Research Assistant - Brands and Advertising, Creative Excellence (12-Month Placement)

Are you driven by data and passionate about insights? We are a leading global market research company, enabling organisations to make smarter, bolder, and faster decisions. The Creative Excellence Service Line at Ipsos focuses on helping brands understand how to make better advertising.

We are an entrepreneurial division, looking for highly talented individuals who are interested in being part of a dynamic and energised team of 50+ researchers. Your contributions will be valued and encouraged from the very beginning, as you'll be working on live projects for well‑known dynamic brands in industries such as Technology, Social Media, Finance, Transportation, FMCG, Healthcare, and more. We primarily conduct research using quantitative methods and regularly collaborate with other Service Lines at Ipsos who also specialise in the fields of brand and advertising. We have a flexible working culture; offering support to our colleagues and celebrating both our individual and team’s successes is important to us.

As a Research Assistant, you'll have the opportunity to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to our research insights. We work with clients through different stages of the creative development process, including:

• Improving the creative idea or concept
• Testing early stage or final versions of the ad to optimise before airing
• Recommending changes to better the effectiveness of clients’ ads
• Assessing how well the ad performs once live, and if it is working in the way the client intended

Your key responsibilities will be to support quantitative research studies from start to finish, including:

• Writing questionnaires and checking they are scripted correctly
• Managing and overseeing fieldwork including data processing and sample quality control
• Checking data tables and overall data quality
• Helping prepare presentations for clients, thinking about how we can build insightful narratives from our datasets and deliver our conclusions in a visually engaging way
• Acting as a key point of contact with suppliers and internal stakeholders (for example, our Data Processing, Finance, fieldwork, online scripters, coders, etc.)

We encourage diversity of thought so we look for candidates who are as diverse as the societies, markets and people we work with. Therefore we are looking for:

• An analytical and problem‑solving mindset, focused on not only interpreting data but also understanding the “why” behind insights.
• Effective communication and storytelling skills, the ability to derive actionable insights from data and present them in a clear and engaging way for diverse audiences.
• Commercial awareness and client‑focused mindset, with a genuine passion in understanding client needs and delivering impactful, value‑driven solutions.
• A curiosity and learning agility that fosters exploration of new ideas and openness to understanding changing trends.
• Creativity and innovation to think outside the box and bring fresh, impactful ideas to life.
• Embraces collaboration and teamwork, working effectively with others and valuing diverse perspectives to build on colleagues' strengths.
• Strong organisational and attention to detail skills, with a commitment to accuracy and integrity in every task.
• A focus on self‑awareness and a growth mindset, driven to succeed and make a real impact, with a willingness to reflect, learn, and grow.
• An aptitude for leveraging AI tools and techniques to enhance research and insights, in line with Ipsos' standards and policies.
• An interest in brands and how they use advertising to grow their business.

You must be currently studying an undergraduate degree that offers a 12-month placement year in industry, along with the unrestricted right to work in the UK.

As a placement student at Ipsos you will be a part of the Future Talent Network, made up of graduates, apprentices and placement students. At Ipsos, we are committed to investing in your development, and to offering you comprehensive support and guidance throughout the programme, empowering you to build a successful and fulfilling career. You will have the opportunity to receive extensive and industry‑leading training that is specifically designed to provide you a comprehensive foundation in a commercial environment. It is also a chance to meet Future Talent employees across the business and work on projects together, building a global network and fostering teamwork and innovation.

Successful applicants will move on to a cognitive and personality assessment, followed by a virtual interview with one of our talent partners. The final stage will be an in‑person assessment centre at our London office in June.

We are committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We recognise that this is important for our business success - a more diverse workforce will enable us to better reflect and understand the world we research and ultimately deliver better research and insight to our clients. We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme, certified as a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. We provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process.