Senior Research Executive - leading employee / volunteer engagement surveys with not-for-profits

Agenda Consulting

We are a research consultancy, helping not-for-profit organisations develop and sustain the highest levels of employee and volunteer engagement. 

We strongly value our long-standing relationships with charities, NGOs, UN and international organisations and social care providers. We work closely with our clients to understand their unique needs, and we are proud that our clients see us as trusted partners.

We see our role as catalysts in providing leaders with compelling evidence and deep insight, giving them the confidence to deliver their vision.

We have expertise in the following areas:

• Employee and volunteer engagement surveys for organisations seeking  to understand how their people experience their role, their colleagues, their management and the organisation as a whole, levels of engagement and the key factors that drive this and how the employment experience varies for different groups
• Benchmarking studies which gather information from organisations in a sector and produce reports showing how each organisation compares with its peers and its sector. We benchmark human resources, volunteer management and financial management.

 

 

Please see our website www.agendaconsulting.co.uk for more information

Our Clients

We work exclusively in the not-for-profit sector with clients in the UK, the US and globally.

Clients we have worked with recently include: Alzheimer's Society, British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK, HelpAge International, Marie Curie, National Autistic Society, National Union of Students, Plan International, Rethink Mental Illness, Save the Children International, Sense, United Nations and many more.

Our Team

We are a team of 10 split into Research and Business Development, with plans to expand the business, hence this new role. Our main office is in central Oxford and our US office is in Annapolis.

The Role

We are seeking to recruit a Senior Research Executive to help us to grow our business. The role is for 4-5 days per week and is a permanent position. Key responsibilities:

• Project manage employee and volunteer engagement surveys: building trusting relationships with our clients and managing the project team from survey design, communication, response tracking through to reporting and feeding back results to senior management
• Develop and maintain excellent, close working relationships with our clients
• Oversee the delivery of our benchmarking studies: working with steering groups to develop the scope of our studies, managing the project team and leading on the results conference events
• Contribute to our thought leadership and practice development programmes
• Contribute to business development, including needs analysis and proposal writing

                                                                   

 

This is a rewarding and varied role that involves substantial communication with clients and potential clients. There is great scope to grow and develop in the role and to take on further responsibility with excellent career progression opportunities for the right person. Specifically we would be keen for the successful candidate to take on greater responsibility over time in account management and winning business, practice development in our four sub sectors, project managing our software development and developing our survey methodologies.  Agenda has plans for growth and the successful candidate will have a key role to play in realising these ambitions.

The role reports to Tim Walters, Principal Consultant, is based in central Oxford and will involve a certain amount of travel mainly to London, occasionally internationally.

 

Person specification

The role will suit someone with well-developed research skills, the ability to cultivate strong working relationships with our clients, excellent communication and writing, and a can-do attitude. They will be a strong communicator with good influencing skills, a flexible, collaborative approach and a strong sense of personal accountability and initiative. They are likely to have a particular interest in the not for profit sector.

Essential

A minimum of 2 years’ experience of managing and delivering high quality quantitative research.

Project management experience.

Experience of working directly with external clients, influencing and advising them on how best to achieve their research aims.

Experience of presenting research findings clearly and effectively to senior audiences.

Excellent interpersonal skills with a flexible, can-do attitude. Calm under pressure and relates well to colleagues.

Organised and reliable, able to make decisions and prioritise, plan and deliver work accurately and on time.

Strong attention to detail.

Able to work as part of a team but also able to take responsibility for projects and work independently to deliver work of a high standard on time to clients.

Motivated to grow and develop the role and contribute to the organisation’s growth and strategy.

Desirable

Formal project management qualifications e.g. PRINCE2.

Experience of writing competitive tenders, understanding client needs and costing projects.

Experience of creating compelling thought leadership pieces which contribute to business development.

Experience of setting up and managing databases.

Experience of using stats packages e.g. SPSS.

Experience of managing software development.

Knowledge of human resources and people management issues.

Knowledge of and interest in the not for profit sector.

Training and development

Training will be provided to enhance skills.

 

Probationary period

The role is subject to a probationary period of six months. The purpose of the probationary period is to allow the employee to be inducted into the organisation and for both parties to be certain that they have made the right decision. A learning curve with milestones will be identified and the employee will be expected to

progress on this during the probationary period.

 

Notice period

1 month on either side.

Remuneration

The salary is £30,000 per annum pro rata.

Benefits:

• 25 days paid annual leave pa pro rata plus public holidays. The entitlement increases by 1 day per year, to a maximum of 30 days
• 4 paid volunteering days pa
• Flexible working - employees may ‘flex’ the start and finish time by up to 1 hour
• Stakeholder pension
• Simply Health Cash Plan
• Cycle to Work scheme

Applying for the post

Applications should include a covering letter demonstrating how you fulfil the criteria in the person specification along with your CV including details of two referees we may contact for a reference. Applications should be sent to Samantha Thornley at

• Samantha.thornley@agendaconsulting.co.uk
• Or by post to Samantha Thornley, Agenda Consulting, The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford OX1 1HU.

The deadline for receipt of applications is 9.00am on Monday 25 June 2018.

Those invited for first interview will be notified by close of play Tuesday 26 June 2018.

First interviews will be held on Thursday 28 June 2018.

Those invited for second interview will be notified by close of play Friday 29 June 2018.

Second interviews will be held on Wednesday 4 July 2018.