Senior Research Manager - Financial Sector Research

ShareAction; London; Hybrid; GBP 49,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Join ShareAction as a Senior Research Manager, focusing on the financial sector. In this role, you'll lead the delivery of crucial research benchmarks that assess insurance companies' impacts on climate and society. You'll leverage your project management and research expertise to drive meaningful change in the sector, all while supporting a dedicated team in a flexible and hybrid working environment.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Hybrid working policy

8% non-contributory pension

Healthcare plan with Bupa

Employee assistance programme

25 days annual leave

Enhanced family leave pay

Qualifications

• Experience in project management with strong organizational skills.
• Proven ability to manage competing demands and support junior staff.
• Strong research knowledge in finance, sustainability, and climate.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of benchmark reports on insurance companies.
• Coordinate with civil society allies and external partners.
• Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to produce reports.

Skills

Project Management

Research

Communication

Team Management

Data Analysis

Stakeholder Management

Tools

Excel

Microsoft Office 365

CRM systems (Salesforce)

Programming (Python)

Job description

Senior Research Manager - Financial Sector Research

ShareAction London, United Kingdom Research & Standards Hybrid Range 49.892,00-53.938,00 GBP per year

Company Description

ShareAction is an independent charity and an expert on responsible investment. We work to build a world where the financial system serves our planet and its people.We set ambitious standards for how financial institutions, through their investment decisions, can protect our planet and its people and campaign for this approach to become the norm. We convene shareholders to collectively push companies to tackle climate crisis, protect nature, improve workers’ rights and shape healthier societies. In the UK and EU, we advocate for financial regulation that has society’s best interests at its core.

Position

What you’ll do

ShareAction’s Financial Sector Research team works towards holding financial institutions accountable for their impact on globally important challenges such as tackling climate change, upholding human rights and reversing biodiversity loss.

Asset managers, insurance companies and banks hold a huge amount influence over the world’s largest companies through their investment and underwriting activities. Our reports rank many of the world’s largest financial institutions on their approach to environmental and social issues, pushing for, and facilitating change in the financial sector.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Lead the delivery of our 2026 benchmark of some of the world’s largest insurance companies (following our 2024 report ), using your project management and research skills to ensure timely delivery of a high quality publication and support the development of junior researchers in the team
• Coordinate with civil society allies, executing the survey in collaboration with external partners for the first time, as well as continuing to work synergistically with other leading global NGOs
• Present our work externally and engage with financial institutions, regulators, and industry bodies to provide detailed recommendations for improvement, supporting parallel workstreams on our benchmarks of asset managers and European banks

Leading a small team of dedicated researchers within the Financial Sector Research team, you will support the Head of the team to ensure delivery of the insurance sector benchmark, one of ShareAction’s key reports ranking financial institutions. This involves organising the team to collect information from institutions and databases, analyse quantitative and qualitative data, produce engaging graphics to communicate results and translating this analysis into actionable steps for financial institutions to take. You would collaborate with teams across ShareAction and strengthen connections with other NGOs and external experts to ensure the rigour of this research.

This a very exciting time to be joining the team. ShareAction is currently reviewing our strategy for work on the insurance sector, and this role therefore presents an opportunity to help shape the dialogue on how the benchmarks connect with engagement and campaigning expertise in ShareAction to achieve maximum impact.

We are looking for a person with excellent project management and communication skills, experience of research and a passion to make a difference within the financial sector at a challenging and critical time.

This will be a 6-month fixed term position to cover the leave for an existing role.

Your key responsibilities are detailed in the downloadable candidate pack.

Requirements

What you’ll bring to the team

We welcome anyone who shares our passion for environmental and social justice through transformation of the financial sector. Please feel free to apply even if you’re not sure you tick every box.

• Demonstrated experience in project management, with excellent organisational and time management skills.
• Proven ability to manage competing demands and supporting junior staff members to deliver high quality work and meet deadlines.
• Strong research experience in one or more of the following areas: economics, finance, sustainability, climate, biodiversity, labour rights, public health
• A good understanding of responsible investment, its implications for different types of financial institutions, as well as the current state of play, trends and challenges
• Line management experience and the ability to motivate and develop a small, dedicated team of driven researchers
• Proven ability to handle relationships with multiple external stakeholders
• Any experience programming (ideally in Python) and interest in further developing this expertise
• Advanced Excel skills
• Strong communication skills in written and spoken English
• A passion for the work ShareAction does and for making change happen
• Experience working in or with the finance sector
• Experience in conducting surveys and/or carrying out qualitative or quantitative research on financial institutions
• Experience integrating innovative tools into research processes, particularly AI tools
• Deep subject matter knowledge in climate change, biodiversity, human rights and/or public health
• Experience of project management in a matrix management environment
• Experience with Microsoft Office 365, particularly SharePoint
• Experience with CRM systems, ideally Salesforce
• Any experience programming (ideally in Python) and interest in further developing this expertise

What we will do for you

We are a fast-paced organisation that has grown substantially over the past few years. We recognise that our people work hard to advocate for responsible investment and drive meaningful engagement with those who have the power to create a brighter future. Every day they bring their expertise, passion and persistence to build a world where the financial system serves our people and planet. We want to ensure we provide the right environment for our colleagues to thrive and we are committed to improving our employee offer where possible.

Currently we are pleased to offer:

• Commitment to flexible working; over 60% of our employees have some sort of flexible working arrangement in place
• Hybrid working; we are committed to supporting our staff to work in a way that suits their lifestyle and meets the requirements of their role
• Internal promotion and development opportunities; we offer a range of ways to improve your skills and focus on what you love, including promotion, secondment, or sideways development opportunities. For some levels of roles, we also offer direct progression.
• Opportunity to help make a difference; we tackle some of the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges. We offer opportunities for you to develop your skills and experience in a friendly, flexible and supportive working environment.
• Unionised work environment; our staff have the opportunity to join the union, and are supported by our recognised union, Unite. We regularly consult and negotiate with our employees on workplace matters ranging from working conditions to pay.
• Regular in-person meetings; including all-staff away days, retreats and directorate strategy days to create connected teams.
• 8% non-contributory pension; invested with NEST and their green funds.
• Healthcareplan; with Bupa
• Employee assistance programme;advice and support, lifestyle discounts and short-term counselling
• Death in Service cover of 3x salary
• 25 days’ annual leave (increasing with length of service) plus office closure at the end of the year; ensuring everyone gets time to switch off together.
• Enhanced family leave pay; up to 18 weeks’ paid at 90% for either parent.
• Enhanced sick pay; starting at 5 weeks’ full pay from day 1.
• Season ticket loan and cycle to work scheme.

ShareAction currently operates a hybrid working policy, with staff permitted to work either in our office or remotely. The Financial Sector Research team normally meets in the office once a week, with some flexibility possible.

Health insurance

Paid annual leave

Paid sick leave

Paid parental leave

Parental leave

Adoption support

On-the-job training

Paid training

Career progression opportunities

Employee assistance programme (EAP)

Mental health support

Free beverages

Company-provided laptop

Exclusive staff discounts / Partnerships

Company events / Team-building activities

Other information

Contract type: Fixed term (6 months)

Hours: Full-time, but with some flexibility possible

Who it reports to: Senior Research Manager – Financial Sector

Deadline for applications: Monday 7th July at 9:00 a.m.

Interview dates: Online interviews - First round week commencing 14 July; Second round week commencing 21 July

ShareAction values and respects all differences in people (seen and unseen) and welcomes applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries. We are committed to having a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities and we are working hard to provide an environment where all can bring their authentic selves to work. We know that some people won’t apply for a role unless they meet all the requirements listed in the job description. If this is the case for you, but you think you would excel in this role, we want to hear from you!

Our hiring process is anonymised, we won’t ask for a cover letter and we don’t look at CVs until the interview stage. We do this so that we reduce the opportunity for unconscious biases to affect our decision making and so we prioritise skills and expertise over how well you can write a CV.

We also actively encourage incoming staff to consider flexible working arrangements; recognising that a better work-life balance can improve employee motivation, performance and reduce stress. Please talk to us at the interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

While we embrace hybrid working at ShareAction, we also think there is a lot of value in spending time together in person. We run all-staff away days, a yearly retreat and more regular team and directorate meet-ups so that we can develop our ideas and plans together. As part of the induction process, we’ll invite you to our office in Aldgate so you can meet and get to know your line manager, team and others from across the organisation.

To be considered for this post you must be legally eligible to work in the UK, unfortunately we are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

Please note that using Artificial Intelligence to answer the application questions is not recommended, and it could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools will not accurately reflect your skills, knowledge or experience. It is crucial that you personalise your application by articulating these in your unique voice. If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, we ask you to declare this clearly in your submission.