Principal Researcher

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Principal Researcher

Join a team where Purpose drives everything we do, Ambition fuels our growth, Trust builds our foundation, and Respect shapes our culture. 

We're not just hiring — we're inviting you to build the future with us. If you're curious, driven, and ready to leave your mark, this is your invitation to make your next move.

Contract: permanent

Working hours: 35 hours per week is full time. Where possible, we are open to considering part time/flexible working patterns. Please let us know in your application your desired working pattern.

Salary: Circa £67,000

Location: London

Reporting to: Head of Business Analysis & Insight.

By joining our team, you'll enjoy the best of both worlds – hybrid working and the collaboration of a great office environment. Our permanent hybrid policy sees us all working at least four days across a fortnight in the office. As well as extensive opportunities for personal and career development.

About Us:

The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that plays a vital role in UK financial services. Every day we help resolve disputes between consumers, or small businesses, and their financial service providers. 

Join our growing Analysis and Insight team as a Principal Researcher. We’re seeking someone with strong stakeholder engagement skills and a proven ability to lead and deliver impactful research projects – both quantitative and qualitative.  Reporting directly to the Head of Analysis and Insight, you’ll drive evidence-based decision making, manage a small team of researchers, coach colleagues, and use your expertise in areas such as social research or behavioural insights to shape organisational decisions. This is a key role working across boundaries, engaging at all levels (including the Executive), and making complex findings clear. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds who meet the role criteria

What You’ll Do:

Drive Research Strategy for the Service This involves setting the overall direction for research activities and your team, ensuring alignment with service goals, and developing strategic plans that guide evidence-based decision-making. Undertaking Research Activities Designing and analysing surveys, facilitating focus groups, and performing user testing are essential tasks to gather meaningful insights and data crucial for service improvement. Drive Evidence-Based Decisions Through Research and Insight Utilise research findings proactively and reactively to inform decision-making, leveraging strong business knowledge to ensure recommendations are relevant and impactful. Act as a Centre of Social Research and Insight Expertise As the Principal Researcher, you will be the main point of expertise for social research and insight within the service, managing relationships with both internal stakeholders and external organisations or suppliers to build capability and promote the effective use of research methodologies.

To be considered for this role, you’ll need to show us that you’ve got the skills and capabilities. You’ll have to meet the following minimum criteria:

Minimum Criteria

• A strong record of impact through qualitative and quantitative analysis, ideally in an organisation that prides itself on customer service.

• Experience of leading and range of research and insight work – through your own analytical and problem-solving skills supporting the analysis of others and managing deliverables from external suppliers.

• The ability to work with ambiguity, focusing on the big picture and eliciting the key issue from stakeholders or situations, so your research and insight expertise drives evidence-based improvements.

• Knowledge and practical experience of a range of quantitative and qualitative research techniques – e.g. social research, behavioural insight and systems thinking approaches – with demonstrable evidence of using these to add business value.

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written – you can explain your ideas in a way the decision makers understand and can act on.

It would also be nice for you to have

• Experience of SQL.

• Desirable experience of text analytics

Why You'll Love Working With Us:

We are a values led organisation. Our values define our culture, influence our decisions, and underpin our vision and strategy.  They set out how we play our PART through Purpose, Ambition, Respect and Trust. You can learn more about our values here: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/aims-value. We also offer an attractive, competitive salary and flexible benefits to suit our people. Here’s a list of some of the many benefits and perks you can get for working with us:

• 25 days holiday entitlement, with the option to buy extra or sell days

• Generous pension

• Various Family Friendly Policies, including enhanced maternity pay, carers and dependants leave

• Employer provided benefits such as Private medical insurance, virtual GP, Critical illness cover, Life assurance cover, to name a few

• Choice of voluntary benefits including Technology scheme, Cycle to work scheme, Will-writing service amongst others

Gym membership discounts, and a fully equipped on-site gym open 24/7 in London only​

• Applications need to be submitted by Tuesday 16th December

• Due to high application numbers this advert may end earlier than the date specified, so please don't delay and apply now!

  A full job profile is available on request and will be provided to candidates shortlisted to the first stage of the assessment process

The Financial Ombudsman is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team We view diversity as fundamental to our success and welcome applications from underrepresented groups across all communities. Please click on the link below to find out more

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/aims-values/diversity-inclusion

Don’t miss out be part of the journey and take advantage of this opportunity.

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