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About the Role
We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic and motivated Psychology Technician (Teaching and Research) to provide technical support to teaching teams, researchers and students in the School of Psychology & Counselling at The Open University. The role would suit a candidate with a degree in Psychology, practical working knowledge of software used in qualitative and quantitative research, and a strong technical skillset which can contribute to the development of technical support materials for online and distance teaching.
The role holder will work as part of a team to provide technical support for students undertaking independent research projects required for the British Psychological Society core curriculum; provide support for specialist software used in staff and student research projects; assist with the administration of the online participant pool; and make updates to methods materials on the virtual learning environment (VLE) under the direction of academic staff.
Relevant training and professional development opportunities will be made available.
Key Responsibilities
- To support staff and students in the use of specialist software such as SONA, Jamovi, SPSS, Gorilla, Qualtrics, and NVivo.
- To support the administration of accounts for staff and students using licensed software, in line with the terms of the licence and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To update student user guides/screencasts for specific software used in modules and for final year projects under the direction of academic leads.
- To offer technical research support to academic staff.
- To provide administrative support for online participant pools for student and staff research projects.
- To make updates to the online Methods Lab, a set of resources designed to help students consolidate their learning in research methods under the direction of academic leads.
About You
Essential:
- A minimum 2.1 undergraduate degree in Psychology with Graduate Basis for Chartership of the British Psychological Society.
- Demonstrable understanding of psychological research methods at undergraduate level using both quantitative approaches, particularly experiments and surveys, and qualitative approaches.
- Competence in the use of Jamovi and SPSS statistical software.
- Well-developed general computing and IT skills.
- Ability and willingness to work collaboratively.
- Experience of software for online experimental/behavioural research:
- Gorilla (Desirable)
- Experience of software for online survey research:
- Qualtrics (Desirable)
- Experience of online working including competence with online meeting software such as Microsoft Teams and/or Adobe Connect.
- Flexibility, resilience and ability to be a team player, but also the capability to work independently.
- Excellent verbal, written and electronic communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with academics, students and other technical staff.
- Ability to work to tight deadlines.
- Ability to coordinate, capture and interpret different types of information and activity.
- Ability to resolve problems that might arise in the course of the role.
- Willingness to deliver high‑quality support for student study and staff teaching within online and distance learning environments.
Desirable:
- Experience guiding and advising undergraduate students.
- Experience of editing material for a Virtual Learning Environment. (VLE)
- Interest in collaborating with colleagues undertaking scholarship research in online pedagogy.
- Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends.
Support with your application
If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.
What's in it for you?
At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).
Flexible working
We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.
Working Location: It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes Office, it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. Full-time working based from our Milton Keynes site is also supported if this is preferred by the candidate. Expenses associated with travel to our Milton Keynes site are not reimbursable.
Next steps in the Recruitment process
Interviews are likely to take place week commencing 8th June 2026.
Early closing date notification
While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications has been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented.
If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.
How to apply
To apply for this role, please submit the following documents:
- CV
- Supporting statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the essential criteria for this role as detailed above.
You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.
