Research Associate

More in Common; City Of London; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A research agency in London is seeking a full-time Research Associate to support research projects, manage client relationships, and provide insights to address social division in the UK. The ideal candidate will have strong writing skills, experience in data interpretation, and a keen interest in UK public policy. This role offers a competitive salary ranging from £33,000 to £40,000, along with excellent benefits.

Benefits

Private health insurance

Generous leave policy

Personal learning and growth budget

Qualifications

• Ability to write well and at pace for various audiences.
• Understanding of quantitative and qualitative data interpretation.
• Experience translating research into usable products.

Responsibilities

• Support and execute quantitative and qualitative research projects.
• Manage external research vendors and focus group scheduling.
• Draft and co-author public-facing research reports.

Skills

Strong writing skills

Data interpretation

Curiosity about people

Project management

Understanding of UK political system

Job description

Job Summary

More in Common is seeking a full-time Research Associate as we grow our team and advance our mission of building a more united and inclusive UK, where all people feel respected, better understood, and share a sense of belonging. More in Common UK is a small team with a start-up culture where everyone is expected to execute a range of responsibilities.

The Research Associate will work closely with the UK Team across our core areas of research, communications, partnership, and client work. The Research Associate will serve as a key member of the UK team, working on quantitative and qualitative research projects for our clients and partners and as part of our wider thought leadership, delivering high quality outputs and supporting More in Common’s communications and dissemination work.

About More In Common

More in Common is a research agency working across the US, UK, Germany, France and Poland to tackle polarisation and division. More in Common leads and supports initiatives to build more united, inclusive, and resilient societies. Our mission is to understand the forces driving us apart, help societies find common ground and bring people together to tackle shared challenges.

In the UK, our work is best described as being part consultancy and part think tank. We provide a full suite of research services including polling and focus group research; evidence reviews and secondary data analysis; audience mapping and audience strategy; strategic communications strategy and campaign development. More in Common are members of the British Polling Council.

Our work is informed by our ground-breaking segmentation of the British public. This unique values-based lens to our quantitative and qualitative research means we can understand not only what the public thinks of the big challenges facing British society today – but crucially why they think it. Our insights help leaders in government, the media, business, and civil society to develop better strategies and communications – particularly in reaching disengaged communities far from the Westminster/London bubble – and to better navigate tricky and divisive issues.

Over the last year, More in Common has published agenda-setting thought leadership on a whole range of debates facing British society – including exploring the public’s starting points on assisted dying and immigration; understanding how the British public is navigating major debates from trans and gender identity to the conflict in Israel and Palestine; and our political research has helped policymakers and politicians understand the dramatic fragmentation of our politics. Our work is regularly covered in the British press and media and we’ve developed a series of partnerships with broadcasters and newspapers to deliver top-quality research insights.

In the 2024 General Election, we were among Britain’s most accurate pollsters and used our focus group research to put people and public opinion at the centre of coverage of the election campaign.

Through our consultancy, More in Common has also supported dozens of partners with insights and strategic communications support. We’ve helped national institutions such as the BBC, British Library and National Trust to better understand their audiences, we’ve helped partners in government and civil society with the set-up and delivery of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and we’ve supported a range of partners to test their policy proposals from the National Farmers Union to Rethink Mental Illness among many others.

• Understanding the key dynamics of local elections in England and Scottish and Welsh Parliament elections, and the political landscape continues to fracture.
• Embedding our new Seven Segments with a wider range of organisations, including developing new products and training offers to help people understand the segments.
• A deep dive into our ‘Dissenting Disruptor’ segment who are disillusioned with mainstream politics and driving the rise of Reform UK.
• Working with a range of partners to help them understand their audiences and bring their key policy aims in line with public opinion, on topics ranging from sustainable transport, to international development aid, to social media regulation and more.
• Helping navigate declining trust in institutions, for example exploring why trust in universities and science appears to be falling.

About This Role

The Research Associate role involves:

Research

• Support and execute a range of quantitative and qualitative research projects for More in Common’s own thought leadership work and our client/partner work
• Manage external research vendors’ relationship, including scheduling focus groups and project managing opinion polling research
• Analysis, interpretation and manipulation of quantitative data, and willingness to learn how to perform statistical/econometric analysis
• End-to-end project management for quantitative and qualitative public opinion research projects from design, execution (drafting surveys and discussion guides, and with time, moderating focus groups), analysis, report writing and presentation of insights (including data analysis)
• Drafting and co‑authoring public‑facing research reports for More in Common and reports and briefings for clients and partners

Partnership / Client management

• Day‑to‑day support and project management for a range of our client and partner projects
• Identifying new partners, clients, and opportunities across various sectors from business to civil society to the public sector
• Drafting proposals and responding to tenders for those potential partners and clients and supporting on pitches.
• Delivering trainings and briefings for clients and partners drawing on insights from More in Common’s research
• Drafting grant reports and taking responsibility for day‑to‑day account management on client‑facing projects
• Producing timely and high‑quality outputs and deliverables as agreed with clients and partners

Comms and dissemination

• Drafting and developing data briefings and press releases for journalists, conducting data checks, and designing and publishing reports on our website
• Drafting op‑eds, Twitter threads, blogs and newsletters using More in Common’s insights
• Designing and delivering webinars and short insights products to disseminate our latest insights and research to partners and the wider eco‑system

Qualifications And Experience

We look for great people before we look for specific qualifications and experience. However, the following will be an asset for this role:

• The ability to write well and at pace for a range of audiences is essential for this role
• An understanding of how to interpret quantitative and qualitative data and to tell a story from that data
• Curiosity for understanding and engaging people, and a desire to tell new stories that focus on building upon common ground in Britain today
• Managing tasks and projects independently and in a team - from inception through to delivery and evaluation
• Experience of translating research and insight into products, briefings, and training programmes for a range of partners
• An understanding of the UK political system and a keen interest in current affairs and UK public policy
• A hunger for disseminating More in Common’s work, particularly through traditional and social media outlets
• Professional background in research, public affairs, policy or strategic consultancy, or civil society would be desirable, but we welcome applications from any background

Other Information

Simultaneously, we are also recruiting for a Data Analyst, anyone with skill sets more suited for this role, can apply here.

Compensation And Conditions

Competitive salary (£33,000‑£40,000) plus excellent benefits including private health insurance, generous leave policy, and a personal learning and growth budget.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

We will have a better chance of uniting divided societies if our team reflects a broad range of social and cultural backgrounds, beliefs, political opinions, and life experiences. We particularly encourage applications from underrepresented and minority communities.

More in Common wants to meet the aims and commitments set out in our equality policy. This includes not discriminating under the Equality Act 2010. We will include a set of questions related to this in our email acknowledging your application for this role - this will help us understand the diversity of our job applicants. Answering these questions are completely voluntary and anonymous. The information provided will be kept confidential and will not be linked to your application. The information is going to be used to help us understand the diversity of our organisation.

Deadlines And How To Apply

The application deadline is Thursday 27 November at 23:59.

Applications should include a short cover letter (max. one page) and a CV.

Indicative Timeline (please note these dates remain subject to change)

• Initial conversation with a hiring manager - w/c 1st December
• Meetings with Team Members and final interviews: w/c 15th December
• We expect to make an offer to the successful candidate by w/c 22nd December

About Us

More in Common is an international NGO working across the US, UK, Germany, France, Poland, Spain and Brazil to tackle polarisation and division. More in Common leads and supports initiatives to build more united, inclusive, and resilient societies. Our mission is to understand the forces driving us apart, help societies find common ground and bring people together to tackle shared challenges.