Principal Consultant - Social/Market Researcher

**This role is open to all Steer's UK Offices Contact us | Steer (steergroup.com)**

About Steer

We are Steer and we help people, places and economies thrive. Steer is a global employee-owned business consultancy specialising in transport, cities and infrastructure, with over 530 staff in 24 offices around the world.

We have an enduring commitment to generate success for our clients, for ourselves and for the communities which we support. A commitment that ultimately improves the way people live, work and travel.

At Steer UK, our consultants work to improve the outlook of our region, ensuring that our clients keep social and environmental impact in mind as they conduct their operations. We believe that actions speak louder than words, and therefore have annual measurable targets across all social impact areas, particularly DEI and sustainability. We have also committed to successfully operate as a Net Zero Carbon company by 2025, participating in the UN’s Global Compact.

For further information on Steer, please take a moment to review our website Steer | Helping people, places and economies thrive (steergroup.com)

About the role

This role is to help to sustain and grow Steer’s capability and capacity in research and insight. The role is within the UK business but will be part of the research and insight community across the US, India, Italy and Latin America to share best practice and learn from others and may result in opportunities to support projects across the company.

The candidate will provide a leadership (discipline development) role and a point of technical assurance on research across the company. They will coach and mentor junior colleagues working in this field to develop others’ technical skills and knowledge effectively.

Work-life balance

At Steer, we believe that a healthy work-life balance is paramount to long term success, which is why all employees seeking a full-time opportunity are encouraged to spend 60% of their time either in office or on-site with clients and why we aim to keep our employee’s typical work week to 37.5 hours, reflective of client needs. Hours, expectations, and exemption status will be determined for any applicant seeking a part-time opportunity.

Compensation

Steer is committed to ensuring that all its employees are compensated a fairly and at a competitive rate. All initial compensation, regardless of location, may be subject to change as skills, abilities, internal equity and geographic location are taken into account.

In addition to base salary, all employees will be eligible for an annual discretionary performance bonus. Please review the benefits section for more information on total reward.

Steer reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional compensation.

Requirements

The ideal candidate will have:

• Excellent technical skills helping specify research methods and analytical techniques. The candidate will be a go-to individual for clients and colleagues seeking advice and guidance on research and insight projects.

• Demonstrable project delivery and technical leadership experience in a consultancy environment.

• An understanding and appreciation of the transport ‘marketplace’ and stakeholders – key clients, opportunities, and service lines.

• Very good communication skills – an ability to write and present well, structuring a compelling narrative using a variety of techniques. Communicating effectively with colleagues and clients.

• Microsoft skills including report writing in Word and Excel analysis skills. Specialist software such as SPSS, STATA are advantageous but not essential.

• Proven ability to self-start, ability to build networks internally and work across teams, as well as a network of relevant industry contacts and clients.

• Evidence of delivering profitable research and insight projects and supporting research and insight elements of wider projects.

• The ability to hit the ground running – evidence that the candidate enjoys and can thrive in a fast-paced professional environment (ideally with prior consultancy experience).

• Proven ability to develop effective working relationships with clients, potential clients and colleagues across the business.

• Knowledge of evaluation design and techniques is also desirable – e.g. process evaluation techniques, theory of change development, evaluation methodological design etc. and experience delivering or commissioning evaluation studies.

• Demonstrable experience of innovation and creativity is highly desirable.

The candidate may have worked for a specialist market research agency outside of the transport industry; if this is the case we would look for evidence of transferable skills on the commercial side, such as developing revenue-generative client relationships and project leadership in a commercial environment.

Benefits

We offer a competitive package of benefits including private medical insurance and health screening, life assurance, group income protection, company pension scheme, EAP, ability to buy and sell annual leave days, Season Ticket Loan, a group Share Incentive Plan, up to 5 days for volunteering activities and a discretionary bonus scheme based on annual compensation (dependent upon individual and company performance).

Additionally, we offer 25 days annual leave, plus the 8 bank holidays and the ability to buy and sell leave in the year to give extra flexibility.

Steer is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all candidates regardless of race, color, ancestry, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, Veteran status, or any other legally protected status. Any other human expressions and experiences not mentioned here are equally welcome. If you require an accommodation, now or throughout your employment, please let us know.

In our commitment to inclusivity in the workplace, Steer has welcomed the creation of various Employee Resource Groups, dedicated to ensuring the support, progression, and well-being of all employees. For more information, check out our social responsibility page Our social responsibility | Steer (steergroup.com).

We understand that some may be dissuaded to apply based off their compatibility with the job description. That being said, we understand that not everyone is a perfect match on paper and encourage anyone to apply regardless of how much their work experience directly relates to the job description.

Part-time and flexible working applications will be considered.