Senior Research Advisor (quantitative)

Behavioural Insights Team; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

The Behavioural Insights Team is seeking a Senior Research Advisor to lead quantitative research efforts in Economic Policy. This middle management role requires strong project management skills and the ability to engage with stakeholders to drive social impact. Ideal candidates will possess a strong academic background and a commitment to using quantitative methods for policy development. The role offers flexible working options and a commitment to professional development.

Benefits

Generous pension scheme with 7% employer contribution

Flexible benefits package worth £1,100

25 days of annual leave, increasing with service

Enhanced parental leave payments

Regular team lunches with guest speakers

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading quantitative research projects, especially RCTs.
• Proven track record of managing projects with high-quality outputs.
• Ability to build effective relationships with various stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Advise on and lead quantitative research projects.
• Manage junior staff and oversee their development.
• Secure new partnerships and business opportunities.

Skills

Quantitative research

Stakeholder management

Project planning

Communication

Behavioural science

Education

Master's degree or higher

Job description

Available on a full time or part-time basis (39 hours or 32 hours per week/ 4-5 days) Flexible working options include flexible start and finish times as well as compressed hours. Starting salary: from £56,250 (London) and £50,625 (Manchester) per annum FTE (depending on experience), plus benefits and bonus. Based in Central London (Blackfriars) or Manchester. We use a hybrid model with 2 days per week minimum in the office.

Are you passionate about using your skills and experience to drive positive social impact? Do you have substantive experience using applied quantitative research to support the development and testing of solutions and policies to help people make better decisions? If so, we want to hear from you.

What does a Senior Research Advisor at BIT do?

We are recruiting for a Senior Research Advisor (SRA) with strong quantitative skills in our Economic Policy team . The team’s work focuses on the areas of employment, consumer policy and business growth.

This is a middle management role with a research and consultancy focus, similar to Associate Director or Principal Investigator roles in other UK research consultancies. Although the role focuses on Economic Policy, we expect all of our staff to work flexibly across the organisation and would expect this role to lend both project and business development support to other teams.

As an SRA, you will:

• Advise on quantitative research. This covers experimental and quasi-experimental designs for both exploratory and evaluation research; expertise necessary to advise on mixed-methods research is a plus. You will supervise the work of junior staff, advise on and provide quality assurance of research designs and analysis and bring in other research colleagues as needed for research outside your area of expertise;
• Lead projects. You will be responsible for developing the strategic direction of the project in collaboration with the Principal Advisor/ Director overseeing the project, planning the work, supervising tasks, managing the quality of key outputs, resourcing the project, keeping it to time and budget, and engaging with our clients and project partners to ensure the work meets their expectations. You will be able to draw on technical specialists in areas that you have less expertise in (e.g. applying behavioural science evidence);
• Lead on securing new partnerships and business opportunities for the team , including scoping and developing new areas of work to deliver social impact, responding to competitive tenders, building good relationships with clients and pitching new proposals, with a focus on projects with a quantitative or mixed-methods focus;
• Manage 2-3 junior staff , including overseeing their work allocation and supporting their professional development;
• Engage directly with senior stakeholders in government, private sector and the third sector, offering thoughtful and evidence-based advice, and developing opportunities to collaborate on shared objectives;
• Collaborate with other senior researchers across BIT to improve research standards and support research functions across the organisation.

Examples of recent projects that an SRA might lead or advise on include:

• A field experiment evaluating the impact of a ‘double nudge’ to increase flexible working;

What makes a great Senior Research Advisor at BIT?

We are looking for people who understand what we do, share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with the experience and skills across the areas listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas:

• Strong theoretical foundations and practical experience delivering quantitative research projects, especially RCTs: You have a strong understanding of quantitative research approaches and their applications, as well as the pragmatism required to generate high-quality evidence at speed. This covers both exploratory analysis and evaluations. Expertise in statistical analysis and causal inference is essential. You have substantial previous research experience and academic training at Master’s level or above.
• Stakeholder and client management skills: You can build solid and effective relationships with partners, stakeholders, and funders to navigate tricky situations and achieve good outcomes. You communicate clearly and convincingly, explaining complex topics in simple terms and adapting your style to the audience. You can lead a workshop or presentation and write clearly and concisely.
• Project planning and delivery experience: You can develop a vision for new work to pitch to prospective clients and turn these high-level ideas into compelling proposals. Once confirmed, you are able to develop a project plan, identify project risks and run a project team that delivers high-quality work. You are able to fit together a jigsaw of resources and skills to meet targets and deadlines and to provide exceptional results as well as value for money.
• A good understanding of qualitative and mixed-methods research: You have a general understanding of the types of questions qualitative and quantitative approaches can answer, the advantages and disadvantages of both and how they can be combined effectively.
• An interest in behavioural science: A deep understanding of human behaviour is at the core of our work. You have an interest in learning on the job to be able to effectively design research that answers behavioural questions.
• Managing and developing yourself and others: You can nurture talent and energise people to perform at their best. You care about the success, development and wellbeing of others and can have meaningful (and sometimes challenging) conversations. You understand that complex projects can only be delivered by effective teams, and you know how to support junior colleagues to do their best work. You understand the importance of self-awareness and strive to learn and grow.

About the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT)

The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is a social purpose research and innovation consultancy. We exist to improve people’s lives. We work in partnership with national, regional and local governments, businesses, foundations and charities, to tackle major policy problems, often through testing and implementing simple yet powerful changes.

Our 250 staff are based in 8 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. We design and rigorously test new ideas across a range of areas such as health, crime and education, to establish what works and what doesn’t. We have helped Tuberculosis patients take their medicine; reduced police susceptibility to cyberattacks; and helped organisations close their gender pay gap. We have run more than 1000 projects to date, including over 700 randomised controlled trials in dozens of countries. In addition to developing and testing our own interventions, we offer design and evaluation services, openly share our expertise and help others build capacity and skills to apply behavioural science for social good.

What can we offer you?

BIT really is a great place to work. We offer our colleagues:

• Generous pension scheme with 7% employer contribution;
• Flexible benefit pot of £1,100 to spend on our benefits programme which currently includes things like the ability to buy extra annual leave at the start of the year, gym membership, cycle to work scheme etc or just take as cash;
• 25 days of annual leave (in addition to public holidays) for full-time employees, rising to 27 days after 2 years continuous service;
• Enhanced parental leave payments;
• Encouragement of flexible working and a culture which enables this; for example flexible start and finish times and an IT set up which allows for easy working from home options;
• Regular team lunches with inspirational guest speakers;
• We’re a social bunch and have a variety of interest groups including Film Club, BIT Kids for our parents & 5-a-side team to name a few.
• We have a great office, which has a fabulous roof terrace overlooking the Thames river, an amazing coffee machine and fridges stocked full of soft drinks!

How to apply:

We use a great platform called Applied to reduce bias in the recruitment process. You will need to answer a few work-based questions which will be anonymously marked by members of our team. Our selection is based on performance in these questions, as well as reviewing your CV to understand your experience.

Successful candidates will be invited to the next stage, which comprises a task where we will ask you to demonstrate your research skills. Candidates with the top scoring answers will be invited to a structured interview where you get to meet some of the team. At the interview stage you will be asked questions that reflect the role.

We always give all applicants feedback, no matter what stage your application reaches.

• Role closes: Monday 14th July 2025, at 12:00 BST.
• Technical task (remotely): w/c 21st July 2025.
• First round interview (remotely): from 30th July 2025.
• Second round interviews (if necessary, remotely or in person): 11th August 2025.

All dates are subject to change but we’ll try our best not to change them.

Please note:

You will need to have the right to work in the UK in order to be able to undertake this role. We will ask all applicants short-listed for an interview to provide evidence of their right to work during the recruitment process. If you do not have the right to work for BIT but are the most suitable person for the role we will explore with you whether sponsorship may be an option. However, this may not be possible for all roles.

Some of the personal data you provide to Applied when you apply for a role with The Behavioural Insights Team will be passed on to The Behavioural Insights Team for the purposes of (a) reviewing your application; (b) inviting you for interview; and/or (c) offering you a job and getting you set up as an employee/contractor.For full details on how BIT collects and uses your personal data please visit our website – https://www.bi.team/bit-global-recruitment-privacy-notice/

If your application is not successful, any personal data provided to us by Applied (including any personal data relating to equal opportunities monitoring as set out above) will be retained by The Behavioural Insights Team for no longer than 6 months after the application deadline has passed (other than in exceptional circumstances where we may need to retain your personal data for longer), at which point your personal data will be securely deleted. We only keep your information for that period in order to allow us to comply with relevant legal obligations.

Offices UK - Manchester UK - London Contract type 39 hours per week - full time Deadline 14th Jul 2025 Salary Starting salary: £56,250 (London) and £50,625 (Manchester) Application link Apply now