Consumer Research Manager

The Energy Systems Catapult

Energy Systems Catapult was set up to accelerate the transformation of the UK’s energy system and ensure UK businesses and consumers capture the opportunities of clean growth. The Catapult is an independent, not-for-profit centre of excellence that bridges the gap between industry, government, academia and research. We take a whole-systems view of the energy sector, helping us to identify and address innovation priorities and market barriers, in order to decarbonise the energy system at the lowest cost.

Background to this Opportunity

At the end of every gas pipe and electricity wire, sits a consumer, paying the bill. We need to understand what they need from energy so we can create a low carbon system they will want. The Catapult’s Consumer Insight Team is here to help others design low carbon products and services people enjoy using, and policies people support. We work with businesses and government on some of the UK’s most exciting low carbon energy innovation projects.

You’ll be joining a wider team of seasoned market researchers, UX designers, service designers and user researchers. We’re lucky enough to have deep consumer insight on how people use energy at home, collected over the last decade primarily for Government. We’ve been using this insight to help businesses bring new products and services to market, give Government the confidence to legislate for a net zero carbon target and investigate how to harness innovation to benefit the vulnerable. Find out more about our work at www.peoplelab.energy.

As a Consumer Research Manager you will have a hands-on role in the delivery of a wide range of innovative research projects, from scoping to completion. You will have a background in ad hoc market research, ideally having recently stepped up into a Research Manager role or being an experienced Senior Research Exec who is ready to progress.

Key Deliverables and Activities

This role reports into the Lead Consumer Researcher.

• Working with Lead Consumer Researchers to design appropriate project scopes that draw on both qualitative and quantitative methods as appropriate.
• Independently designing research materials, including screening criteria, questionnaires and discussion guides, analysis plans.
• Managing online surveys fielded through ESC’s consumer panels.
• Monitoring fieldwork progress to ensure projects deliver on time.
• Undertaking in-depth interviews and moderating focus groups and online communities.
• Analysing and interpreting qualitative & quantitative data, with input from a Lead Consumer Research to finalise the narrative.
• Independently writing reports of findings, for example through PowerPoint reports and written insight papers.
• Undertaking desk research as needed, for example for literature reviews.
• Supporting the maintenance of ESC’s consumer panels for example by keeping databases up to date.
• Play a key role in developing and maintaining strong client relationships through the delivery of good customer service and high-quality work.
• It is expected that you will lead some client engagements as the project lead, whilst for others, you may be working with a Lead Consumer Researcher or another member of staff.

What credentials are we ideally looking for?

• Significant experience in ad hoc market research, ideally in research agencies or consultancies
• Having recently stepped up into a Research Manager role or being an experienced Senior Research Exec who is ready to progress
• Evidence of exposure to all aspects of the market research process from set up through to presentation, in both qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Able to lead a range of projects with minimal supervision.
• Capable of creating documents critical to delivering qualitative and quantitative consumer insight (e.g. recruitment screener, discussion guides, quantitative questionnaires, reporting templates, reports in PowerPoint and Word).
• Strong analytical and insight delivery skills, able to quickly find the story within the data.
• Good communication skills with the ability to work well both as part of a team and alone.
• Excellent organisation and project management skills, able to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Previous experience of running panel surveys, and managing panels, is desirable.
• A can-do attitude, able to work with limited supervision to tight deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and a focus on quality of deliverables.
• Highly curious with the ambition to master a broad range of approaches including complex quantitative techniques.
• Experience in the energy sector is an advantage, though not essential.
• Experience working with user centred design, field trials, ethnography and/or usability testing would be a benefit.

During lockdown, we have been working remotely and as we begin to focus more on the future, we intend to embrace a new refreshing way to utilise our office in Birmingham City Centre . As a consequence we are developing a flexible approach to the workplace , which ensures we keep some of the benefits of home working whilst enabling the Catapult to operate efficiently, this hybrid way of working may result in the majority of us working from home for a good chunk of the time, merging the best bits of both office and home working.