Join us as a Foresight Expert

If you are excited about foresight and future studies methodologies, and want to apply your expertise in imagining and shaping a fair, sustainable and joyful next era, this is for you: Demos Helsinki is looking for a Finnish-speaking foresight expert for a full-time position starting from early Autumn 2025. 

Demos Helsinki

Demos Helsinki is a globally operating independent think tank. We are a community of motivated experts working for a more fair, sustainable and joyful future, and we believe that change can only happen together. That is why we carry out consultative and research projects together with partners, such as curious governments, UN organisations, the European Commission, universities, international foundations and companies that share our mission. We are project-funded and fully independent. Over the past 20 years we have grown into a +70-person organisation working on over 100 impactful projects per year. More about us here.

Foresight Expert

As a foresight expert you have a good understanding of foresight and futures studies methodologies, and the ability to apply your knowledge and experience across our project portfolio. You are motivated to work in many types of collaboration both in research and outside of academic settings. Together with other foresight enthusiasts in our team, you will also develop the overall foresight capabilities at Demos Helsinki, aiming for impactful implementation across different contexts.

In addition, you have a strong motivation to strengthen our foresight impact through collaboration. Beyond implementation and development you will engage in sales activities to further build our portfolio, and shape our research agenda by taking part in funding proposals.

Until May 2027, your main responsibility will be the implementation of scenario processes in two of our ongoing research projects in the area of democracy, sustainability and resilience:

• CO3 (funded by the European Commission) develops democratic and resilient social contracts that address societal challenges and crises through theoretical and empirical research. You will have the opportunity to take part in writing peer-reviewed articles in collaboration with other Demos Helsinki researchers,  and take part in our possible other research activities in the context of social contracts.
• WATERFALL (funded by the Strategic Research Council by the Research Council of Finland) aims to reinforce the capacity of water utilities to anticipate challenges and make long-term decisions related to drinking water production. In WATERFALL we work in collaboration with water service stakeholders through risk scenarios, field studies, GIS and data analysis.

Requirements of the role

Both seasoned experts and developing professionals are encouraged to apply. Whether you have plans to take Demos Helsinki foresight capabilities to a new level, or the motivation to grow as an impact-driven foresight expert at the earlier stages of your career, the role, responsibilities and salary level can be tuned to match your capabilities. Do apply even if you do not meet every single criteria below! 

What we expect from you:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Finnish and English.
• Passion for advancing fair and sustainable societal transitions and influencing public policy.
• Proven ability to design and execute foresight and scenario processes with stakeholders 
• Experience of working in a project-based environment
• Futures studies expertise on foresight and futures thinking
• Methodological expertise on e.g. horizon scanning, drivers, futures table, scenarios, backcasting, Delphi and Causal Layered Analysis
• Social science research expertise, such as methodological skills on literature review, desk research, expert interviews, document analysis, policy analysis and Atlas.ti
• Appetite for funding acquisition through diverse instruments

We’ll be especially excited if you have skills or experiences in some of these:

• Sales or grant-writing processes
• Policy interaction in Finland or in the EU context
• Creating impact through science-policy interaction
• Working in scientific research projects
• Co-creation, dialogue and/or other societal engagement methods
• Academic writing

Salary and practicalities

• Salary: €3640 / month (€3020–€4160 negotiable depending on the skills and experience of the candidate)
• Contract type: fixed-term until the end of May 2027 or permanent employment depending on the candidate
• Starting date: August or September 2025
• Working time: full-time (37.5 h / week)
• Location: Our office is located in central Helsinki, but hybrid or remote work from elsewhere in Finland is possible. Unfortunately we are only able to consider candidates living in Finland or willing to move to Finland for this position.
• Language skills: Excellent written and verbal language skills in both Finnish and English are mandatory.

Demos Helsinki promotes equality in working life, and our office and all workspaces are physically accessible. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, a place where we can all be ourselves. This means, for example, flexible working arrangements and family-friendly employment policies. We treat others with dignity and respect, do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment, and educate ourselves constantly.

How to apply?

We have an anonymous application process in the first phase of the candidate selection. You apply by filling out an application form, but the details that are irrelevant for the preliminary selection (e.g. your name and city) are temporarily hidden when we go through the applications. The anonymous application process ensures that the preliminary selection is influenced only by information that is relevant to the process. You can find the application form here: Foresight Expert application form.

Based on this application, we will invite people to interviews starting at the beginning of June. All applications sent during the application period will be taken into consideration in the recruitment process. The application period is open until weekday Sunday June 1st 23:59 (Helsinki time).

For further information, you can contact Anna Björk, anna.bjork@demoshelsinki.fi, or 044-5085404, on Tuesday 13 May, 12-1pm EEST, Monday 19 May, 3-4pm EEST, Wednesday 28 May, 10-11am EEST.

For questions related to the recruitment process or working arrangements you can contact Aino Hyvönen, aino.hyvonen@demoshelsinki.fi.

All applicants will be informed of their status in the application process by Monday June 11th 2025.

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