Based in Barcelona, you will work full-time as a senior consultant in higher education, research and innovation. You will work in consulting missions and projects including:

• Co-designing strategic plans
• Contributing to diagnoses and performance evaluation
• Co-designing and animating participatory processes (working groups, strategic seminars and workshops)
• Producing high quality contents and deliverables on strategic topics (benchmarks, scenario analyses, literature reviews…)
• Supporting the elaboration of competitive projects with high added-value for institutions (Horizon Europe, France 2030…)
• Supporting interactions and negotiations with governments and ministries
• Providing targeted advice to senior leadership

You will have the opportunity to work in a dynamic, dedicated, multicultural, multilingual, and passionate team of professionals that brings together consultants, public policy experts, data scientists and a world-wide network of international experts.

You will be expected to take a project management role, and lead teams of 2 to 6 collaborators, to be defined for each project.

You will regularly travel to meet our clients, animate workshops etc. (twice or thrice a month, in France, Europe or beyond). Flexibility is therefore required.

As many of your projects (while not all of them) will be conducted with French institutions, you are expected to have a deep insider knowledge of the French ecosystem, and to keep it updated through a regular monitoring of its evolutions.

You will be encouraged to take initiatives regarding possible market lines, trends or opportunities, in France and beyond.

You are expected to start in February 2025. If you do not currently live in Barcelona, you should be willing to move there at the signature of the contract. Part-time remote work options can be considered.

• You are a French-speaker, but also have a perfect working knowledge of English.
• With a PhD and post-doctoral or professional experience, you are looking for the sweet spot in between worlds. The freedom of academia, the impact of public policy, the challenges of the corporate world... or, if that sweet spot sounds overly idealistic, at least, somewhere where people continuously question who they are and what they are doing.
• You know the French HERI ecosystem extremely well (institutional structuration, evolution over the last 15 years, main trends in policy and vision, who are the key actors and why, main funding mechanisms, how it compares with other systems…). You combine this knowledge with a critical view and personal reflections on the challenges to be faced by the French ecosystem in the upcoming years.
• You also have a global knowledge and understanding of international models of HERI structuration, in Europe and beyond Europe. Ideally, you have professional experience in academia in one or several other countries.
• You are familiar with questions regarding research evaluation and assessment: bibliometry, academic rankings… You are aware of the main players and of the main challenges in this field.
• You have an interest in questions related to open research, open science and open data.
• You have excellent writing and reasoning skills, strong capacities of argumentation and critical analysis, and show attention to details. With high standards when it comes to writing a report, defending an argument, or looking for data, you like interactions and dialectics.
• While not being an expert in data, you have the capacity to interact with the data teams in quali/quanti approaches.
• You are both a leader and a team player. You like taking initiatives and proposing new ideas. You are proactive and constantly willing to raise standards.
• You are used to working in project mode, which implies a margin of flexibility and adaptation. You are autonomous in your own time management, organisation and prioritisation of tasks. You know how to support your teams in their own time management and prioritisation.
• You are open to dialogue, feedback and constructive criticism. You see potential difficulties as challenges and opportunities. You enjoy looking for and testing solutions.
• You are eager to learn and explore new fields of expertise.
• You are proficient in using Google suites softwares: Google docs, Google sheets, Google slides. You are fully comfortable with their technical features, and also manage to be creative when using their functionalities. You are flexible in terms of tools, and quickly adapt to the systems used by clients. You are agile regarding the use of communication tools such as corporate chats, documents tagging etc.
• You have an interest in quality standards and processes.

Nice to have

While you don't need to be an expert in all the skills listed below, it would be an advantage if you have an understanding and fluency in at least some of them:

• Working knowledge of other languages, in addition to French and English

• Professional experience in the management of an HERI institution, in France or beyond
• Professional experience in a consulting company in the HERI sector
• Degree in public affairs, public policies, international affairs, management
• Joint experience of both the public and the private sector
• Publication track records
• Previous experience in designing and writing competitive proposals
• Previous experience in designing a budget for complex projects or at the scale of an institution
• Previous experience of direct interactions with the leadership and senior management of HERI institutions
• Basic or advanced skills in data analysis
• Basic or advanced skills in bibliometric analysis

• Full time position (37,5 hours/week).
• Salary range is dependent on experience and in line with academia and public sector standards.¹
• Relocation/moving bonus.

Benefits

• 33 days of vacation and an extra holiday on your birthday
• Flexible working hours and support for work-life balance.
• Complimentary Health insurance included.
• Specific bonus tickets are provided to cover either public transportation, childcare, restaurants, or gym memberships.
• You will have a workstation in a shared office and a laptop with the operating system of your choice.
• Our office is located in downtown Barcelona, close to the old cathedral and is beautiful and lively.
• We cover all work and travel-related expenses.
• We are committed to maintaining an ethical and sustainable working environment.

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Send CV and cover letter to jobs@sirisacademic.com. Sending recommendation letters is optional. Please mention “2025 Senior French-speaking consultant” to the subject of the e-mail.

Deadline to send applications Jan. 10th 2024.

The selection process² will unfold in accordance with the following steps and calendar³:

1. After an initial CV screening, a first online interview will be carried out in early January 2025.
2. A written test will be sent to pre-selected candidates at the beginning of February 2025.
3. A final round of face to face interviews and work sessions⁴ with the team for selected candidates will happen in mid or late February 2025.
4. If selected, you will join SIRIS by the end of February 2025.

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Any questions regarding this offer should be sent to jobs@sirisacademic.com.

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1. Read our take on the issue: www.sirisacademic.com/wages-fees-ethics.

2. SIRIS Academic’s recruitment processes integrate a commitment towards gender equality, diversity and inclusion.

3. It is possible to make adaptations to the calendar in the event that the candidates have pre-existing commitments.

4. If applicable, travel and accommodation covered by SIRIS.