Strategic Communications Lead

**UK Research and Innovation**

**Salary**:£56,745
**Hours**:Full Time / Part Time (Minimum 0.8 FTE)
**Contract Type**: Open Ended
**Location**:Polaris House, Swindon (Hybrid working available)

**Closing Date: Sunday 22nd June 2025**

**Job Overview**:
To build awareness, understanding, engagement and trust in UK Research and Innovation and its activities and interests, both externally and with all employees, through audience research and insight.

**Key Responsibilities**:

- Lead on**UKRI audience research and segmentation, developing deep understanding of our key audiences, as well as what we need to do to reach existing and new audiences.
- Lead on qualitative and quantitative data gathering and analysis, presenting findings to improve UKRI’s ability to make evidence-based recommendations and decisions
- Build and maintain relationships with external partners, collaborating on joint activity and sharing best practice and insight
- Responsible for commissioning and analysing UKRI audience research and insight
- Responsible for research and curation of internal and external insight
- Support the development and implementation of UKRI’s external affairs and communications strategy
- Development of audience insight capability across EAC to support the delivery of the UKRI comms strategy and organisational priorities Manage UKRI’s regular perception audits to measure and evaluate how the organisation is viewed by others to support targeted messaging and comms activity
- Work with colleagues across EAC and wider UKRI to support the development of campaigns based on research insights
- Support in the analysis and presentation of campaign delivery and evaluation of key insight
- Maximise our ability to make evidence-based decisions through qualitative and quantitative data gathering and analysis with clear findings given and recommendations suggested
- Establish links with external partners, including government departments, as appropriate, collaborating on joint activity and sharing best practice and insight
- Participate in sector-wide projects which support UKRI priorities
- Research and identify new tools and methods to promote continuous improvement of audience insight techniques and ensure best practice
- Ensure we have the policies in place to manage risks to our reputation and brand and that all necessary data protection guidance and market research best practice is followed
- Maintain a broader perspective of trends and developments in the market research sector
- Work closely with the Evaluation lead to consider how evaluation of past activity informs future insight activity
- Work with Head of strategic communications and planning to develop and implement UKRI’s external affairs and communications strategy

**Person Specification**:
(S) - Shortlisting Criteria (I) - Interview Criteria (S & I) - Shortlisting Criteria & Interview Criteria

Essential
- Degree or equivalent experience (S)
- Proven track record of using research data and insight to inform strategy and decision making, together with the skills to analyse and interpret this data and extract relevant insight (S & I)
- Very strong background in quantitative surveys but also ideally experience in qualitative research and online communities (S & I)
- Experience within research, insights, analytics or consulting with a focus on understanding audiences and evaluating campaign performance (S & I)
- Experience with audience measurement tools (I)
- Excellent analytical skills (S & I)
- Excellent project management skills (S & I)
- Quantitative skills and the ability to dig into the numbers (S & I)
- Demonstrated credibility with relevant communities, usually based on experience from government, industry, education or the third sector (I)
- Ability to work collaboratively across teams, councils and communities (S & I)
- Demonstrable emotional intelligence and tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty (I)
- Resilience, multi-tasking and ability to work to deadlines (S & I)
- Ability to absorb, evaluate and communicate complex information appropriate to the audience (I)
- Ability to influence, persuade and negotiate (S & I)
- Strategic thinking (I)
- Flexibility to adapt to change (I)

**Application Guidance**:
How to evidence the criteria:
You are encouraged to use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) in the cover letter to evidence your ability to meet the ‘person specification’ criteria in the job description. Cover letters should be no more than two sides of A4 (minimum font size 11). For examples of the STAR method, please visit: The STAR method | National Careers Service’.

**Benefits**

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package We are committed to supporting employees’ development and promote a culture of continuous learning A list of benefits below;
- An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
- 30 days’ annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (