Research Manager (Quant) in City of Westminster

About Public First, a SHGH Company. Public First is a specialist consultancy that helps businesses, charities, philanthropists and public bodies improve public policy. Based in London, we have worked in more than thirty international markets. We are part think tank, part strategic consultancy, part research company, and part communications agency. In practice, we bring together the disciplines that make policy change happen: research and analysis, economics, political insight, strategy and communications. Our team includes former senior civil servants, political advisers, campaigners, researchers and journalists. Many of us have worked at the most senior levels of government, parliament and political movements, and we continue to be active across the political spectrum. Public First is part of SHGH, a group of cross-border advisory firms, guiding clients through an unprecedented period of change in policy, politics, regulation, and sustainable growth.

About the role. We are recruiting a Research Manager to join the Research and Insights team. This is a hands‑on role for someone who enjoys running quantitative projects day‑to‑day: shaping questionnaires, coordinating fieldwork, analysing data, and turning findings into clear outputs. You’ll work closely with Associate Directors and Directors, taking ownership of defined workstreams (or smaller projects) while developing your skills working with Public First’s various policy areas, as well as working with Economics and Corporate Affairs. The role is primarily focused on quantitative research but, aside from some qualitative specialists, the team is generally mixed methods and there are frequent opportunities to get involved in Public First’s research covers a huge variety of topics.

In the last year alone, the team has:

• Formed a core part of the Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes, surveying pupils, parents and school staff to understand the causes of disparate educational outcomes.
• Carried out hyper‑localised face‑to‑face polling on experiences of crime and policing in a major UK city.
• Become the official polling partner of Politico, producing regular topical research on important issues to citizens in the UK, US, France, Germany and Canada.

We are looking for a candidate with at least 3 years’ experience in either a research agency or in‑house research team delivering interesting and engaging research, and who wants the opportunity to tackle knotty problems in an environment that rewards independent thought and innovation.

In this role you would be:

• Supporting and/or leading the day‑to‑day delivery of quantitative opinion research projects across a number of topics and markets (often multi‑market economic impact projects), with oversight from an Associate Director/Director on overall direction and client management.
• Drafting questionnaires and research materials, helping shape the research approach, and coordinating with internal stakeholders to keep projects moving.
• Managing fieldwork and project logistics: liaising with panel/fieldwork partners, monitoring sample, handling day‑to‑day troubleshooting, and ensuring timelines and deliverables stay on track (with support when needed).
• Analysing polling data and producing outputs: cleaning/checking data, building tables, producing charts, and drafting insight‑led sections for reports and presentations.
• Contributing to report write‑ups with clear, compelling language, and helping translate results for different audiences (clients, stakeholders, public‑facing outputs where relevant).
• Client communication and delivery support: joining calls, providing updates, and acting as a point of contact on specific workstreams, with AD/Director support where required.
• Collaborating across teams (for example with policy and impact colleagues) to ensure the final product is coherent and high quality.
• Getting involved in early‑stage thinking: contributing to proposals, research design discussions, and initial client meetings as you grow in confidence.
• Wider team contribution: supporting internal ways of working (templates, QA processes, knowledge‑sharing) and looking for opportunities to improve the work product.
• People support (light‑touch): helping newer colleagues with polling best practice and QA when needed. Formal line management would not normally sit with this role.

Person specification

Essential:

• 3 years’ experience in quantitative opinion research (agency, consultancy, in‑house, or adjacent), with hands‑on involvement in questionnaire design, fieldwork management, and analysis.
• A keen interest in questionnaire design, including how to phrase questions to avoid bias and get to the heart of an issue.
• Strong writing skills and the ability to explain polling results clearly and accurately for client deliverables.
• Solid experience working with opinion data (tables, weighting familiarity, basic statistical testing), and confidence in Excel.
• Experience in R, Python or Stata is a plus.
• Strong organisation and project discipline: able to run day‑to‑day tasks independently, flag risks early, and deliver reliably with support on the bigger‑picture calls.
• Comfortable presenting yourself credibly to clients (written and verbal), with support available for more senior‑level moments.

What would be helpful, but not essential for you to apply:

• Experience with multi‑market projects, technology‑sector clients, B2B research, or research feeding into economic modelling.
• More advanced analytics (segmentation, regressions) or scripting/programming for survey workflows.
• Mixed‑methods exposure (working on or with qualitative research such as focus groups or depth interviews).
• Experience contributing to proposals, pitches, or initial client meetings.
• Interest in AI tools that can improve research workflows (analysis, QA, drafting, automation).

Other information. We pride ourselves on welcoming people from a range of backgrounds and with a mix of political opinions. Our leadership team has backgrounds across the major political parties, and the bipartisan nature of our work means we actively encourage debate and discussion on the topics we are researching from a range of different points of view. You would be working in a lively office, getting involved in all stages of our projects with colleagues across all of our policy teams. We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in employment and we would particularly like to encourage applications from women, disabled and Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAME) candidates.

Benefits. Salary will depend on experience. For this role we expect salary to start from £36,000 depending on candidate experience. We also offer a profit share (bonus) programme (15% of annual salary), 5% company pension contribution, 25 days annual leave, and private healthcare. We operate a hybrid working model, with a mix of home and office working. Please note, we operate a minimum expectation of two core office days per week. Our main office is based in Victoria. Many of us, including the founders, have young children and we work hard to be genuinely family‑friendly.