9 Democracy jobs

About Demos

Demos is a highly respected cross-party think tank with a unique approach to making policy to solve our long term problems. Building on nearly 30 years of creativity, ideas and impact, Demos’s mission is to upgrade democracy: rebuilding the relationship between citizen and state. Our work explores the elements of a ‘New Deal’, in which power is devolved, citizens participate in policy making, and together as a nation we find answers to the challenges of our century.

About Waves

Demos is leading the largest trial of digital democracy in Britain. 

Trust in politics and politicians is in crisis. Only 24% of people trust politicians to make decisions in the best interests of the country. Polarisation is increasing. At the same time, people want to be involved in the public policy decisions that affect them. 

Waves is a €1 million project trialling new technology in local democracy, launched to bring people together to tackle contentious local issues and strengthen trust in local government. Thousands of local people will have the opportunity to shape local government policy on an issue affecting their area.

New AI-powered technology is intended to make it easier, cheaper and quicker for participants to have their say, identify areas of consensus, discuss difficult issues and work through trade-offs together. 

We are working in partnership with two trailblazing councils who are both embracing the opportunity to put the public at the heart of their policy making. The trial will begin in the London Borough of Camden to co-develop an approach to adult social care. The trial will then move on to South Staffordshire District Council as they develop an inclusive engagement process to prepare for their next local plan. The partners will also support a further 25 councils to observe and learn from the process so that they too can use the tools in the future.

About the role 

We are looking for an experienced programme manager who can steer Waves from now until it completes in December 2026. 

You would be joining the programme at a pivotal time as we move from the ‘set-up’ and ‘co-design’ phases of the first 6-months, to the start of the first of our two trials running sequentially over the next 11 months, before moving to a final ‘impact phase’ of dissemination of our toolkits, technology and learning in the final 6 months.

Programme management of Waves means ensuring that the whole project stays on track – on time and on budget – throughout its delivery. There are 5 partners, a number of suppliers and many moving parts, so it is critical that we find someone who can work across the whole programme, anticipating who needs to do what and by when, and ensuring that the programme is delivered successfully so we can draw learnings from it to share widely across the local government, democracy, and tech sectors. 

It is worth bearing in mind that Waves is a ‘test and learn’ trial of a new deliberative democratic process using existing and new technology. Therefore, the team is committed to learning from the project and being comfortable with the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what the outcomes are going to be. 

What you'll need to be sucessful

The types of knowledge, skills and experience we are looking for are below. We welcome a range of applications which include at least some of these attributes.

• Demonstrable experience managing an equivalent programme in terms of complexity, scale and partners with a solid understanding of project management methods.
• Understanding and commitment to the mission of the programme – motivated to tackle issues of low trust in democracy among UK citizens with digital democratic platforms and deliberative processes a crucial part of the solution.
• Team management, interpersonal and communication skills – ability to lead and motivate a team with diverse skills and priorities to deliver a programme of great complexity and uncertainty, including fostering collaboration and trust, managing conflicts, maintaining transparency and empowering different partners to perform effectively.
• Strong strategic thinking and decision-making skills – the ability to align activities with overall programme objectives, making informed decisions based on programme lead and partner inputs and, where possible, data and analysis, and drive the programme towards successful outcomes. 
• Ability to identify potential risks, develop mitigation strategies and manage issues that may arise during the programme lifecycle – ideally in an innovation context, one working with diverse partners with different ways of working or when using technology/ conducting trials with the public.
• An interest in, and comfort working with, innovative technologies that utilise AI and collect data, as well as an understanding of the risks and sensitivities surrounding the use of AI, among the public and within the public sector.
• Experience of owning and managing a large-scale budget, conducting calculations when there are changes from the plan, and maintaining clear and robust tracking of expenditure to ensure financial accountability.
• Demonstrable ability to adapt to changing circumstances, solve problems creatively and maintain momentum and energy during challenging situations.
• Highly collaborative, with a commitment to teamwork and inclusivity.

Application and selection process

To apply, please provide the following through our application form:

• an anonymised CV (with any references to your name and personal details removed)
• answers to four screening questions (up to 250 words each) 
• a completed copy of our diversity monitoring form (optional)

All applications will be evaluated and graded anonymously to minimise bias in our screening process.

Questions?

If you have any further questions or aren’t sure if the role is right for you, please feel free to reach out to us and we would be happy to answer any queries. 

We look forward to hearing from you!