Associate, Behavioural Insight - Strategy & Research

Closing Date: 02/03/2026

Group: Strategy and Research Group

Management Level: Associate

Job Type: Permanent

Please note this role will close  on Monday 2 March so we advise making your application by midnight on Sunday 1 March.

We may close this role early if we receive a high volume of strong applications, so we encourage early submission.

Ofcom work to make communications work for everyone. To do that, we need to understand how people behave and make decisions across the communications sectors – especially in the online world.

Behavioural insights (BI) is widely used by governments and regulators in the UK. It can help us understand how people make decisions which we can then use to inform and design better policy, improve services and ultimately deliver positive results for citizens and consumers. BI is also being used to better understand how companies make decisions e.g. to understand service and product design decisions, and it can be used in compliance testing and monitoring.

Ofcom set up a Behavioural Insights Hub in 2020 and has since expanded its dedicated team of experts. The BI Hub brings together colleagues with a range of different skills: behavioural scientists, behavioural economists, psychologists, market researchers and statisticians.

• Conducts its own primary research – such as online randomised control trials and behavioural audits – to understand decision‑making and drivers of behaviour change.
• Translates academic research to inform policy.
• Applies evidence‑based frameworks and techniques to design and test behaviour change interventions.
• Advises colleagues on how to use our research in their policy design.
• Designs and implements behaviour change communication campaigns.
• Publishes and blogs about our innovative work.

We are looking for a Behavioural Insight Associate to join our group of specialists. Our team is an international leader in applying behavioural insight to online safety.

As a core member of the Hub, your role will involve delivering high‑profile projects and developing our skills, capabilities, and profile.

The successful candidate will work on behavioural insights projects across a range of subject areas. The role includes scoping, problem definition, behavioural diagnosis, intervention and trial design, qualitative and quantitative analysis, reporting and dissemination.

As the team functions like an internal consultancy, forming relationships with stakeholders and communicating results with influence and impact are core components of the role.

Please note: Ofcom is committed to improving online safety, particularly for children. Some research may involve exposure to online harms or distressing content. Wellbeing and safeguarding support is available to all staff, and colleagues can opt out of projects that carry a higher risk of encountering such material.

The role can be adapted to the strengths and interests of the successful candidate. Key responsibilities are likely to include:

• Work in cross‑functional teams to deliver sophisticated behaviour change and user‑centred design projects in a timely and organised way.
• Plan, conduct and analyse user‑centred research including usability testing, interviews and surveys.
• Provide behavioural input into all aspects of policy development, providing evidence‑based advice across online safety and the communications sectors.
• Use theory and evidence to diagnose behavioural problems and design and implement creative behavioural solutions.
• Support the design and running of evaluations, such as thematic analysis and/or randomised controlled trials (RCTs), including analysis and reporting.
• Build stakeholder relationships internally, externally, and potentially internationally.
• Present evidence and recommendations clearly and persuasively, including for internal and external non‑expert audience.
• Deliver stakeholder workshops to promote the application of behavioural insight across the organisation.
• Develop and maintain understanding of behavioural science and user research, industry best practice, emerging technologies and advancements to shape our research.