We are hiring a Researcher (innovation prize design) - Challenge Works

Overview

Challenge Works exists to design and run challenge prizes that help solve pressing societal problems that lack solutions. We shine a spotlight where it matters and incentivise people to solve these issues. We are independent supporters of change to help communities thrive and inspire the best-placed, most diverse groups of people around the world to take action.

We support the boldest and bravest ideas to become real, and seed long-term change to advance society and build a better future for everyone.

Challenge prizes are innovation competitions which reward whoever can first, or most effectively, meet a defined challenge.

Challenge Works is seeking a researcher to contribute to its portfolio of future challenge prizes by carrying out targeted research into, and expert engagement on, innovation opportunities.

The work of Challenge Works’ Research and Design team

The Research and Design team plays four key roles within Challenge Works:

• carrying out targeted research to inform and validate the design of new prize projects;
• horizon scanning, futures thinking and expert engagement to identify new projects and develop new business;
• evaluating the impact and effectiveness of our prize programmes; and
• thought leadership that shapes internal and external policies on stimulating outcome-based innovation.

We also carry out consultancy work to advise governments, NGOs and philanthropic institutions around the world on these roles.

The team’s work focuses on expert engagement to ensure that our work is informed and validated by the best evidence possible. We do this primarily through a combination of desk research, expert interviews and roundtables, but we are always keen to try out and adopt new methods.

Recent or ongoing Challenge Works projects have included:

• The Aqualunar Challenge, in partnership with the Canadian and UK Space Agencies, focused on making human habitation in space possible by finding ways to purify water buried beneath the Moon’s surface.
• The Wellcome Snakebite Envenoming Prize aims to improve snakebite outcomes in high-burden regions by strengthening the patient journey from community response to clinical care.
• The Smart Data Challenge, designed and delivered for the UK Department of Business and Trade, included an accompanying synthetic database sandbox. The Challenge identified and supported the development of 11 transformative use cases for combining datasets from various economic sectors, with the goal of delivering benefits to both consumers and businesses.

Recent consultancy work has included:

• Joining the Bloomberg I-Teams together with Nesta’s Behavioural Insights Team to help city officials and civic partners design solutions that meet pressing local challenges.
• Advising on ARIA’s (UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency) robotic dexterity challenges and designing a strategic internal framework for identifying and deploying challenges.
• Partnering with UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) to develop a mission-oriented innovation module aiming to translate foresight into actionable innovation challenges in emerging markets.

The Researcher will report directly to the Senior Design Lead. The remaining Research and Design team currently includes two Researchers, a Senior Researcher, an Evidence Lead, and is overseen by the Director of Development. Researchers at Challenge Works engage in cross-functional collaboration with diverse team members. These colleagues include fellow researchers, designers, project managers, coordinators, evaluators, communications experts, and operations managers. They also provide support to directors on business development and strategy projects.

What are we looking for

We are looking for a design researcher who can contribute across the full range of our challenge prize topics. These can range from frontier technology (such as robotics and AI) to social impact (such as innovations to reduce loneliness). Most of our prizes balance a focus on spurring technological innovation with a nuanced understanding of the technologies’ users, customers and impact on society.

In the first instance, the design researcher is likely to work on a series of research sprints to identify cross-sectoral challenges for a regulator in the UK and create roadmaps for building multi-stakeholder partnerships and collaborative innovation programmes. However, our work is broad and fast paced - the initial project has not yet been confirmed, and you can also be expected to contribute to programmes spanning other areas of technology and social innovation.

So more than any specific academic or professional background, we’re looking for broad curiosity, the ability to rapidly get up to speed with new topics, to pinpoint opportunities and to articulate their importance. You’ll be interested in breakthrough innovations, but also the innovators who create them, and the broader systemic change that they are part of.

You might have that through having been…

• An entrepreneur, who operated in a fast-paced environment, juggling short-term research sprints with long-term strategic vision.
• A service designer or design researcher, who used speculative design to map out future scenarios.
• A policy researcher with a background in economic, business studies management, with an interest in technology and innovation.
• A civil servant who has worked on projects to support innovation, foster economic development or fund research.
• A science or technology PhD with an interest in entrepreneurship and tech transfer.
• A management consultant, interested in the cutting edge of technology and innovation.
• …or someone else.

The role

The researcher will:

• Conduct desk research sprints and landscape mapping to identify market gaps, understand user pain points, and explore the broader innovation context.
• Summarise research findings and present briefings on innovation opportunities in a range of fields.
• Work within multidisciplinary teams to co-design relevant and impactful concepts for challenge prizes and other forms of innovation programmes.
• Design and facilitate rounds of 1-2-1 interviews and group workshops with diverse audiences to gather feedback and validate programme concepts.
• Refine concepts into detailed programme designs and end-to-end implementations plans.
• Contribute to the Research and Design team’s development of research and design methods and tools.
• Help communicate our work to outside audiences, for instance through blog posts or speaking at conferences
• Contribute to Challenge Works team-wide initiatives as necessary.

The person

Essential:

• Strong analytical skills, capable of synthesising evidence, strategic priorities and stakeholder preferences into clear, impactful recommendations.
• Strong communications skills.
• Open and willing to work on unfamiliar topics.
• Strong sense of social purpose.
• Interest in, experience or knowledge of technological or social innovation.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of relevant research method(s), such as design thinking, user journey mapping, impact evaluation, ethnography.
• Data and AI literacy, with the ability to use quantitative methods, data analytics, or technical tools for data-driven analysis and decision making.
• Experience of developing proposals for new projects and gaining funding.
• Interest in innovation, science and technology policy.
• Experience of successfully working in a fast-paced consultancy, research or think tank environment, getting up-to-speed quickly with new subject areas, flexibility in approach to work to fit project demands, and juggling light-touch short-term and larger in-depth pieces of research.

What we offer

Salary: Circa £38,600 plus array of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more

Location: This role is based in Blackfriars, London, on site

Term: Permanent

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

Making an application

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8am on the 20th July 2026.

Interviews will take place W/C 27th July

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.