Senior Associate – Market Research specialist

Job Title:

Senior Associate – Market Research specialist  Division:
Supervision, Policy and Competition   Directorate:
Cross Cutting Policy & Strategy  Department:
Cross-Cutting Response, Research & Contracts  Salary:
National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from 53,800 to 67,199 and London 59,200 to 73,799 per annum (Salary offered will be based on skills and experience) This role is graded as:
Senior Associate – Regulatory  Your recruitment contact is:
Louis Van den Burg via   Your External Recruitment contact is:
Tahir Kahn via  Application must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via social media or email will not be accepted.  You will need a CV and a supporting statement no longer than 500 words. The supporting statement is mandatory. Please include links to any research publications. Applications without a covering letter may not be accepted. We are also advertising for a Research Manager (JR0022259).

You can apply for both roles through one application. Please indicate in your supporting statement if you are interested in, and why you are suitable for, both roles.  About the FCA and the team

The FCA regulates the conduct of c 35,500 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. Follow this link to find out more About the FCA.  The FCA’s Market Research team provides vital consumer insights that support regulatory decisions. The team conducts bespoke surveys and qualitative research for other areas of the FCA, collaborates with third-party data providers and ensures consumer insights are embedded across the organisation.

They also deliver the Financial Lives survey (FLS) – a key, nationally representative study tracking UK consumers’ attitudes, behaviours and financial experiences.   Their work informs policy, identifies emerging issues and measures regulatory impact – helping to keep the consumer voice central to financial oversight.  The team also manages a smaller amount of firm research, including research about the perceptions firms and other stakeholders have of the FCA and how firms experience regulation.
Role responsibilities

The role will be around 75% on bespoke research and around 25% on FLS. You will work closely with the team leads (Lead Associates) for FLS and for Bespoke research. You will work with our internal clients, to write excellent Statements of Requirements (SoRs) for new bespoke research, assess/ evaluate agency bids, and work with appointed suppliers to ensure research projects are delivered on time and within budget.

You will be responsible for ensuring that projects use optimal data collection, data is robust, and findings are analysed and reported well.  For quantitative bespoke projects you will ensure that sampling, screening and weighting are addressed as early as needed in the project timeline, and that outputs will meet client needs.  For qualitative research you will ensure projects meet client needs, whether they are standalone projects, or intended to help design a survey or to fill the gaps quantitative research cannot fill, or to inform behavioural testing research run by our colleagues in Economics.  

For some projects, your role may be to design the survey or the qualitative research, and/or to provide in a SoR a clear research design for agencies to refine. Sometimes you will produce a first draft of the questionnaire or discussion guide.  You will be responsible for two or three of the retail financial sectors or topics covered by the FLS, meaning you deliver the questionnaire, the tabspec and the slides-based report for these sections of the survey. 

Skills Required Minimum  Prior experience managing market research projects within a market research agency, regulator or government department, including devising and overseeing work streams and detailed timelines as well as overseeing suppliers.  Strong organisational skills, with the ability to work autonomously and deliver on your own initiative, to manage competing priorities, to work collaboratively to achieve wider team goals,  and to keep delivery on track.

High attention to detail, with the ability to implement and maintain processes…