Graduate Social Researcher

• Educated to degree level, with 2.1 or above in a relevant subject (e.g., sociology, public policy, economic, psychology other social sciences).
• Have practical experience designing and conducting primary social research using qualitative and/or quantitative methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups or surveys).
• Familiarity with data analysis tools, such as Excel, Power BI, R or NVivo.
• Be available for an in-person interview at County Hall, Chelmsford between 1^st – 5^th September 2025. 

Desirable Requirements for the role: 

• Previous work experience (including internships or work placements) in a social research focused role, either for a research agency or an embedded research function in an organisation.
• Previous work experience (including internships or work placements) in a local authority, charity, or other public sector organisation.

Interview dates and location: 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th of September 2025, taking place at County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex. CM1 2QH. 

About Us:

Are you looking to become a crucial part of a flexible and high achieving team? Do you want to help shape the future of our local authority and our county? This could be the opportunity you are looking for! 

Benefits: 

• Healthy work life balance; flexible and hybrid working options.
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities.
• IT equipment and home-working equipment provided.
• 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + option to purchase extra.
• Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme.
• Access to hundreds of discounts and benefits through Essex Rewards.
• Access to our Health & Wellbeing Platform with Lifeworks.
• Two paid days for individual volunteering and two paid days for team volunteering each year.
• Disability Confident Leader: we are committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job.
• Plus, many more exciting benefits coming soon! 

What one of our Researchers says about the role: 

“Beginning my career as a Graduate Researcher was an incredible opportunity which allowed me to build upon the knowledge I gained at university, whilst also learning entirely new skills. During my time here I have been supported by such a welcoming team and have now progressed to becoming a Researcher. I can’t wait to continue my journey at Essex County Council and continue working towards impactful result.” 

To read more about what it is like to be a Graduate Social Researcher in our team, please visit: Insight blog: Makings of a Researcher 

The Role: 

The Graduate Researcher role is part of a flexible team within the Research & Citizen Insight team which sits within the Policy Unit, providing key stakeholders with the insight and intelligence needed for effective leadership, governance and decision making, which are informed by robust research and evidence, while keeping Essex citizens at the heart of everything we do. 

The role will employ a range of research techniques and will support the Researchers and Senior Researchers within the team on every aspect of the research project life cycle. Typical tasks may include scoping; literature reviews; research design; materials design, such as survey or discussion guides; respondent recruitment; fieldwork, including interview, focus groups or facilitating workshops; analysis and report writing. The role will work across a range of business and service areas and will require collaboration with insight professionals across the organisation. 

The role requires the ability to demonstrate research skills in a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and will be supported to develop these by a team of senior researchers and researchers. 

About You: 

• Knowledge and practical experience in qualitative and quantitative research.
• Knowledge and understanding of the practical implementation of the Data Protection Act and researcher ethics in relation to managing data for analytical and research purposes.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, and experience of working as part of a team as well as unsupervised.
• Ability to communicate clearly and appropriately with a range of different audiences. This could include report writing, data visualisation, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Good project management skills.
• Clear and creative thinker uses evidence to identify problems, trends, and patterns, and present information in clear ways.
• Interested in social issues that affect local communities. 

What will you be doing? 

• Support our research team to understand and define needs to develop research projects, using a variety of primary and secondary research techniques. Provide powerful insight aligned to priorities and activities within the Everyone’s Essex plan.
• Supported to build and maintain relationships with different research service providers and internal/external stakeholders.
• Organise and prepare research materials and data collection documents such as questionnaires, discussion guides, informed consent forms and interviewer briefing notes.
• Undertake desk research to collate, summarise, and evaluate secondary evidence reports to understand current landscape of topics to inform research design and decision making.
• Gather, analyse, and interpret a range of primary research data using digital and non-digital methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, surveys, verbatim coding, and ethnographic / observational techniques.
• Support the recruitment and screening processes of participants for the use of research projects, including scheduling interviews, focus groups and workshops.
• Working with a range of researchers supporting high quality insight that draws on a range of sources and uses the most appropriate medium to visualise insight to tell compelling and actionable stories with clear recommendations to improve outcomes for local people or organisational effectiveness.
• Understand and apply research best practice to support the delivery of high-quality ethical research and evaluating services within Essex County Council and partner services.
• Support the evidence-based practice service as part of the Research & Citizen Insight team offer, consulting with stakeholders and dealing with requests as and when required.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
• This is an ‘anywhere worker’ role, but there will be a need to collaborate with the team in County Hall, Chelmsford, intermittently depending on business need.

To read more about our business area, please visit: People, Policy, Economy and Public Health

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email daniel.warner@essex.gov.uk

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