Account director - communications research

Account Director - Communications Research

Location: Millbank, Westminster, London

Contract: Permanent

About Verian

Verian is a purpose-led company, delivering high-impact projects that shape public policy and drive social change. From education to health, crime to energy, our projects make a real difference.

With offices in 15 countries, our consultants and researchers advise government departments, regulators, charities, and other public sector organisations to make informed decisions and improve people’s lives.

Operating globally, Verian has offices across Europe, Asia Pacific, and the United States.

Our UK Communications team specialises in communications strategy, development and evaluation, helping Government and third‑sector clients to create and optimise many of the UK’s most important behaviour change and public engagement campaigns. We work on a wide range of policy areas, from transport to public health and adult skills to domestic abuse. We evaluate many of the Government’s flagship campaigns, including THINK! road safety, DHSC vaccinations and adult social care, NHS organ donation and MHCLG Fire Kills. Our work is always interesting; it often involves sensitive issues and it makes a real difference to the world we live in.

About the Role

This is an exciting time for Government Communications, with a new Permanent Secretary in place and an increasing focus on innovation and agility to support the Government in delivering its promises. We are looking for a Director who can help us deliver and extend our already‑strong position in this fast‑moving market. Primarily a quantitative role, this involves taking the day‑to‑day lead in working with clients and account teams to create audience insight and measure campaign effectiveness. We need you to build long‑term ‘trusted advisor’ client relationships; get immersed in clients’ worlds to understand their aims and challenges; design insight and evaluation solutions to meet those; and lead teams to deliver them. We also need you to integrate insight across a number of research programmes, helping us maximise the value we can offer to all our clients, and to contribute to team leadership, working with Research Managers and Executives, with oversight from a Senior Director.

What You’ll Do

• Build and sustain strong client relationships in which you can give confident and constructive advice on how to use research to optimise communications, tailored to clients’ needs
• Design and lead a range of agile research projects, ensuring these are delivered to time, budget and quality
• Manage and motivate your project teams and line reports, ensuring each person’s strengths are utilised and developing the skills of junior researchers
• Contribute to team planning, strategy and commercial success, and skills and capability development across the team
• Work with other experts to develop our offer, drive forward our ways of working and create new solutions

What You’ll Bring

• Expertise in account management and building strong client relationships; applying discovery skills to establish client challenges, objectives and priorities, as well as the ability to troubleshoot issues, advise on challenges and create solutions
• Solid quantitative research and analytical skills, knowledge of best practice comms research, and ability to synthesise multiple data sources, identify key insights, produce a narrative and co‑create impactful reports with and for clients
• Experience of working in Communications research (for commercial or public clients), ideally involving close partnership with other agencies; knowledge of the wider comms industry; and a keenness to develop and grow your interests
• Proven project oversight experience, with an ability to lead a research team to design and deliver excellent work to time and budget
• A track record in training and developing others to help build a thriving and successful team
• Experience of qualitative communications research, in addition to quantitative expertise
• Knowledge of public policy research and/or experience working with central government departments to inform communications or behaviour change strategy

Why Verian?

• Work on socially meaningful projects in a supportive, collaborative environment
• Hybrid working and flexible arrangements
• Professional growth and development opportunities

We encourage applications from all sections of society and provide reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the application and interview process.