Job Description

The Research & Insight team plays a critical role in guiding decision‑making across Heathrow through compelling research, insight, and strategic analysis. This role provides dedicated expertise for the Surface Access research portfolio, focusing on understanding how and why passengers and colleagues travel to and from the airport. It ensures that robust evidence and the customer voice are consistently embedded within Surface Access planning, customer experience improvements, and wider business decisions.

Working within the wider Customer Function and in close collaboration with the Surface Access team and a broad network of internal and external stakeholders, the role leads the design and delivery of ongoing measurement, ad‑hoc research programmes, and third‑party insights. The postholder translates complex business questions into clear research objectives and actionable insight to support prioritisation, investment decisions, and governance. By strengthening in‑house capability, the role reduces reliance on external agencies while maintaining control over quality, methodology, and timelines, requiring strong influencing and presentation skills, alongside a proven track record of leading complex research initiatives in transport, travel, or aviation contexts.

Please note this role is a 12 month Fixed Term Contract.

• Lead the Surface Access research and insight programme, maintaining a clear, prioritised plan of continuous and ad‑hoc studies that support stakeholder needs and informed decision‑making.
• Deliver high‑value research projects end‑to‑end, defining robust methodologies, managing delivery, and ensuring outputs are timely, high quality, and decision‑ready.
• Own and evolve Surface Access tracking and mode share measurement, as well as the Team Heathrow Colleague Travel survey, ensuring consistency, robustness, and meaningful reporting of trends and drivers.
• Provide insight consultancy by translating business questions into research approaches, integrating multiple data sources, and delivering clear, actionable recommendations.
• Strengthen governance and auditability by documenting research objectives, assumptions, methodologies, and limitations, ensuring outputs can be confidently used in decision‑making and external evidence.
• Manage research partners and deliver effective stakeholder communication through clear reporting, dashboards, and engagement, while supporting wider team delivery and continuous improvement.

• Educated to degree level or equivalent Market Research experience.
• Experience of running quantitative and qualitative research and insight projects for transport, travel, aviation companies.
• Ability to influence strategic decisions, credible and authoritative to operate with senior management.
• Ability to translate complex numerical data into easily understandable formats for onward communication and use. This should include development of recommendations for high level understanding and action planning.
• Great organisation and time management skills, able to prioritise to ensure relevant targets are met.
• Ability to understand data requirements/people’s needs, work well with a variety of personalities and work styles.
• Excellent verbal and written presentation skills.

Ideally, you will also have

• Experience of transport, mode choice, aviation, or journey behaviour research.
• Experience of working with data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI) to support self ‑serve insight and trend monitoring.
• Experience of regulatory environments and wider business planning (such as development consent orders) and how research is used to assist in formal submissions, audit trails, etc.

There’s something so special about working at the world’s most iconic airport. Its sights. Its sounds. Its constant air of excitement. Heathrow is an amazing backdrop to a career filled with unique opportunities.

Every day, you’ll discover a world full of fresh possibilities and end the day buzzing with stories to tell, as you encounter people from all cultures, nationalities and experiences. A world full of pride for what we do and no end of exciting career prospects to explore.

It brings out the best in all of us. And inspires everyone to deliver on our ambitious plans. Together, we’re working to welcome millions more passengers while ensuring aviation can continue to be a force for good by leading global efforts in sustainability.

Join us on that journey and we'll help you achieve your ambitions too. Supporting you to learn, encouraging you to be yourself, backing you to achieve more than you might ever have imagined. Because there’s no place like Heathrow.

Our rewards

We offer competitive salaries and excellent benefits that will support you now and in the future. As well as performance-based annual bonuses and our longer-term Share in Success Bonus plans, we also offer generous annual leave allowances and market-leading pensions. With family friendly policies, access to private health insurance and a wide range of wellbeing tools, we’ll support you to be at your best inside and outside work. And of course, we’ll provide varied learning and development opportunities too. Here you’ll find everything you need for a fulfilling career journey that can take you in exciting directions.

Working Location

Our Hybrid working approach offers the opportunity for colleagues in some roles to work from home for an average of two days a week, providing the flexibility to work in an agile way whilst ensuring we deliver for the operational needs of HeathrowWorking arrangements vary from team to team and will be confirmed during the recruitment process. You’ll need to be based in the UK and within a commutable distance to Heathrow.

Sustainable Travel to work

Heathrow’s Sustainable Travel Guide sets out easy and sustainable travel options that everyone can access.

Equal Opportunities

As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all. We believe that diverse talent makes us stronger – not least because we welcome passengers from all corners of the globe, every single day. Heathrow is an accessible place to work. With five diversity networks, we champion inclusivity and celebrate individuality.