The OPSS Research Fellowship Scheme

Are you a researcher interested in gaining experience working in government? Are you passionate about research that has an impact on policy and practice? Are you motivated to keep people and places safe from product related harm? If you answered ‘yes’, then The Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) Research Fellowship scheme may be for you.   

We are excited to announce the launch of OPSS’ flagship Research Fellowship scheme. The Fellowship scheme seeks to forge connections between UK academia, industry and government. Fellows are invited to join OPSS on a secondment basis to lead on a specific research project for the duration of the year. The project will align with the Fellow’s subject specialism and technical expertise, enabling the Fellow to make a unique contribution to the effective development of UK product safety regulation. This opportunity is available full time or part time. The position is funded, allowing Fellows current salary to be matched according to Civil Service pay scales. 

Becoming a Fellow at OPSS is a unique career opportunity that will allow you to:  

  • Understand the role of evidence and research in informing policy decisions  
  • Take a step back from your usual research, such as lab-based or academic work, to lead on research that makes an impact within a policy environment  
  • Collaborate with government employees across a range of teams to build new professional networks   
  • Gain access to unique training and development opportunities to learn new skills to take back to your employer and/or advance your career  
  • Join the founding cohort of OPSS Fellows, benefiting from the support of other researchers  

About OPSS

Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade. We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency. 

OPSS has a vital role in ensuring the safety of UK citizens. As part of this work, OPSS commissions research that responds to a variety of evolving contemporary issues: from investigating fires caused by e-bike batteries to interventions to promote gender-inclusive regulatory reform. OPSS plays a vital role in providing evidence and expert guidance to product safety challenges, with real world implications.  

Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow.

Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence

Further information can be found on our website here.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We are Inclusive

We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation. 

Who are we looking for? 

The Fellowship scheme is open to researchers from a range of disciplines, with subject and technical expertise relevant to the research projects. We welcome applications from data scientists, economists, engineers and scientists with experience in computational toxicology or flammability testing.   

All Fellows must be confident in data collection and analysis, drawing together findings and communicating these to both technical members of the team and the public. The specific research and data analysis skills required depend on the project you are applying for.   

Please see the job descriptions for the role specific requirements.

Interested in finding out more about the Fellowship? Sign up to an informative webinar on 2nd May: Research Fellowship Webinar Tickets, Fri, May 2, 2025 at 1:30 PM | Eventbrite‘

Adverts are now live, so apply below!

To find out more about each project…

An experienced researcher with an interest in futures thinking, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AIML) applications (in consumer product assurance) and The National Quality Infrastructure will join the Technology team.  

  • The Fellow will work with Futures, AI, Metrology and Research Leads in the Technology Team to create a report on AI in the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) for OPSS. This should cover relevant aspects of “AI in the NQI for Consumer Products”, including whether AI used to create and assure compliance of consumer products may result in new hazards, harms and risks, and if so, how the National Quality Infrastructure can mitigate them. 
  • The Fellow will create (if required) or amend current methodology for AI Futures thinking, based on OPSS existing futures work, other government departments or other sources. 
  • The role will combine desk-based research and commissioning of external research, consultation and/or surveys as required, creating metrics to measure the projects’ success and OPSS’s approach to Future of AI and running meetings, workshops, surveys and interviews with stakeholders to gain insights and shape workshops and reach conclusions. 
Apply for role

A researcher with experience in fire safety engineering, flammability testing or a related field will join our testing lab team based in Teddington. 

  • This position involves conducting various flammability tests, analysing results and providing expert advice to support OPSS testing requirements and regulatory action, enhancing product safety and minimising fire-related risks. 
  • The Fellow will manage the preparation, delivery and review the tests to ensure accurate results. They will monitor the operation and performance of flammability testing laboratories and relevant testing projects, ensuring they run efficiently and effectively. 
  • The Fellow will take responsibility for the health and safety and quality management systems of the laboratories. In addition, they will provide in-house training to lab staff, ensure laboratory risk assessments and standard operating procedures are fit for purpose and inclusive. 
Apply for role

A researcher with computational toxicology expertise will join the Science team to support the work on moving away from using animals in the UK cosmetic sector, to set a “safe level” to a more integrated approach using in vitro and in silico methods. This is termed New Approach Methodologies or NAMs. 

  • The project will involve undertaking a chemical risk assessment of a relevant chemical using NAMs as a test case for OPSS, helping to identify and procure the necessary equipment and expertise required to undertake this assessment. 
  • The ultimate aim of the fellowship will be to move towards better integration of NAMs into our risk assessment processes whilst ensuring that the high standards necessary for consumer safety are maintained and that outputs are robust and adhere to internationally recognised best practice. 
Apply for role

A researcher proficient in RStudio and excel, with an understanding of economic modelling, will join The Strategic Evidence Team.  

OPSS has developed an economic model (in Excel) to help measure the detriment associated with unsafe goods in monetary terms. The research fellow will:  

  • Lead the conversion of an Excel-based economic detriment model into RStudio. 
  • Build in new capabilities to incorporate the treatment of uncertainty within the estimates.  
  • Aid the dissemination of estimates through the development of a dashboard or interactive user interface.  

The current model is inefficient, requiring extensive manual data processing. A more robust version will enable OPSS to regularly update model results with new data. The team consists of three members, providing technical guidance and quality assurance.  

Apply for role

A researcher motivated to harness the power of data science to protect the public, with experience of developing predictive models, will join the Regulatory Information and Intelligence (RII) team. 

The project will be delivered in four phases, as a strand of the strategic assessment activity being planned and delivered by the RII team: 

  • Scope whether similar anticipatory tools have been formulated for the product sector/similar sectors, and evaluate them. 
  • Work with OPSS colleagues and others across government to identify relevant accessible datasets. 
  • Engage experts in regulation, industry and academia, develop and share hypotheses concerning the causal factors for product-related issues. 
  • Determine the feasibility of using available data to highlight upcoming changes to product-related harms, potentially including the development of a prototype model 

This work will scope how we can develop a data-driven model for anticipating new or worsening risks associated with product-related harms. This project will support OPSS’ capacity to protect consumers and help businesses to be aware of and respond to these risks. 

Apply for role