Research Graduate Trainee
Location: Oxford OX1 1XX (hybrid working - minimum 3 days in office per week)
Salary: £28,000 per year (six-month probationary period)
Contract: Full time, Permanent, 37.5 hours per week
Global Water Intelligence (GWI), the leading publisher and event's organiser serving the international water industry, is looking to hire inquisitive and resourceful Research Graduate Trainees to join our team.
As a Research Graduate Trainee, you will get the opportunity to try different activities during the initial six-month training period to allow you to develop a full picture of our business.
Our objective is to develop successful applicants into roles that best match their skills and provide the chance to carve their own niche within our teams. Relevant training will be provided.
As our Research Graduate Trainee you will be responsible for:
Producing high-quality written content: Fewer people have time to read these days, so if you are going to write content, you have to write well. You will need to identify key information through research and analysis, organise your thoughts and express them concisely. Don't be deterred if English is not your first language. We can edit for English.
Interviewing people, building relationships and networks: Our business is built on speaking to the right people and asking the right questions. We need people who can proactively network with individuals to gather ideas and information.
Collecting and interpreting data: We are the main source of data for the international water industry. With that responsibility comes important skills: persistence in sourcing and gathering new data, squeezing spreadsheets until they tell a story and presenting it effectively through data visualisation.
Communicating ideas: People increasingly don't consume information as text: they take it in visually. Feeding this kind of consumer is a challenge. It requires staff who can synthesise complex issues into simple graphics and who are confident presenting and explaining our content in webinars.
Managing projects: Most of what we do is a team effort, but getting great people to work well together is a skill in itself. We need people who are organised, empathetic communicators to manage projects and bring everything together.
Working across teams towards wider business growth: Your work will always be part of a bigger picture - in taking ownership of your projects you will collaborate with other teams from across the business (sales, marketing, and design) to ensure everything we do contributes towards the company's vision and goals.
Person requirements:
We do not expect any experience in the water industry, but we are looking for candidates who have pursued a rigorous course of study at university.
Although we are looking for specific skills, we don't expect them all in one person: if you think you might be good at two or three, we would like to hear from you:
- Rigorous research skills, demonstrating an inquisitive mind, critical thinking, and attention to detail.
- Strong writing skills with the ability to tell a story and highlight key information concisely. Experience in an editorial environment is advantageous.
- Good data collection and analysis skills, with the ability to translate relevant data trends into interesting stories. Experience in Excel is advantageous.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, including taking initiative, showing ownership of tasks, and managing your time.
- Project management skills, including scoping projects, delegating tasks and collaborating with different teams.
- Excellent verbal communication skills, particularly in interviewing and building relationships with external contacts, and presenting stories and key ideas to a wider audience.
- Ability to understand the bigger picture and the commercial angle of your tasks, and how your work contributes to wider business goals.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team.
- Foreign language skills (especially German and French) are desirable.
Additional benefits:
- International travel, opportunity to regularly attend international water conferences
- Company pension plan
- Holiday allowance of 25 days per year (pro rata)
- Opportunity to attend relevant training courses and conferences to develop within the role
To apply:
Please submit a CV and a covering letter by clicking on “APPLY” today, explaining in fewer than 200 words why you are applying for the job and what you think you can contribute to us that would make a real difference.
The closing date for applications is 12 January 2024.
We will discard the applications which do not come with covering letters. We will then draw up a shortlist of the strongest candidates to whom we will send a skills test. On the basis of this test, we will narrow the field down to applicants for interview.
Please note, due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to offer feedback on any applications not carried through to the interview stage.
