Head of Quantitative Research – Public First is Hiring

 

This is an exciting opportunity to work as the Head of Quantitative research within Public First as the company continues to expand its operations overseas and in the UK. The Head of Quantitative Research is a new senior role within the Opinion Research team, which services the policy teams across Public First. The type of work varies massively, from major international research projects to highly influential and technical policy research in the UK. As an agency specialising in public policy research, you will spend particular time on policy areas like Energy & Environment; Education; Tech, Media and Telecoms; and Social Policy.

Some examples of our recent projects include:

Job Description

The Head of Quantitative Research oversees the polling work conducted by Public First. The successful candidate will have a detailed understanding of how quantitative research feeds into both policy making and business decision making, and demonstrable experience in delivering impactful quantitative opinion research.

This is a senior role, at Director level; the successful candidate will be involved in senior decision making across the company alongside the managing and running of the Quantitative Research team. As a small company, the successful candidate will have a huge opportunity to shape the approach and output of the opinion research team.

Public First strongly values diversity – both in terms of people and ideas. We would particularly welcome applications from women and ethnic minority applicants. If there is any way that the hiring team at Public First can support your application, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Responsibilities

The Head of Quantitative Research will have a range of responsibilities within the Opinion Research team.

  • To report into the Head of Opinion Research, on the performance of the Quantitative Research team.
  • To work with the Head of Qualitative Research in delivery and servicing of mixed-methods research projects.
  • To assist in the management of the Opinion Research team, currently a team of 9.
  • To work, day-to-day, on a range of different opinion research projects, often alongside a team of researchers, but occasionally alone.
  • To bid for and win new opinion research projects, supporting the company’s broader financial objectives. This may involve working alongside the Head of Qualitative Research or heads of policy practices.

Requirements

We are always open to applications from people who feel they are a good fit for the role even if they don’t perfectly tick all of the boxes below – particularly if you are from an underrepresented background. We encourage you to get in touch if you believe you would be a good fit, or if you have any questions about the role responsibilities. Our hiring team will be happy to advise.

As a rough guide for what we are looking for, we expect the successful candidate will have:

  • 5+ years of experience in an opinion research setting, either in Market Research or Polling.
  • Experience of the full process of conducting research, from survey design through to fieldwork, analysis, and presentation.
  • Experience of managing multiple staff, ideally of managing a small team
  • Excellent communication and team-building skills, with a proven ability to build relationships and work collaboratively with people in different teams from across an organisation.
  • Experience of managing projects, ideally of six-figure value, from beginning to end. This includes building and maintaining client relationships, of working with suppliers, and keeping to deadlines and budgets.
  • Strong data experience, ideally with good experience in R or Python for opinion data analysis
  • A proven ability to write winning proposals for research projects with a range of clients.
  • Experience of generating and sustaining new business relationships
  • Strong understanding of policy and/or business strategy, and how opinion and consumer research shape decision making

Benefits

We expect the salary for this role to be between £70,000 and £80,000 dependent on experience.

We work both in the office and from home, with core office days Monday and Thursday. Our main office is based in Westminster. Many of us, including the founders, have young children and we work hard to be family friendly.

How to apply

Please email your application to the hiring team at: james.pendlington@publicfirst.co.uk

Please include a CV, and provide a short covering letter explaining why you are interested and why you would be a good fit for the role. We are particularly interested to hear about the ways in which you could bring fresh perspectives to the role.

Applications close on 31st March 2025, though Public First will conduct interviews on a rolling basis.