analysis activities carried out by ARG researchers.
•    Designs and implements analysis procedures on test and research data sets to support the research objectives of ARG researchers, including querying and manipulating large datasets, databases, and language corpora.
•    Performs data manipulation and analysis using popular programming and scripting languages (such as Python, BASH, etc), statistical software (R, NumPy, SciPy, Pandas) and relevant psychometric and measurement-orientated packages.
•    Applies machine learning tools (such as SciPy, PyTorch, TensorFlow, HuggingFace, etc) and Natural Language Processing libraries (such as NLTK, spaCy, etc) to build ad-hoc solutions that support research projects within ARG.

Relationship and stakeholder management
•    Works with the Senior Researchers and Researchers in ARG to apply AI, machine learning, and data science techniques to innovation in language assessment and learning products.
•    Develops and maintains effective working relationships with a wide range of teams that work on assessment, teaching and learning products within the English and Exams SBU. The role will also work closely with the Global Information Systems (GIS) team that oversees the data strategy and architecture for the British Council.  
•    Engages with international research communities to build networks and remain up to date with developments in the field in order to inform the British Council’s strategy for the application of machine learning and AI research. 
•    Participates with other SBUs, product owners and regional colleagues in working groups and other collaborative forums to develop coordinated, corporate strategies for cultivating, managing and leveraging strategically important relationships to enable innovation, knowledge advancement and implementation of cutting-edge expertise in the implementation of British Council language assessment and learning.

 

Product or programme/management or development
•    Supports the Senior Researcher in data science and other ARG researchers in the design and implementation of the British Council’s research and development agenda for the application of machine learning, AI and data science techniques to assessment and learning. 
•    As required, participates in internal working group/peer networks to maintain a detailed understanding of both current and prospective products/programmes/services and uses these insights to support effective delivery of the ARG’s activities.

Consultancy, analysis and problem solving   
•    Contributes to the ARG’s work with GIS to develop an integrated approach to data capture and analytics across British Council language assessment and learning products. 
•    Contributes to ARG consultancy to provide expert advice and data science expertise to support the planning and delivery of British Council educational reform and assessment development initiatives

Leadership & management
•    May provide formal line management to individuals or small groups within the ARG, which might consist of geographically-dispersed staff

 

Role specific knowledge and experience:

• Experience applying NLP and data science techniques to the management and analysis of data in language acquisition, language assessment or language learning research contexts.
• Ability to use analytical tools (e.g. Excel, SPSS), scripting languages (Python, BASH, etc), NLP tools (NTLK, spaCy, etc).
• Ability to contribute expert knowledge of AI, NLP, machine learning and data science techniques to project teams working on language assessment and learning product design and development.
• MA/MSc or above in AI, Natural Language Processing, machine learning, computer science, statistics, data science 

 

What you will receive in return 
•    32 days annual leave plus statutory public holidays and half day privilege Christmas leave
•    Non-contractual discretionary annual performance bonus
•    Extensive and generous family friendly benefits
•    Extensive range of voluntary benefit options
•    Outstanding defined benefit career average Civil Service Pension Scheme which includes life cover and pensions for eligible dependants, e.g., Spouse, civil partner, partner, dependent children
 

 

 

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Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

 

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment.  We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability.  All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

 

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

 

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

 

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

 

If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org

 

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.