Senior Research Manager

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Monday 18 November, and therefore we advise getting your application in no later than midnight on Sunday 17 November.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV, along with a covering letter of no more than 2 pages in length, outlining your motivation for the role and how you meet the skills, knowledge and experience required. It is normally easier to put your CV and covering letter in one document, and upload this at the point where you are asked for your CV.

About Ofcom

Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day. We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio.

Our culture is clear – we live by our values: Empowerment; Excellence; Collaboration; Agility and Respect. These define how we work to deliver our purpose, now and in the future. The behaviours which support these values set the path for a fully inclusive and innovative culture at Ofcom.

We focus not only on what we do, but how we do it. We pride ourselves on being an organisation of people who genuinely care about helping others.

About the team you'll be part of

The Research and Intelligence (R&I) team is part of Strategy and Research group and is essential to Ofcom’s role as an evidence-based regulator. The Market Research team’s role in the Research & Intelligence team is to help ensure the decisions that Ofcom makes are based on evidence about consumer, citizen and audience behaviour.

We do this by working with external, independent market research agencies, who conduct research on our behalf to provide the evidence we need to monitor outcomes in the communications market and to address policy questions. Colleagues in our team work closely with other teams across Ofcom, often as part of multi-disciplinary project teams that draw expertise from across Ofcom’s departments.

The purpose and scope of the role

We are seeking a Senior Research Manager to join our team to work primarily on research within the telecoms and post sectors, although there may be opportunities to work across broadcasting and online sectors. Senior Research Managers are responsible for market research projects from start to finish.

The successful candidate will work closely with other teams in Ofcom to define research objectives, select the best supplier to deliver the work and then collaborate with the chosen supplier to design, execute and report on the research findings. The role includes interpreting and communicating market research findings to generate insights that enable Ofcom to develop policy and strategy from a sound evidence base working with. The role holder will report to the Head of Consumer Research in the R&I team.

Your key responsibilities

The successful candidate will take ownership of their work, demonstrate leadership, and contribute to various projects within the Telecoms and Post Research and Intelligence team.

• Lead and manage quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method market research projects for Ofcom
• Help to assess the research requirements of internal clients, demonstrating awareness and understanding of the policy context and of Ofcom’s overall mission, to develop appropriate research briefs which fulfil the requirements in a timely and cost-effective fashion
• Commission and manage market research agencies and consultants, assuming responsibility for their performance, timeliness and quality of output
• Evaluate and interpret market research findings to generate insight that enables Ofcom to develop regulatory policy from sound evidence base
• Communicate research results/insights to colleagues, and help to ensure research evidence is effectively integrated into policy decision making
• Produce high quality charts, interactive data and written research reports suitable for external publication
• Oversee the work of and help to develop/coach junior research colleagues
• Adhere to Ofcom’s market research quality procedures

The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success

Essential skills:

• Data analysis: Excellent attention to detail and analytical skills. Ability to quality assure and interpret data to identity key points and provide evidence-based insights.
• Building solutions: A deep understanding and experience of working on a broad range of quantitative and qualitative market research projects, using a wide range of methodologies
• Programme management: Experience of commissioning and managing market research agencies, delivering tracking and ad-hoc market research programmes to high standards that can withstand scrutiny. You will also have experience overseeing project work of others within your team.
• Executing plans: Strong organisational, planning and project management skills. Ability to prioritise and deliver on competing deadlines. You will be able to successfully manage your own and others’ time to deliver results in line with Ofcom’s research and policy priorities.
• Empowering development: Experience of overseeing the work of and coaching/mentoring junior colleagues. A desire to support and empower junior members of the R&I team to help develop their skills and research knowledge. 
• Articulating ideas: Ability to present data in a concise, clear and easily accessible way to internal and external audiences of differing levels of seniority using a variety of techniques including charts, well-written text and oral presentations.
• Forming relationships: Ability to build trust and maintain business relationships with teams across Ofcom as well as managing relationships with market research suppliers, holding them to account and working collaboratively to deliver high quality research projects.

Essential experience:

• Market Research agency or client-side experience, with strong experience of leading qualitative and quantitative research projects of both a tracking and ad-hoc nature
• Experience of supervising the work of and/or mentoring junior research colleagues

Desirable skills:

• Ability to use market research data analysis tools (eg SPSS, Askia, PowerBI)

At Ofcom we prioritise inclusive and diverse recruitment in order to truly reflect the society we represent.

Where positions are listed as full time, we remain open to reduced hours, part-time arrangements, job shares and other flexible working options from day one of employment.  We warmly welcome applications from candidate returning to work after a break – for whatever reason.

As a disability confident employer, we offer interviews to any disabled applicant who meet essential criteria for advertised roles.  Learn more about the scheme here.

If you need information in an alternative format or have specific preferences, please contact our recruitment team.