Are you curious about what matters to people? Are you excited by collaborative, supportive and creative research?

Join the HVM team as a Research Manager

Who we are

Hopkins Van Mil’s mission is to bring people together to inform the future. We distil the collective voices of society and deliver meaningful insights and provide spaces for change.  Our vision is a better society built on thoughtful social insights explored and implemented with humanity and kindness.

We work with clients across the public sector on a wide range of issues including health and social care, data systems, the environment and climate change, and cultural heritage. Current clients include the MET Office, Nuffield Council on Bioethics, The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, Nuffield Foundation, Genomics England, Cancer Research UK and the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Cambridge. 

We use a range of deliberative methods including Citizens’ Juries and public dialogues. Recent projects have included the first Citizens’ Jury in England on assisted dying, and major public dialogues on early human embryo research (Human Developmental Biology Initiative) and digital identity services (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology).  

What we’re looking for

Our ideal Research Manager is flexible, confident, and shares our values. You’ll want to have an excellent rapport with our close-knit team and with our clients, stakeholders and research participants, and be a supportive, approachable and motivating line manager.   

You’ll be able to draw on previous relevant work experience to lead and/or co-lead on some deliberative and/or qualitative research projects from ideation through to completion. You will use your excellent project management skills and ability to prioritise complex and competing deliverables to work with the project team and clients to ensure project success.

 You will have conducted social (qualitative) research work outside of a higher education context, and ideally have experience of working within a dynamic research agency environment.

 Attributes:

  •  Super organised with excellent attention to detail

  • Hardworking, enthusiastic and flexible

  • Calm and able to problem solve efficiently including quick thinking under pressure

  • Proactive and enthusiastic

  • Empathetic and creative

  • Focused on the needs of participants and others involved in the delivery of our research programmes

  • Tuned into the practicalities of working within a small business

 Experience and Skills:

  • At least three years’ experience of delivering social (qualitative) research projects, ideally for public sector clients (essential)

  • Experience of delivery across the full research project lifecycle - from proposal to reporting (essential)

  • Work experience of at least one year outside of an academic setting (essential)

  • Track record of effectively facilitating small group discussions with members of the public (essential)

  • Track record in effective project management (essential)

  • Skilled at Microsoft Office (essential)

  • Proficient working with analytic tools such as NVivo (essential)

  • Experience of line management (desirable)

  • Experience of writing successful tenders and proposals (desirable)

  • Experience of working within a research agency environment (desirable)

 HVM will only shortlist applicants who meet the criteria set out above, so please demonstrate and provide examples of how you meet these criteria within your application.

 HVM recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

What we’re offering

We’re a small, friendly and collaborative team who are committed to our work and support each other to do great things. As a successful small business, we feel this is a brilliant opportunity for you to learn and develop, working with us on every stage of a wide variety of projects, and contributing to new opportunities and approaches for HVM.

This is a full-time role working at our offices in Whitechapel and flexibly from home. We do require office working as a minimum two days per week including a Tuesday. You can arrange your hours to suit you with a working day being 8 hours including a paid lunch break. Our workshops are delivered on weekday evenings and weekends, with time off in lieu. We offer a 5% contribution to the pension scheme.

Next steps

To apply, send a brief CV (no more than 2 pages) with a short letter explaining why you are the best fit for this role to info@hopkinsvanmil.co.uk. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 11th December at 9am.

Interviews will be held on 18th December 2024 in our London office.

Please direct any queries to leah@hopkinsvanmil.co.uk.

Henrietta Hopkins