Behavioural Science Consultant

Responsibilities

• Finish checking the behavioural guardrails. Agree on a scoring system for the review criteria and test it on sample cases, by 15 Dec 2026.
• Finish reviewing the engine's decision-making steps. Clear all flagged items in the main settings files. Finish the engagement/nudge design work. Sign off on the remaining behaviour-contract reviews, by 15 Jan 2027.
• Finish reviewing how the system performs with real (beta) users. Make sure nothing is left unreviewed, by 15 Feb 2027.
• Update the review scoring system using real user data. Clear every review queue completely, by 15 Apr 2027.
• Final medical sign-off, and the batching/routing of flagged items to the clinical reviewer (owned internally) — you flag and frame what needs review, we handle the rest

Requirements

• Strong grounding in behaviour-change theory (COM-B or equivalent), ideally with a research background
• Demonstrated experience evaluating or designing behavioural loops, nudges, or habit-forming product mechanics — not theory alone
• Comfortable working with structured, protocol-style content (reasoning rules, decision trees) rather than writing consumer-facing copy
• Experience working with cross-functional product/engineering teams on shipped features

Project Overview

We're looking for a behavioural-science specialist to take ownership of a set of currently unratified behavioural parameters inside an AI-powered weight management coaching engine, and to help shape the engagement mechanics (nudges, loop design) that sit on top of it. This is a fixed-scope consulting engagement structured around five defined deliverable milestones, not an ongoing support role.

You'll be working against a live backlog of flagged parameters across the engine's logic and content files, reviewing agent behaviour against COM-B and related behaviour-change frameworks, and helping design the daily/weekly engagement loops for a beta product surface. You'll work closely with our product managers and content team, and review material coming in from specialist freelance writers across a range of target behaviours. We have clinical reviewers on the team who handle medical safety sign-off directly — this is a behavioural science role, not a medical one: you're assessing whether the logic holds up against behaviour-change theory, not making clinical calls yourself.

Primary project deliverable: Close the provisional-parameter backlog to "no unowned parameters" in the shipped coaching engine, delivered as:

A completed ratification register (item, decision, evidence, standing).

Reviewed and edited the instructions that guide the engine's decision-making steps — working out a user's overall coaching approach, spotting the gap between where they are and their goal, deciding what to act on, and turning that into the message the user actually sees;

A behavioural-guardrail evidence pass, confirming the product's safety-adjacent behavioural patterns are backed by real evidence;

Flagging and framing anything that needs medical sign-off — the specific question, the options, and your recommended read — ready for the internal team to batch and route;

An agreed pass bar and scored golden set for a set of currently uncalibrated evaluation criteria;

Nudge/engagement-loop design recommendations for the beta surfaces.

Behavioural sign-off on intervention contracts as they arrive from the freelance programme — barrier framing, and alignment with our internal behaviour-change model — across our full set of target behaviours.

All seven deliverables above are complete

flagged items in the register carry a cited decision, a replacement value, or are flagged and framed for medical sign-off; the engine's decision-making steps have delivered, reviewed diffs; the evaluation criteria carry an agreed pass bar and a scored golden set; items needing medical sign-off are flagged and framed on a standing basis, ready for the internal team to batch and route; review turnaround on shipped engine changes is ≤2 working days, measured weekly; and all target-behaviour intervention contracts have received a behavioural sign-off (approved, sent back with named revisions, or escalated) within 5 working days of receipt.

Project Milestones

Finish reviewing the highest-priority behavioural rules and settings. Clear out any pending contract reviews. Flag and frame the first batch of items needing medical sign-off, ready for routing, by 15 Nov 2026.

What This Role Does Not Cover

Content authoring (freelance specialists own first-draft writing)

Final product or engineering decisions

Engagement Details

Structure: Hourly, with a weekly hours cap (max 20 hours). The five milestones are review points where we confirm progress

Duration: 6-month term

Location: Meaningful overlap with UK/CET working hours is preferred

Application Notes

Please share examples of behavioural frameworks you've applied to a shipped product feature.