Location: East Sussex
Salary: £40,000 - £45,000 + Bens
Job type: Permanent
Reference: 984839
This is a rare opportunity for a mixed-method researcher to take ownership of the research offering at a well-established, full-service marketing agency working with universities across the UK and beyond. They have built a respected research function, and you’ll be its dedicated lead, operating like a small agency within the business and running projects for clients from the first conversation through to the final recommendations.
You’ll run a varied mix of bespoke research projects for individual clients, as well as leading a growing membership research programme. You’ll shape the programme’s topics with members and the wider team, balancing forward-looking thought leadership with the practical questions universities want answered, such as how applicants choose where to study or how they’re using AI in their research.
You’ll take ideas and early-stage questions and turn them into clear research briefs, then design, deliver, analyse and report on the work yourself. That includes:
• Acting as the methodological expert, explaining your approach clearly and confidently to non-technical audiences
• Designing surveys, and briefing and managing panel and recruitment suppliers
• Writing discussion guides and moderating focus groups and interviews with prospective and current students, in the UK and internationally
• Analysing primary and secondary data to uncover trends and practical recommendations
• Producing reports, presentations and dashboards that turn findings into compelling insight stories, thought leadership and content
The work leans quant, but you’ll need to be confident delivering qual too, and strong storytelling and presentation skills will really count. You’ll keep a close eye on trends across higher education, and you’ll have the support of a creative, collaborative team to help you where needed and bring the findings to life.
Experience in higher education or education research would be a real bonus, a background in a related sector would also be great, but strong core research skills matter most, so we'd be happy to hear from great researchers from any background who have a genuine interest in the role. Familiarity with tools such as Qualtrics and Power BI, and experience using AI to streamline research tasks, would be a plus. The role is hybrid, ideally with three days a week in the office, though the team are open to flexible arrangements for the right person.
If you’re excited by the idea of owning the research function in a broader agency, being able to make decisions and have a genuine impact, we would love to hear from you.
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