Principal Research Specialist - Specialist Guides in London

The Specialist Guides team’s new Principal Research Specialist will have primary responsibility for developing and maintaining relationships with legal vendors, LegalTech organisations, litigation support and investigations firms and risk/ESG consultants ranked in the Litigation Support, Crisis & Risk Management and NewLaw guides. The Specialist will have principal responsibility for increasing engagement among these organisations through external meetings, thought leadership and high‐level research activities.

The Specialist will also assist the Research Director and Research Managers with ranking reviews and copyediting on the team’s five guides: High Net Worth, FinTech, Litigation Support, Crisis & Risk Management and NewLaw. The Specialist will develop their market knowledge and understanding through meetings, interviews and desk research, and will seek to share this knowledge with Chambers teams and the market via articles, webinars and podcasts, training materials and internal seminars.

This role will require a fast learner with a genuine passion for legal innovation, and a desire to conduct new and unorthodox research into Specialist Guides practice areas. The successful applicant will be someone who can develop new client relationships and act as the "face of Chambers" for specialist organisations and businesses without a long history of interacting with directories.

• Becoming a recognised leader in this area of research and a senior member of the Specialist Guides team, with responsibility for maintaining the highest standards of research excellence.
• Conducting face‐to‐face meetings and telephone interviews with key players in the relevant Specialist Guides areas, gathering information about firms’ strategies, market trends and developments and areas of growth.
• Developing close relationships with Specialist Guides firms, encouraging new firms to provide submissions to Specialist Guides and helping to onboard these firms into the Chambers research process, in collaboration with the research team, Customer Success, Submissions team and Commercial teams.
• Conducting and directing research at the highest level on key Specialist Guides categories, having overall responsibility for the quality of research, rankings and editorial in these areas.
• Quality assurance of Research Analysts’ research and editorial, conducting ranking reviews and copyediting, identifying areas for improvement and providing feedback to the Specialist Guides Research Managers.
• Working autonomously to develop your in‐depth market research knowledge, understand market trends and developments, and share this knowledge with the team.
• Assessing Chambers’ coverage of Specialist Guides categories, suggesting new sections, changes to existing research and assisting with the growth of the guides, and helping to identify growth opportunities.
• Working to tight deadlines and balancing the responsibilities of this multi‐faceted role.

• Regularly communicating to the Global Research Director, Research Managers and Research Analysts the latest updates, developments, and trends in the market, based on your external meetings, desk research, attendance at events and interviews with key market participants.
• Coaching Research Analysts, providing guidance and information about best practice.
• Collaborating with Learning & Development in the planning and delivery of training on your areas of expertise, including running internal seminars and knowledge sharing sessions.
• Liaising with Events, Marketing, Sales, Technology and senior leadership to increase research participation, market penetration and commercial growth of our Specialist Guides, improve research processes and assist with the development and testing of new technology platforms.

• Sharing knowledge with the market via articles, webinars and video content for our website.
• Supporting the commercial team by providing updates on new research areas, newly ranked firms, passing on sales leads, etc.
• Working closely with the Product team on the development of Chambers products.
• Acting as an ambassador and internal/external reference point for Specialist Guides research.

• A thorough understanding of Specialist Guides research is not essential, but willingness to learn and eagerness to embrace non‐standard research areas is vital.
• The successful applicant will demonstrate the aspiration to be a recognised market expert in Specialist Guides practice areas, within Chambers and externally.
• The applicant will have experience in conducting research of the highest quality in any Chambers research team.

• Intellectual curiosity and willingness to conduct entirely new research in areas never covered by Chambers before is essential.
• The successful applicant will also have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written; strong attention to detail; the ability to work effectively across teams and with all levels of the organisation; excellent time management skills and the proven ability to work under pressure.

We are committed to fostering and promoting an inclusive professional environment for all of our employees, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Diversity and inclusion are integral values of Chambers and Partners and are key in our culture. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified individuals regardless of age, disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity. This commitment applies across all of our employment policies and practices, from recruiting and hiring to training and career development. We support our employees through our internal INSPIRE committee with Executive Sponsors, Chairs and Ambassadors throughout the business promoting knowledge and effecting change. As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview.