Manchester City Council

Role Profile

Senior Researcher, Grade 8

Performance, Research & Intelligence, Chief Executives Directorate

Reports to: Research Advisor

Key Role Descriptors

This role undertakes and directs research to facilitate the decision making process across the council and the partnership.

The roleholder will commission, oversee, analyse and interpret highly complex research and lead on the development of evidence based,cost effective short, medium and long term solutions to address and inform strategic business and community issues.
The roleholder will work with Elected Members, appointed representatives and senior management within the Council and partner organisations to ensure evidence based decision making.

Key Role Accountabilities:
Lead, manage and deliver high-quality organisational and service research projects across the authority and its main partnerships, contributing to a range of plans and strategies.
Effectively communicate highly complex information to a wide range of relevant stakeholders, building and maintaining effective working partnerships with authority colleagues and relevant external partners to maximise their contribution to research and corporate priorities.
Work collaboratively with services to design and deliver research projects which address key operational, service delivery and customer related matters within cost limitations and control all risks in relation to the achievement of agreed objectives within the research programme.
Help develop and maintain information systems and tools required for the effective management of the function and delivery of the research service, including the household telephone survey and other research projects.
Demonstrate personal commitment to continuous self development and service improvement.

Through personal example, open commitment and clear action, ensure diversity is positively valued, resulting in equal access and treatment in employment, service delivery and communications.

Where the roleholder is disabled, every effort will be made to supply all necessary aids, adaptations or equipment to allow them to carry out all the duties of the job. If, however, a certain task proves to be unachievable, job redesign will be given full consideration.

Senior Researcher – Key Competencies and Technical Requirements

Behavioural Competencies

  • Delivery: Delivery of high quality services.
  • Change: Improving services and making the most of resources.
  • Pride in Manchester: Demonstrating pride in our city.
  • Business Acumen: Taking a strong business perspective to achieve the best results.
  • Leadership & Management : The behaviours and actions to reflect how we work and what we achieve

Generic Competencies

  • Communication Skills:Is able to effectively transfer key and complex information to all levels of staff, adapting the style of communication as necessary and ensuring that this information is understood.
  • Analytical Skills: Ability to absorb, understand and quickly assimilate complex information and concepts and compare information from a number of different sources.Ability to take a large quantity of data from a number of different and sometimes conflicting sources and analyse into trends / results.Ability to identify patterns and trends that may impact on decisions and propose realistic conclusions identifying the risks and any assumptions made.Demonstrate the ability to apply statistical methods to analyse and resolve business and technical problems.
  • Planning and Organising: Ability to organise own time effectively, creating own work schedules, prioritising, preparing in advance and setting realistic timescales for own self and others. Has the ability to visualise a sequence of actions needed to achieve a specific goal and how to estimate the resources required.
  • Problem Solving and Decision Making:Ability to formulate independently a range of options for new or unfamiliar situations and to select the appropriate course of action to produce a logical, practical and acceptable solution. An ability to make independent decisions of a relatively uniform nature.
  • Creative Skills:Ability to find creative solutions where there are no existing parameters or procedural framework
  • Research & Intelligence:Ability to conduct research using a variety of techniques, in order to gather evidence and evaluate intelligence, recording in compliance with documented standards and legislation. Ability to evaluate and disseminate research information carried out in pursuit of a predetermined set of research goals..
  • Policy:Ability to provide a full analysis of how proposals and options would work in practice.

Technical requirements (Role Specific)

  • Specialist knowledge of social issues, applied social research and state of the art research and statistical methodologies and intelligence sources including utilising relevant and specialist software.

People. Pride. Place.