Based in Barcelona, you will work full-time as a consultant in higher education, research and innovation (HERI). You will take part in a wide variety of consulting missions, including:
- Helping academic institutions define their strategic priorities and development plans, with particular attention to the transition from strategy to implementation.
- Helping public administrations design their policies and instruments of support to education, research and innovation.
- Helping research communities organise themselves, articulate their relevance and design their research agendas.
- Co-designing and facilitating participatory processes (working groups, strategic seminars and workshops) with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Producing high-quality analyses on strategic topics (benchmarks, scenario analyses, literature reviews, data analysis) that feed subsequent strategic discussions.
- Supporting interactions and negotiations between stakeholders, and providing targeted advice to senior leadership.
You will contribute to projects as part of teams of two to four collaborators, defined for each mission. Given your experience, you will be expected to take on a project-manager role relatively soon. You will travel to meet clients, facilitate workshops and take part in seminars in Europe and beyond. Flexibility is therefore required.
A significant share of your activity will be devoted to the French higher education and research ecosystem. France has one of Europe's largest and most distinctive HERI systems and a dense network of joint research units. It is also one of the most actively reforming systems in Europe, with an ambitious agenda of site policies, institutional groupings and large competitive investment programmes such as France 2030 and the Initiatives d'Excellence (IdEx). In this context, you will:
- Support French universities and research organisations in designing their strategies and long-term development plans;
- Contribute to proposal writing and the preparation of competitive applications to national and European calls (France 2030 / IdEx, ANR, EU programmes…);
- Prepare and moderate key strategic discussions, working groups and workshops with French institutions and stakeholders;
- Carry out policy mapping and analysis of the French and wider European HERI landscapes that inform institutional strategy.
While you will contribute to the full breadth of our HERI work in France (with universities, public administrations and research communities of all kinds) you will also be assigned to work on the European University Alliances funded under the European Universities Initiative (EUI). Launched in 2019, the EUI now brings together 73 transnational alliances of more than 650 higher education institutions across 35 countries. It has become one of the most dynamic arenas of European higher education and research policy.
As such, previous direct or indirect experience and knowledge of both the French HERI system and the European University Alliances will be highly valued for this position.
We are looking for someone who combines professional rigour with curiosity and a genuine belief in the value of public services and policy. Concretely:
- A Master's degree or above; a PhD is highly valued.
- Excellent command of English (our main working language) and French. Knowledge of further languages (Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, among others) is a plus.
- Highly valued international experience, acquired through your studies or your career
- Familiarity with HERI systems and policy, especially at the French and European levels, and with the main debates shaping the sector.
- Strong argumentation and critical-analysis skills, excellent writing and reasoning, and a keen attention to detail, with the ability to use data to support your arguments when required.
- A taste for taking initiative and proposing ideas; you are proactive and want to raise standards.
- Comfort working in project mode: autonomous in your own time management, organisation and prioritisation, and able to support teammates in theirs.
- A communicative disposition: you report progress, ask questions when needed, present results clearly, and engage with clients professionally and with ease.
- Openness to dialogue, feedback and constructive criticism, and curiosity to keep learning and explore new fields.
- Ease with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides), and flexibility to adapt quickly to the tools used by clients.
What would set you apart
- Knowledge of national HERI systems (especially the French system) and their governance and funding logics.
- A solid understanding of international models of higher education, research and/or innovation, in a European country or across Europe.
- Fluency in current debates shaping higher education and research policy at European level.
- Direct or indirect knowledge or experience with European University Alliances or the EUI.
- Professional experience in academia in one or several other countries, and familiarity with university internationalisation mechanisms.
Send your CV and cover letter to jobs@sirisacademic.com. Recommendation letters are optional. Please mention "Consultant HERI 2026" in the subject line.
Deadline for applications: 12 July 2026.
Selection process
- After an initial CV screening, a first online interview will take place shortly after the deadline, in early July 2026.
- A written test will then be sent to selected candidates shortly afterwards.
- A final round of interviews, potentially including in-person interviews, will take place at the end of July 2026.
- Selected candidates are expected to join SIRIS in September 2026.
Any questions regarding this offer should be sent to jobs@sirisacademic.com.
