Head of Research in Leicester

About This Role

We’re looking for a Head of Research to lead our research function at Capital One UK, reporting into our Head of Marketing. As a company we have a mission to make credit simple, and to achieve this we constantly strive for a more human-centred business. The Research team is critical to this and to support teams across the business in ensuring human-insight is at the heart of every decision.

This role will lead the research team into its next evolution, strengthening our research operations and prioritising high-impact research which naturally combines a range of methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) to deliver rigorous insight across the organisation. The role requires someone who understands market insight, continuous CX programmes and UX research, offering an opportunity to showcase holistic research leadership.

Success will look like strong partnerships across all disciplines in the organisation, at multiple levels. This will also be reflected in research helping to shape our long-term business and product strategy, whilst also supporting customer centric delivery near-term. This is all underpinned by leading a practice which delivers quality insights, through well planned and managed research.

Leading a research function in the financial sector comes with unique challenges. We’re a heavily regulated industry and we ensure we maintain the highest standards in how we plan, conduct and manage all our research work. It’s detailed, collaborative, customer-centred work.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and grow a team of 9 researchers, focusing on talent development, driving impact through insights, and demonstrating the value of research within the company.
• Build deep cross-functional relationships across the business (marketing, analytics, design, product management, and engineering) to enable the research team in identifying, prioritising, planning, and delivering on research initiatives.
• Strike a balance between near-term needs of the business and identifying future-facing opportunities based on market and customer insights.
• Provide technical coaching on research best practice to your team, embedding a culture of continuous learning.
• Expand this approach across the business, helping democratise access to insights and scale the impact of research within the company.
• Actively monitor and analyse data and trends from internal sources, academic research, and industry published reports to discover and act on opportunities to drive our customer centricity agenda.
• Actively contribute and elevate the customer voice through our formal reporting and informal channels, raising the profile of our work.
• Improve research practice tooling and processes to create speed and efficiency, ultimately enabling your team to have impact.
• Manage relationships with our external research vendors, and partner with our internal Supplier Management team.
• Ensure high standards of regulatory compliance in all facets of research, and implement on-going programmes of work to ensure continuous improvement.

What We’re Looking For

• A research leader who is able to balance commercial and customer needs.
• Experience developing research talent and up-leveling research functions.
• Evidence of leading a collaborative research function that serves the needs of the broader business and helps integrate customer insights at the heart of decisions.
• Deep knowledge and experience in quant and qual research and a track record of delivery of mixed method studies, driving demonstrable impact.
• Fluency in triangulating data from multiple sources to create clear and compelling narratives that influence at a leadership level.
• Experience managing managers, developing different research profiles and skill-sets, and leading across a range of experience levels.
• Hands-on experience across a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, and experienced in relationship management of external partners/vendors.
• Fluency/familiarity across CX insights, Market Research, Competitor Intelligence and UX Research disciplines.

Beneficial Qualifications:

• Experience in heavily regulated environments, ideally within Financial Services.
• Experience in large, matrixed organisations, where driving consensus across different functions is critical.
• Experience conducting internal workshops and programmes to promote the value of research.

Where and how you'll work

This is a permanent position based in our Nottingham / London office. We embrace a hybrid approach to work. You'll spend three days a week in the office (Tuesday-Thursday), with Monday and Friday being dedicated work-from-home days.

Our offices are designed to inspire and support you. At our Nottingham head office, you'll find an on-site gym, restaurant and dedicated Learning Loft. Our London office boasts a rooftop running track and coffee bar.

What’s in it for you

We invest in the growth of our people alongside our business. You will have extensive opportunities to learn and develop your career, including access to up to £5,000 in funding for external qualifications.

In addition to career development, our comprehensive benefits package is designed to grow with you, ensuring your wellbeing is prioritised at every stage of your career:

• Wealth & Future: Competitive pension and performance-based bonus schemes.
• Holidays: Start with 25 days of annual leave, increasing with tenure. Need more? You have the option to buy 5 additional days.
• Health: Access premium care through our private medical insurance.
• Family Support: We champion your milestones with enhanced parental leave.

A full list of our benefits is available here.

What you should know about how we recruit

We pride ourselves on hiring the best people, not the same people. Building diverse and inclusive teams is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. We want to work with top talent: whoever you are, whatever you look like, wherever you come from. We know it’s about what you do, not just what you say. That’s why we make our recruitment process fair and accessible. And we offer benefits that attract people at all ages and stages.

We value diversity, inclusion and belonging at our core. We empower our associates to do great work by creating an inclusive culture—one that values diverse perspectives, fosters collaboration and encourages innovative ideas—and a place where associates of all backgrounds can thrive by bringing their most authentic selves to work. We call this our Culture of Belonging, and it rests at the heart of our business.

Our associate-led Business Resource Groups were created to help support our diverse population and include over 10 groups across our offices. Because each Business Resource Group is as unique as the population it serves, they offer a range of activities, networking opportunities, special events and learning programs to associates.

Capital One is committed to diversity in the workplace.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact ukrecruitment@capitalone.com. All information will be kept confidential and will only be used for the purpose of applying a reasonable adjustment.

For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com.

Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site.

Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).

Who We Are

At Capital One, we're building a leading information-based technology company. Still founder-led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to banking. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit. We are succeeding because they are succeeding.

Guided by our shared values, we thrive in an environment where collaboration and openness are valued. We believe that innovation is powered by perspective and that teamwork and respect for each other lead to superior results. We elevate each other and obsess about doing the right thing. Our associates serve with humility and a deep respect for their responsibility in helping our customers achieve their goals and realize their dreams. Together, we are on a quest to change banking for good.