Job Description

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families supports distressed children and their families through innovative therapeutic practice and research, training and promoting awareness of mental health issues. In April 2019, the Centre opened its new Centre of Excellence located in King’s Cross.

The Centre values diversity and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We encourage applications from all sections of the community.

The Centre is launching a new Researcher Internship Scheme. The Scheme offers three individuals a three-month funded placement for those looking to pursue a career in applied child and adolescent mental health research and evaluation. The Scheme is open to individuals from Black and minoritised ethnic groups as it is known that structural inequalities have led to individuals from these groups being under-represented in research communities. We want to work towards addressing that imbalance. 

Placements range from part-time (at least three days or 21 hours per week) to full-time (five days or 35 hours per week) and working patterns will be agreed flexibly to accommodate other roles and responsibilities. The Scheme offers:

• A maintenance stipend of £7,500 (pro-rata if part-time) to make the scheme inclusive of individuals who would not otherwise be able to take part to an unpaid internship;
• First-hand experience of working on research and evaluation studies;
• Training sessions on applied research and evaluation methods;
• Opportunities to shadow cross-organisational programmes such as fundraising, training and communications;
• Access to workshops, seminars, and other learning events;
• Weekly supervision meetings;
• Career development mentorship from a senior researcher at the Centre.

The placements will involve home-working and, other than in exceptional circumstances, home office equipment will not be provided. There will not be a requirement to physically attend the Centre offices in London or Manchester.

The Scheme is open to individuals who meet all of the following criteria:

• Have an undergraduate degree in Psychology, the social sciences or a related field or equivalent experience (e.g., 12 months’ experience in a researcher role);
• UK-permanent residents from Black and minoritised ethnic groups;
• The purpose of offering a paid internship scheme is to be inclusive of individuals who would not otherwise be able to take part in an unpaid internship for reasons of lack of financial support. By applying to this scheme, you are confirming that you would not otherwise be able to take part in an unpaid internship.

Application process: there is a two-stage application process.

1. Submit your application via email – you will need to include:

• your CV;
• a one-page cover letter outlining your reasons for applying, what you hope to gain from the Scheme and how the opportunity fits with your future career plans;
• the contact details of two referees.

Applications will close after the first 100 applications are received. The application deadline will be midday (12pm) on 18 June 2021 if this number is not reached sooner.

2. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online interview:

Candidates will be selected on the basis of the requirements stated above and the following criteria:

• Relevant experience – based on your academic record and/or previous work or voluntary roles;
• Commitment to child mental health research.

Successful candidates will also need to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service check. 

Please email Recruitment if you require assistance with your application or have any questions about the internship opportunity. 

Please note all our posts require candidates to have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of applying and we do not hold a sponsor licence. 

How to apply: please submit your application to our Recruitment email address following the instructions outlined above. Contact details are available on our website - please click "Apply on website" to be redirectered to our Researcher Internship Scheme page.