Social Innovation Researcher

Do you want to facilitate initiatives related to energy transition, climate measures and AI themes?

Smart Innovation Norway is a non-profit research and innovation company that specializes in research-based business and societal development within sustainable energy, applied artificial intelligence, smart cities and communities and digital entrepreneurship.
The transition to a more sustainable energy system requires a fundamentally new approach to engage the end-customer as well as various relevant stakeholders as an integral part of the energy value chain. For instance, the customer is no longer just a recipient and user of energy, but both a potential producer, storage provider and flexibility agent. At the other end of the value chain, the green transition requires adaption and new skills from the energy sector.
With growing demand for behavioural science and social innovation towards creating a sustainable energy future we are looking for the right candidate to join our team in Halden, working closely with the Social Innovation Sections in Denmark and Finland! Innovation Norway has currently 75 employees head quartered in Halden. The company language is English.

Smart Innovation Norway is a non-profit research and innovation company that specializes in research-based business and societal development within climate actions, green energy transition, and AI. With a growing demand for Behavioral Science and Social Innovation towards creating a sustainable energy future, we are looking for the right candidates to join our Social Innovation team.
The transition to a more sustainable energy system requires a fundamentally new approach to engage the end-customer as well as various relevant stakeholders as an integral part of the energy value chain. The customer is no longer just a recipient and user of energy, but also a potential producer, storage provider and flexibility agent. At the other end of the value chain, the green transition requires adaption from energy sector stakeholders and the building of new skills.

The Role
Join our team as a Social Innovation Researcher and play a pivotal role in driving innovative research and development initiatives across Europe. The successful candidate will join our team in Helsinki, Finland.
The primary responsibility of the role will be to serve as the Social Science expert on EU-funded projects and to help us grow our partner network in Finland. In practice, this means working with large multi-disciplinary partners located in Finland and across Europe on innovative research and development initiatives related to energy transition, climate action, and AI topics.

The positions will consist of:

• Leading stakeholder engagement and human-centric design tasks in EU projects (e.g. H2020, Horizon Europe)

• Identifying research funding and partnership opportunities in Finland

• Conducting primary research (e.g. focus groups, workshops, surveys, interviews, user testing)

• Designing and implementing concrete activities to engage stakeholders, end-users, and communities (e.g. living labs, co-creation workshops, strategic communications)

• Developing behavioural models and frameworks related to topics such as behaviour change, decision-making, user acceptance, and governance

• Synthesizing quantitative and qualitative findings into actionable insights used to inform engagement actions, product/service design, and policy recommendations

• Producing both academic articles and concise, easy-to-understand written and visual deliverables

• Project management (e.g. managing budgets resources, and timelines)

• Collaborating with international cross-functional team on large scale research and innovation projects, including regular travel across Europe for conferences, workshops, meetings, etc.

• Working in a hybrid environment with local and international colleagues and partners

The best combination of experiences, skills and background is:

• A MSc or PhD degree in Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology or other relevant Social Scientific degree.

• 2-5 years of experience working in areas related to energy, climate actions AI and/or consumer insights

• Experience leading tasks and work packages in EU-funded research and development projects (e.g. H2020, Horizon Europe)

• Experience tapping into research networks to develop new project ideas and identify funding opportunities (e.g. European Innovation Districts, European Innovation Ecosystems)

• Experience leading end-to-end research projects and initiatives

• Experience facilitating workshops, focus groups, interviews and other deliberative methodologies

• The ability to manage large initiatives with various teams and stakeholders 

• Excellent written and spoken English is a must

• Proficiency in Finnish is an advantage

What we offer:

• Full time, permanent contract

• Competitive salary, employee benefits, extensive health coverage and extra insurances

• Flexible work culture

• Knowledgeable, ambitious, and welcoming team

• International and diverse work atmosphere

• Modern and cosy office environment

How to apply: Please send your CV and cover letter in English (including salary request).
Use the button on the top of the page: "Apply with LinkedIn / "Apply job".

Application deadline: April 1st, 2024
 For any questions regarding this position, please do get in touch with our recruitment partner Bee2Bee AS.

Kristin Vestli, Recruiter
Mobil: +47 40412876
E-mail: kristin.vestli@bee2bee.no

We look forward to receiving your application!

Keywords: Social Innovation, Human behavioral analyst, Energy transition, AI, Climate Action Planning, EU funding, Primary research