This is the additional info page. For the official role advert - please head over to the University of Birmingham Jobs site.
Women in the UK retire with significantly less pension wealth than men. We know the gap exists. What we don’t fully understand is how and when it accumulates - whether it widens gradually across working life, accelerates at key life events, or reflects structural features of the pension system itself.
This Nuffield Foundation-funded project, Examining Gender Pension Gaps: Trajectories Over Time in the UK, sets out to answer exactly that. Using large-scale longitudinal UK datasets, we’ll trace pension saving trajectories during the working-age years, look at how employment patterns and family responsibilities shape those trajectories, and - more crucially - ask whether the way we currently measure and think about the gender pension gaps still hold up.
You’ll be working closely with me (Dr. Ellie Suh, University of Birmingham) and Debbie (Prof. Debora Price, University of Manchester). It’s a friendly and supportive team, but we also expect you to engage with a wider network, including the Social Policy Association’s Pensions Policy Working Group, and other stakeholders.
This is a hands-on role at the heart of the project’s quantitative strand. You’ll lead the data and analytical work - managing datasets, designing and running the statistical analyses, and working through the methodological puzzles that come with measuring something as complex as pension wealth over time.
This role would suit a quant researcher who has worked extensively with longitudinal analysis techniques and is fluent in the necessary software (R/Stata, and ideally Mplus too). Familiarity with reproducible research workflows - version control, documented code, open data - would be a big plus 🙌
🔐 A note on data access: The post involves working with secure datasets via the UK Data Service and ONS Secure Research Service. You’ll be expected to obtain and maintain ONS Accredited Researcher status. Don’t worry if you don’t have it yet, eligibility and willingness to get it promptly is what matters.
We’d like our ideal candidate to be technically strong, with confidence managing, manipulating, and analyzing longitudinal data.
We want someone who thinks about the problem, not just executes the analysis. If you have a fresh take on how the gender pension gap should be measured or understood, we want to hear it. And if it makes sense, we’ll give you the space to explore it.
We’re also looking for someone who communicates early and openly. Not just progress updates, but your thinking, your uncertainties, and where you need input. This is a genuine collaboration, and the best version of this project happens when we’re thinking through the hard problems together 💡
And yes, this role is more than just modelling. You’ll liaise with external partners and stakeholders, contribute to policy and public outputs, and help coordinate the project day-to-day (from data cleaning all the way to a stakeholder roundtable). We need someone who’s comfortable across the full arc of that (or at least willing to try! 😄)
Do I need a PhD? Yes - a PhD in a quantitative social science discipline (or near completion) is a must, along with solid experience with large-scale survey data and proficiency in at least one major statistical software package (R or Stata preferred, though equivalent is fine).
Do I need to know about pensions? Not necessarily! We’re looking for someone with knowledge of socio-economic inequalities research using large-scale data. Knowledge of UK pension systems or gender inequality in economic outcomes would be a bonus, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
🏫 Work location: University of Birmingha, School of Social Policy and Society. Hybrid working is possible, but in-person attendance at team meetings and events is required.
📅 Contract: Until the end of April 2028, full-time (1.0 FTE). Start date: 28 September 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Applications must be submitted via the University of Birmingham Jobs Portal by 11.59pm Sunday 30th August 2026. We don’t accept email applications, so please don’t leave it to the last minute ⏰
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by shortly after the deadline. Interviews will be held in-person at the University of Birmingham during the w/c 14th September 2026.
Fire away - get in touch at e.suh[at]bham.ac.uk