Associate Director - Strategy & Advisory (Public Policy)

Ipsos; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global research firm is seeking an Associate Director to join their Strategy & Advisory team in London. The role focuses on developing public policy strategies and managing client relationships across various sectors. Candidates should have experience in UK public policy, strong relationship-building skills, and the ability to lead projects effectively. Attractive benefits and a hybrid working model are offered.

Benefits

25 days annual leave

Pension contribution

Income protection

Life assurance

Health & wellbeing benefits

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Track record in UK government or public policy.
• Passion and understanding of the public sector.
• Aptitude to build relationships at senior levels.
• Ability to win new business.
• Domain knowledge in various policy areas.
• Collaborative working ability with government clients.
• Experience in managing projects within timelines.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead work with senior clients across the public sector.
• Shape public policy and develop solutions to client problems.
• Manage and develop junior staff.
• Collaborate with various professionals to deliver projects.
• Build strong client relationships and expand networks.

Skills

Public policy understanding

Relationship building

Commercial mindset

Creativity in problem-solving

Consulting skills

Job description

Job Description

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Associate Director - Strategy & Advisory (Public Policy) - Public Affairs

Make Your Mark at Ipsos

The Strategy & Advisory team are policy experts who use Ipsos's extensive evidence base and leading research and analysis methods to develop policy options and shape strategies for the public sector.

Do you have the experience and passion for developing policy in the public sector at senior levels, and/ or a track record of consulting with the public sector, a creative mind and a collaborative ethos.

We are looking for an Associate Director with experience in social policy areas, such as welfare, education, skills, culture, health and justice to drive growth and help build the function.

What is in it for you?

This is a fantastic opportunity where you will be able to draw on Ipsos' unique body of research and evaluation and collaborate with a wide range of professionals (e.g. economists, evaluators and researchers) to shape our policy consulting offer.

• Opportunity to work across the Public Sector -Most Whitehall Departments, government agencies and other public bodies
• Develop and shape public policy
• Leading projects, in collaboration with the Directors, developing robust analyses and solutions to client problems.
• Develop commercial skills by working closely with the Directors to win policy consultancy work via a mix of competitive tender responses and less formal relationship-based business development
• Developing strong day-to-day client relationships with senior clients and building a network of potential clients.
• Collaborating with other professions to build and lead multi-disciplinary teams. This includes economists, evaluators, behavioural experts and researchers.
• Contributing to the development of our toolkit for delivering this service.
• Line management of junior staff.

The Role:

As an Associate Director in the Strategy & Advisory team you will play a key role in growing the team, by developing and leading work with senior clients across the public sector.

We are looking for people with experience in developing policy in the public sector at senior levels, and/ or a track record of consulting with the public sector, a creative mind and a collaborative ethos.

We are particularly interested in people with experience in social policy areas, such as welfare, education, skills, culture, health and justice.

About you:

Essential skills and experience:

• A track record in one or more areas of UK government / public policy
• A passion for, and understanding of, the public sector - from the development of policies to the delivery of services in different areas of public life
• The aptitude and credibility to build relationships at senior levels in the public sector to develop opportunities
• Commercial mindset showcasing an ability to win new business
• Domain knowledge in one or more areas of policy and a desire to work across a number of policy areas
• Demonstrated creativity in solving clients' problems in public sector settings
• Core consulting skills: excellent communication, problem-solving and the ability to think and act quickly
• A demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with government clients in a trusted manner
• An ability and desire to grow a team and develop staff.
• A track record in managing and delivering projects to timescale and budgets with limited supervision.

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 realise 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 have a hybrid approach to work and ask people to be in the office or with clients for 3 days per week.

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 Level 1 Disability Confident Committed. We are dedicated to providing 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!

About Us

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're proud to share we've received our Great Place to Work Certification in 2022 & 2023!

About the Team

The Public Affairs Service Line is the world leader in Social and Opinion Research. We work with clients on political and public opinion polling, citizen and stakeholder management, social policy improvement, sustainable development strategy and identifying societal trends and perceptions across several sectors. We assess how government and public affairs policies as well as societal trends and views impact our client's brand/products/markets.