Job Description

Quantitative Research Manager - Education, Children & Families

Do you have extensive experience of developing surveys through the project life cycle, from designing questionnaires and interviewer materials through to drafting data specifications and checking data files? If so Ipsos is recruiting a Quantitative Research Manager for our Education, Children & Families team to work predominantly on our surveys.

What is in it for you?

This is a fantastic opportunity for a Research Manager to:

• Work predominantly on survey focussed role but the role is varied. You will be working on both research and evaluation projects of different sizes and complexity.
• Work with clients that include the Department for Education (DfE), third sector organisations such as the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and universities.
• Make a rewarding impact -
• Our work has a direct bearing on the decisions made by our clients. We help to design, deliver and evaluate policies and communications to drive positive social change.
• We research and evaluate some of the highest profile policies and most pressing challenges, including youth strategy, SEND, family support and school improvement.

We have offices in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. We welcome applications from candidates that can be based from one of these offices and open to travel for internal and client meetings.

The Role…

These are the types of things you can expect to be doing during your day to day, although as Ipsos is a dynamic organisation, this may vary as different opportunities arise:

• Managing research projects – predominantly quantitative – from inception through to the final reports and presentation, and managing the survey elements of evaluation studies.
• Ensuring projects are delivered on budget and to time, through effective project planning (including planning ahead and managing risks), delegation, and making suggestions for more efficient approaches.
• Developing proposals to help us win exciting new work, and taking a proactive approach to developing knowledge of clients.
• Effective communication with clients and stakeholders as the main point of contact for projects, as well as with suppliers and with internal operations colleagues.
• Taking the lead on research tasks such as designing questionnaires, drafting data specifications and checking data files.
• Writing reports and presentations that deliver insights to meet the stakeholder’s and client's objectives.
• Supporting the development of our team including training and mentoring junior researchers to improve their research skills.
• Using AI tools and agents to undertake tasks, applying critical judgement to produce high quality outputs efficiently.
• Working with the client and colleagues to share knowledge and identify new research opportunities, including using AI and innovative methods to further the Ipsos offering.

Essential Skills:

• Strong knowledge of quantitative research methodologies.
• Ability to comfortably manage projects and deliver day-to-day.
• Experience of developing surveys through the project life cycle, from designing questionnaires and interviewer materials through to drafting data specifications and checking data files.
• Good project management skills including working with suppliers, and risk and timetable management.
• Time management skills, working across multiple projects, prioritising tasks efficiently and meeting demanding deadlines.
• Ability to understand and interpret data to find insights and narratives.
• Confident and clear written and verbal communication skills, including experience of preparing written reports and presentations.
• Use of analysis software, such as SPSS or other statistics packages.

Desirable skills:

• Policy knowledge and expertise in education, children and families.
• Experience of managing in-school surveys.
• Experience of leading on primary research components of wider evaluation studies.
• Experience of drafting proposals and costing surveys.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support you as an individual. Our standard benefits include 25 days annual leave, pension contribution, income protection and life assurance. In addition, there are a range health & wellbeing, financial benefits and professional development opportunities.

We have a hybrid approach to work and ask people to be in the office or with clients for 3 days per week. We appreciate you may have commitments outside of work and will consider flexible working applications - please highlight what you are looking for when you make your application.

We are committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We recognise that this is important for our business success - a more diverse workforce will enable us to better reflect and understand the world we research and ultimately deliver better research and insight to our clients. We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme, certified as a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. We provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Your application will be reviewed by someone from our Talent Team who will be in touch either way to let you know the outcome.

Ready to have an impact? Apply now!

Ipsos is one of the world’s largest research companies and currently the only one primarily managed by researchers, ranking as a #1 full-service research organization for four consecutive years. With over 75 different data-driven solutions, and presence in 90 markets, Ipsos brings together research, implementation, methodological, and subject-matter experts from around the world, combining thematic and technical experts to deliver top-quality research and insights. Simply speaking, we help the biggest companies solve some of their biggest problems, serving more than 5000 clients across the globe by providing research, data, and insights on their target markets. And we are proud of our continuous efforts in making Ipsos the best place to work!