Research Associate – The Emotional Life of Clothes

Manchester Fashion Institute, part of Manchester Metropolitan University, is a leading global fashion school spanning design, communication, business, technology and heritage, with recent investment in digital facilities, new academic appointments and a multimillion-pound fashion robotics lab. We value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds, particularly from groups underrepresented in higher education.

Our research community is thriving, with fashion contributing to an Art & Design REF submission ranked second in the UK for research power; across the University, 90% of our research is rated world-leading or internationally excellent. The successful candidate will become a visiting scholar within the F/fashion Narratives Research Group, with access to research training and career development opportunities at both Manchester Met and the University of Manchester.

About the Project

Dr Benjamin Wild (Project Lead), with Professor Emma Banister (University of Manchester), Dr Jo Jenkinson and Jolene Sheehan (Joy Ethic) as Project Co-Leads, has secured ESRC funding for 'The Emotional Life of Clothes', a 30-month project exploring how people's emotional connections with clothing can support circular fashion and sustainable lifestyles. Reframing people as 'wearers' rather than 'consumers', the project will build new knowledge to inform narrative and policy strategies for how we buy, repair, recycle and replace clothes. Focused on Greater Manchester, the UK's 'fast-fashion capital', it brings together Manchester Met, the University of Manchester, community groups, fashion intermediaries, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Heard Storytelling, with outputs feeding into GMCA policy and a national industry report.

About the Role

This is a rare opportunity to join the project as its sole full-time researcher, working across the entire research cycle from typology-building and community fieldwork through to co-authored publications and public dissemination. Managed by the Project Lead, you will play an integral role in theoretical framing, participant recruitment, data collection and management, and project outputs. The role is full time (35 hours per week) and fixed term for 29 months, with an anticipated start date on or before 31 December 2026.

The role is based at Manchester Met, with hybrid/home working available on days without in-person commitments (e.g. fieldwork, training, meetings and engagement activities). Evening and weekend work is likely to be required, along with regular travel across Greater Manchester and occasional travel further afield for advisory board meetings and conferences.

Key Responsibilities

- Help build a typology of narratives about emotion and clothing consumption, contributing to the project's theoretical framing.
- Recruit participants, and co-lead and help coordinate storytelling workshops with approximately 8 Greater Manchester community groups.
- Co-develop a creative toolkit.
- Co-develop and run focus groups exploring circular fashion policy.
- Manage research data securely, including transcription and anonymisation, in line with data protection and research ethics requirements.
- Act as lead or co-author on peer-reviewed journal articles.
- Contribute to public storytelling events, community dissemination workshops and an industry-facing forum.
- Set up and run the project's social media presence.

Essential Skills and Experience

- A doctoral qualification (held or nearing completion) in a relevant social science or humanities discipline (e.g. Sociology, Fashion/Cultural Studies, Human Geography or Marketing/Consumer Research).
- Qualitative research skills, including interviewing, workshop or focus-group facilitation, and narrative or thematic analysis.
- Experience of, or willingness to be trained in, narrative inquiry methods.
- Ability to build trust and work sensitively with a wide range of community groups, including vulnerable participants, and to maintain respectful relationships with group leads and members.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate concurrent workstreams (workshops, focus groups, transcription and toolkit production) to deadline.
- Confidence handling sensitive personal data securely and in line with data protection and research ethics requirements.
- Strong academic writing skills, with the ability to co-author peer-reviewed journal articles.
- Confidence engaging with stakeholders across academia, community organisations, local government and the fashion industry, and communicating with academic and non-academic audiences.
- Comfortable setting up and maintaining a project website and Instagram presence.
- A self-starter, able to work independently and across two institutions.
- Willingness to undertake safeguarding training and to take part in academic meetings and networks that extend the reach of the research.

Desirable Skills and Experience

- Experience of community-based or participatory research with diverse or underrepresented groups.
- Experience of public engagement outputs, such as podcasts, blogs, live storytelling events or exhibitions.
- Experience of working with local government, combined authorities or policy stakeholders.
- Familiarity with institutional research data management systems and FAIR data principles.

Benefits

- 25 days annual leave plus Christmas closure and bank holidays (extra 5 days after 5 years of service)
- Travel loan
- Wellbeing platform
- Life insurance
- Access to campus facilities
- Enhanced parental leave
- High-quality guaranteed pension