Senior Research Fellow - Social Science Specialist

• One of Australia’s leading research & teaching universities
• Vibrant campus life with a strong sense of community & inclusion
• Enjoy a career that makes a difference by collaborating & learning from the best

At UNSW, we pride ourselves on being a workplace where the best people come to do their best work.

The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences is a large, collaborative and multi-disciplinary school in the Faculty of Science at the University of New South Wales with over 170 academic, research and professional staff. In 2025, the school obtained $22M in research funding, produced over 800 scientific publications and is frequently rated among the top schools across UNSW in student experience surveys. The School incorporates a broad range of disciplines, enabling comprehensive education and research in the broad fields of Earth Science, Environmental Science, Physical Geography, Climate Science, Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Marine Science and Oceanography.

The Senior Research Fellow – Social Science Specialist in the Centre for Sustainable Development Reform (CSDR) is expected to lead, with Director oversight, the research effort of the CSDR through identifying opportunities to integrate social and equity considerations across the research portfolio, while developing their research expertise through the pursuit of defined projects relevant to their particular field. The CSDR team is made up of multi-disciplinary focussed researchers who are working on topics at the intersections of economics, politics, law, environmental management, data science and development.

The Senior Research Fellow leads the development of robust social accounting frameworks and works to understand how bespoke surveys, standardised data sets, advanced quantitative analysis, and qualitative data can inform government policy and decision making in the marine environment, while building capacity among national statistical offices and government agencies to implement these frameworks for developing an equitable and sustainable ocean economy. This role also works with coastal communities and governments to shape development planning through the application of frameworks such as social accounts which document livelihood dependencies, stewardship contributions, and traditional knowledge and make visible the importance of nature to people.

About the role

• Level C ($155k - $178k) plus 17% Superannuation and annual leave loading
• Fixed Term – 2.5 years
• Full-time (35 hours per week)

Specific responsibilities for this role include:

• Lead social science expertise as a senior team member and project leader in collaborative interdisciplinary research concerning topics: sustainable development of the ocean economy and ocean-based sectors, social accounting, sustainable development policy and practise partnerships with Pacific Islands countries and beyond, design of legislative and policy enabling frameworks for Beyond GDP development, sustainable development of natural capital and ecosystem services.
• Provide strategic leadership for the social accounting research program within CSDR, including setting methodological standards for the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership. Lead the design, testing, and refinement of social accounting methodologies for ocean accounts, including the development of indicators, data collection protocols, and analytical frameworks that can be adapted across diverse cultural and institutional contexts.
• Collaborate with colleagues across all relevant projects within the CSDR to support the broad spectrum of work being undertaken. This role will focus on the integration of social and equity considerations across the breadth of the research portfolio of the CSDR.
• Disseminate findings to create scholarly impact which is globally and locally recognised by peers through academic journal articles, conferences and presentations, and publicly accessible knowledge products that advance the utilisation of disciplinary knowledge.
• Represent the CSDR as a recognised expert in social accounting for ocean economies at national and international forums, serving on expert panels, advisory committees, and editorial boards.
• Make independent contributions to research that have a significant impact in their field of expertise and create a nationally recognised research track record.
• Undertake independent research in discipline or related area (as per the norms of the discipline), making an independent contribution through professional practice and expertise.
• Develop research groups in area of specialist expertise and research methods that are appro