We are recruiting for a Quantitative Analyst

About Nesta

We are Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society’s biggest problems. Our three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future where the economy works for both people and the planet. 

For over 20 years, we have worked to support, encourage and inspire innovation. We work in three roles: as an innovation partner working with frontline organisations to design and test new solutions, as a venture builder supporting new and early stage businesses, and as a system shaper creating the conditions for innovation. 

Harnessing the rigour of science and the creativity of design, we work relentlessly to change millions of lives for the better. Find out more at nesta.org.uk. 

About this mission: A Sustainable Future

Our Sustainable Future mission focuses primarily on reducing carbon emissions from the UK’s homes. Working with and alongside a range of partners, we are developing, testing and investing in solutions that could speed up adoption of heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies, support households in using their existing heating systems more efficiently and help people across the income spectrum use energy more flexibly. We are also doing some exploratory work on the relationship between net zero policies and productivity.

The role

In this role, you will use your skills in quantitative research methods, data exploration and analysis, presentation and data visualisation to support the work of Nesta’s A Sustainable Future mission.

We don’t expect you to be an expert at this stage, but the role would suit someone with experience of quantitative research and practice either from a study or existing work setting. In this role, you will be encouraged to join Nesta’s communities of practice in quantitative methods and data science and to take opportunities to experiment, learn and develop your skills.

Core tasks expected of the quantitative analyst in the mission include:

• Delivering quantitative analysis, visualisation and interpretation for key mission outputs, such as the heat pump survey and the installer survey.

• Working with secondary data sources, such as sample surveys and the Census, to derive key statistics.

• Reviewing existing research and practice critically to support the scoping and  development of new areas of work.

• Getting to grips with the mission’s decarbonisation of home heating context and building your knowledge about specific topics and areas of focus.

• Providing ad hoc data analysis to support the communication and delivery of the mission’s projects and goals.

• Collaborating closely with other members of the mission team and with colleagues in Nesta’s practices and other stakeholders to ensure that the mission’s work is accurate and impactful.

• Communicating the mission’s work internally and externally. This could include providing project updates in review sessions, writing reports and slide decks for stakeholders, contributing to blogs, and presenting to external audiences.

The person

The following list outlines the skills and characteristics we are looking for in candidates for this role. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply, even if you don’t meet all of the criteria listed below.

Essential

• Knowledge of quantitative research fundamentals, such as: data collection, sampling, hypothesis testing, modelling, assessing quality, reliability and validity.

  • You can critically apply your knowledge to: interpret research findings, comment on the meaningfulness of results, assess the strengths and weaknesses of evidence, and use evidence to make informed decisions and recommendations.

• Capability using quantitative analysis tools, such as python or R, to read, transform, explore, analyse and present data.

  • You can apply your skills to data to create summaries, model outputs and visualisations that help tell a compelling story.

  • You are aware of approaches to making your work reproducible, such as writing clean, functional code, documentation, and version control.

• You learn quickly and enjoy the challenge of building familiarity with new topics, deciphering key jargon and communicating your understanding to others.

• You can report back on work-in-progress and research outcomes in a range of settings, including presentations, research reports and blog posts.

Desirable

• Some knowledge or experience in the practice, policy or research context of the Sustainable Future mission. This might include through previous work, research, study, or personal experience with net zero, decarbonisation, heat pumps, the home energy transition, climate change and other associated areas.

• Some experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams, such as with data scientists, qualitative and mixed-methods researchers, policy specialists, and designers.

• Comfortable working to an agile project management approach within the mission, planning your time effectively, and feeding back risks and issues.

• Adaptable communication skills: you can explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences and enjoy sharing your work with interested parties regardless of their prior knowledge or expertise.

What we offer

Salary: £35,000 - £48,000 (offers are expected to be made towards the bottom of the band) plus array of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more  

Location: This role can be based in London, Edinburgh or Cardiff, hybrid working arrangement with a minimum of two days in the office

Term:   Permanent

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do. 

Reports to: Principal Researcher (ASF) 

Making an application 

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 08:00am on 27th November 2023.

First interviews will take place w/c 4th December 2023 and second interviews will take place w/c 11th December 2023.

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.  

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop. 

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.  

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.   

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.