Job Summary
£29k–£30k. IC1 Insights. Location: London (office-based, ~4 days per week).
native has been building for 10 years, but we're still very much a startup: fast‑moving, ambitious, and building with intent. We're creating the infrastructure that connects students, Students' Unions, universities and advertisers through a managed marketplace. Our goal is to increase student engagement while enabling Students' Unions to secure sustainable funding. For advertisers we offer meaningful, measurable routes to student audiences. The more aligned these incentives are, the more defensible and scalable our business becomes.
What We're Looking For
We value clarity of thought, good judgement under pressure, the ability to create structure where none exists and writing that does work rather than decorates it.
You might be right for this if:
- You think in first principles, not borrowed answers, solving problems from the ground up.
- You write the way you think: clearly, precisely and without padding.
- You are organised by instinct, the kind of person who notices when a tracker is out of date and fixes it without being asked.
- You thrive in ambiguity, comfortable making decisions when there isn’t a map.
- You do the work, not for applause, but because it matters to you that things are done well.
- You have range, you’re not just smart on paper, you’ve done things that demanded resilience, judgement or initiative.
We are open to a wide range of degree backgrounds, but we look for intellectual sharpness, structured thinking and a track record of writing well. That often shows up in disciplines such as English, History, Philosophy, Classics, Languages, Journalism or Linguistics, but not always. If you have written a thesis, edited a student paper, run a newsletter, ghostwritten for a startup or built any kind of body of work in prose, we want to hear about it. If your academic path is less typical, help us understand how your thinking and your writing have been shaped and why they stand up.
What You'll Be Working On
This is a hybrid role. Roughly half writing, half coordination, with the balance shifting week to week depending on what’s in flight.
On the writing side, you’ll be:
- Writing and refining survey questions, ensuring every item is clear, unbiased and earns its place in the instrument.
- Drafting recruitment emails, reminders and follow‑up sequences that actually get students to respond, with attention to subject lines, opening hooks, length and call to action.
- Turning raw survey responses into narratives, briefs and sales‑ready outputs that commercial teams can take into client conversations.
- Editing and improving copy across research touchpoints, from participant‑facing communications to internal write‑ups, holding a consistent voice and standard.
- Providing support for ad‑hoc research requests and reports.
On the coordination side, you’ll be:
- Running end‑to‑end logistics for qualitative and quantitative research, including participant recruitment, scheduling interviews and organising focus groups and prizes.
- Deploying surveys, monitoring response rates and ensuring accurate sampling and timely completion.
- Maintaining meticulous records of participants, consent documentation and survey responses, with full compliance to data protection standards.
- Keeping trackers, schedules and project documentation accurate and up to date so nothing slips.
- Collaborating closely with the insights team to ensure insights are accurately captured, well written and actionable.
This role provides practical experience in structured, high‑quality research, the writing craft that surrounds it and the operational discipline that makes both possible. It will quickly develop your end‑to‑end expertise in a fast‑paced research environment.
Required Skills
- You have studied a discipline that demands a lot of writing, such as English, History, Philosophy, Classics, Languages, Journalism, Linguistics or similar.
- You can show us writing you’re proud of, whether published, academic, student journalism, a Substack, a newsletter or work done on the side.
- You have an instinct for email copy: you understand why some subject lines get opened and others don’t, why some messages get a reply and others get ignored.
- You have practical exposure to designing or critiquing survey instruments and understand the basics of question types, ordering effects and writing for clarity rather than ambiguity.
- You are familiar with survey software such as Qualtrics, Typeform or similar, and with email tools (Mailchimp, Customer.io, Klaviyo or equivalent) at least at the level of someone who has used them in a serious context.
- You are highly organised, able to manage multiple projects, timelines, datasets and writing deadlines accurately, and you take pride in keeping things tidy.
- You enjoy applying rigorous research methods practically and see writing not as decoration but as the thing that makes insight usable.
- You’re comfortable writing for a variety of audiences, adjusting tone and framing while maintaining clarity and precision.
Location and Ways of Working
You’ll be based in our London office, working in person at least four days a week, with one optional day remote. We believe in high‑bandwidth collaboration and fast decision‑making, so most of the work happens face‑to‑face.
Equal Opportunity Statement
We are actively creating an equitable environment for everyone at native to thrive. Diversity and inclusion are a priority for us and we are making sure we have lots of support for all of our people to grow at native. At native, we embrace diversity in all its forms and foster an inclusive environment for all people to do the best work of their lives with us.
