Principal Social Researcher Behaviour, Insight & Research

Job Description

Role can be based in:-(London- Croydon - Stratford - £58,015) or (Manchester - Salford - £51,561)SummaryThis is an exciting opportunity to join a ground-breaking research function in government delivering high quality in-house social research to support the design and optimisation of HMRCs services.We are looking for social researchers with extensive experience of delivering primary research either agency side or in a government context to join our growing team. HMRCs Customer Lab was set up in 2017 as a centre of excellence for in-house social research in a government context. We are now expanding this facility and are looking for candidates who can: Work with service design and operational colleagues to define and prioritise social research requirements, and then design solutions for those. Be the technical lead on numbers of internally delivered qualitative/quantitative projects, whilst overseeing Senior Research Officers (SROs)/Research Officers (ROs) who project manage them. Support the personal development of a small number of SROs/ROs. Play an active role in growing the Customer Lab function including diversifying the methods the Lab offers, building capability and showcasing Lab work and impact to senior colleagues.Job DescriptionHMRCs ambition is to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world, transforming the tax system to make it more effective, efficient and easier for customers to comply with. Timely, robust and accessible social research is a critical enabler of this transformation, ensuring both the design and optimisation of HMRCs systems is based on evidence that informs, challenges and shapes the tax system of the future.The Behaviour, Insight & Research (BIR) team sits in the Customer Insight & Design Directorate (CIDD) at the heart of HMRC and has a vital role in delivering on this ambition. BIR delivers high quality, timely evidence that shapes HMRCs strategy and ensures our approach to transforming the department is based on the latest knowledge about customers. The team includes over 60 staff from a range of analytical professions and backgrounds (largely social researchers, economists, behavioural psychologists and insight professionals) grouped into five core disciplines: Customer Insight - focused on developing actionable insight from existing evidence Data Insight - the analysis and exploitation of large-scale datasets to generate real time and longitudinal insights Customer Research - delivering contracted social and market research Customer Lab - delivering high quality internal social and market research Behavioural Insight - applying behavioural insight and testing its impact through experimental research, including randomised controlled trials.These disciplines work together to ensure a holistic approach to evidence generation and application.The TeamThis role is based in BIRs Customer Lab discipline. We are a London/Manchester based team of social researchers delivering internally delivered research across a range of business areas. We work via two state-of-the-art research delivery suites in Manchester and Stratford delivering research to support the design of HMRCs new services, the optimisation and re-design of existing services and supporting the testing of large-scale outbound communications across the full breadth of HMRCs tax and customs work. Our research includes online / virtual research as well as face-to-face fieldwork across both quantitative and qualitative methods. We work across a wide range of business priorities including: Research to inform EU Transition, including assessing customer readiness, communications and service design Work to prepare for the future tax system, including research to identify concepts for future services and early stage design preparations Work to iterate and improve HMRCs digital offer to individual customers, including research to support the development of HMRCs digital accounts Research to support the digitisation of the tax system for businesses including understanding the business population and how to encourage digital on-boarding Generating evidence to understand drivers of customer contact and how contact demand can be lowered Research to improve the quality and clarity of HMRCs online advice and guidance Research to improve HMRCs business as usual operations, with a focus on improving business efficiencyResponsibilitiesAs a Principal Research Officer within the team you will have the following responsibilities: Technical oversight of several internally delivered research projects supporting departmental priorities. This will involve supporting project managers (ROs and SROs) in scoping and planning projects; delivering fieldwork; analysing data; report writing; presenting research findings; managing relationships with design, operational and communications colleagues; and overall quality assurance. Leading a portfolio of work for BIR, working alongside a G6 and members of the other BIR functions, to manage the teams relationship with a particular part of the department. This will involve engagement of policy and operational colleagues to identify, define and prioritise research and insight requirements; proposing solutions which are deliverable within budget and other constraints; and ensuring the effective delivery of the portfolio of work. Line management of one or two ROs/SROs. It is possible that you will be asked to manage staff in a different location to you and some travel to the other location will be expected once we return to offices (this is unlikely to be more than once a month). Being a part of BIRs wider leadership team, which will include taking an active role in leading the Customer Lab function and taking on a BIR corporate role.We are open to agreeing a balanced and diverse set of research delivery responsibilities for anyone appointed to this role including the possibility of also managing some contracted research. We are keen to hear from candidates currently working within government or in research delivery roles across the private, voluntary or public sectors. Candidates joining the team from outside government will be given extensive briefing and space to orientate themselves around the workings of the civil service and how research delivery is managed within HMRC.Candidates should also note that these roles may require occasional evening work depending on research fieldwork requirements. The team makes every effort to keep this to a minimum. When evening fieldwork is occasionally required it is managed carefully in full consideration of the domestic and personal circumstances of team members and generally doesnt go beyond 7:30pm unless the researchers are personally content to work a full evening. Time off in lieu is guaranteed for any work out of core hours and the successful candidates would be given full flexibility to take this time when convenient, either on the morning after evening fieldwork or at a dif