Hybrid Research Director

at National Centre for Social Research

• Job title: Research Director
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: £43,000 - £54,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, London, United Kingdom

About the role

• Research Director at NatCen driving social research projects concerning children, families, and education. Managing teams and delivering high-quality research while securing funding.

Responsibilities

• Contributing to new business generation in policy areas relating to children, families and education, identifying new business opportunities and leading on bids.
• Managing and delivering mixed method, survey or qualitative research projects to budget and timetable.
• Supporting the leadership of the team with line management responsibility.
• Playing an active role in the wider life of NatCen, contributing to its success and development.
• Promoting NatCen, maintaining a visible presence in external networks.

Requirements

• An undergraduate degree;
• Experience of directing social research projects and programmes relating to children, young people and/or families;
• A track record of securing funding for high quality social research;
• Strong methodological skills in one or more of the following: surveys, quantitative analysis, qualitative approaches or evaluation and ability to lead mixed-methods research projects;
• Knowledge and expertise in policy relating to children, families or education in the UK;
• Experience of leading and managing teams and developing the skills of junior colleagues;
• Excellent project management skills and the ability to manage project budgets;
• Ability to work flexibly and proactively on multiple concurrent research projects;
• Commitment to building and maintaining good relationships with partners and customers;
• Ability to communicate clearly, in different styles and for different audiences (including reporting).

Benefits

• 25 days’ holiday (three of which must be taken during Christmas closure) plus 8 bank holidays. Leave increases to 30 days after 3 years’ employment.
• All new employees will be automatically enrolled on the pension scheme 3 months from their start date unless stated otherwise. The minimum employee contribution is 3% and the maximum employer contribution is 5% of salary.
• Staff can also join our defined contribution pension scheme. The minimum employee contribution is 4% and the maximum employer contribution is 7.5% of salary. You can join this pension from when you start working with us.
• All employees are eligible for a lump sum benefit payable to the named beneficiary (this does not have to be a spouse, partner or dependent, and can be split between beneficiaries) on the employee’s death of 5 times their annual salary. Beneficiary form must be completed – further details can be found when you start working with us.
• This is an online employee benefits scheme featuring discounts at over 800 retailers and service providers in the UK, both online and in store.
• Employees can sign up to healthcare cash plan which lets you claim back the cost of treatments, such as laser eye treatment, dental treatment, physiotherapy, hospital scans etc. You can pay as little as £1.20 per week, and when you receive treatment, you send the details to the provider and it reimburses you, depending on the terms of your cash plan.
• We will pay the cost of one professional membership subscription per individual per annum, where that subscription is required for the job.
• This is a government initiative which allows NatCen to provide bikes and associated safety equipment to employees to use as a means of transport for work purposes.
• We offer an interest free loan to buy annual season tickets for travel to work. This is available once you have completed your probation period.
• NatCen will contribute up to £30 per year for an eye test. If the glasses/contacts are solely for VDU use then NatCen will contribute up to £100.
• Flexible working is supported where it helps to meet the aims of the company, as it increases motivation and reduces the level of stress. Examples of this include home working and job sharing. Some flexibility in working hours may be possible. Core hours of work are 10am – 4pm.
• Employees who meet the qualifying criteria can claim up to 18 working weeks unpaid leave per child under 5, or up to 18 years of age if the child has a disability. Employees can take parental leave in blocks of one week and no more than 4 weeks per year.
• EAP is a confidential helpline designed to help you deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting your home life or work life, health and general wellbeing.
• We are passionate about learning and the value it brings to the organisation and our clients.
• Everyone has access to training and development which supports them in the work they do and personal learning & development plans are tailored to help develop individuals and teams achieve our goals. We aim for a culture of continuous improvement which includes active reflection on development needs and goals.