Manager, Research & Insights, UKI Studio+

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Manager – Research & Insights

EY Studio+

About EY Studio+

Growth comes from solving problems that matter for people, customers, patients, employees, and society at large. At EY Studio+ UK, we are building a better working world, by putting the human first.  Our work is rooted in the way people make decisions, it’s helps us to help businesses make better choices and solve the most pressing problems. We work with organisations to create the platforms, products and services for tomorrow; making the world an easier, more enjoyable and sustainable place to live and work.

We don’t yet have all the answers, because that’d be boring, however we do have some of the best minds in the business and we are comfortable navigating complexity every day.

We’re privileged to have access to senior critical thinkers in our clients and we have conversations that excite us and challenge us all the time. We’re becoming an increasingly bigger part of an established global business, which throws up challenges and opportunities every day. Our way of thinking and doing business is infectious, and influencing more and more of the world around us, but that challenges us to go further and scale faster than before. Becoming part of EY Studio+ UK means getting on to enjoy this ride.

The opportunity

Growth comes from solving problems that matter for people — for customers, employees and society at large. Research & Insights sits at the intersection of human understanding and commercial impact. We are a group of world-class researchers, data scientists, strategists and designers who help organisations understand the people they serve and turn that understanding into growth.

We believe appreciating human complexity is the key to building empathy and connection - and that the most powerful insight comes from fusing qualitative depth with quantitative rigour, advanced analytics and AI. As a Manager, you will help lead that fusion, contributing to how EY Studio+ delivers evidence-led transformation for some of the largest and most prominent organisations across multiple sectors.

The role

This is a management role for a genuine mixed-method researcher with a customer insights specialism who can translate deep customer understanding into strategic direction and action. You will be expected to manage cross-functional insight and customer experience design workstreams, bringing together researchers, analysts, strategists and designers to solve complex client challenges. You will bring a strong understanding of how research informs service design, product design and marketing strategy, and how insight connects to the breadth of EY’s wider offering.

You will manage significant elements of complex client engagements, build trusted relationships with client stakeholders, and lead high-performing multidisciplinary teams with support from senior leaders.

There are a couple of things that we ask of everybody.

You will be endlessly inquisitive, and ruthlessly user focused and able to use a combination of logic, empathy, rigour and storytelling to articulate a customer or business problem before working creatively and technically to articulate a service that solves it.

You will be a natural collaborator. Ideas breed ideas, and so we work multi disciplinary teams and embed clients in our process. We work in the open, we share our thinking early and we build on each other’s contribution.

You will be ambitious yet realistic in your solutions. Our work sits in the sweet spot between desirable, viable, feasible and allowable. Getting it there is a big part of what we do.

You will be a doer AND a thinker and know when to switch from one to the other and how to create time and space for both.

You will navigate complexity. People, organisations, technology, policies, regulations. Designing services puts you at the centre of complexity. We need to make sense of it all quickly, and flex and adapt to move through it effectively.

You will be a self-starter and have an explorative mindset, creating new perspectives and identifying the spaces you can be impactful for both EY Studio+ UK and its clients.

Key responsibilities

You will manage the delivery of complex research and insight programmes, ensuring alignment to client strategy, measurable outcomes and EY quality standards.

You will design and deliver genuinely mixed-method programmes — integrating qualitative design research (ethnography, contextual inquiry, co-creation, diary studies) with quantitative research (U&A studies, concept testing, Voice of Customer and segmentation) — from scoping and survey design through to analysis and reporting — alongside statistical modelling and data analysis.

You will manage cross-functional insight and customer experience design workstreams, aligning research, analytics, strategy and design around a shared customer-led vision, integrated plan and measurable outcomes.

You will apply strong expertise in statistical modelling and advanced analytics, translating complex data into robust, commercially focused recommendations and customer segmentations.

You will embed AI across the research lifecycle — using it to accelerate synthesis, augment analysis and enhance the speed and quality of insight and develop AI-enabled research outputs that positioning EY Studio+ at the leading edge of applied, responsible AI in insight generation.

You will build and maintain strong client relationships, contributing to agendas and supporting strategic customer, brand and growth decisions.

You will contribute to thought leadership on emerging research, insight and AI trends, supporting EY’s position as a long-term strategic partner.

You will lead and develop high-performing cross-functional teams spanning customer insight, data and analytics, strategy and customer experience design; help set direction, clarify accountabilities, enable effective collaboration, and line-manage and coach individuals through the work.

You will act as a role model and coach for junior colleagues, maintaining EY Studio+'s values, high quality of care and strong culture, while managing hard factors such as issues and risks.

You will contribute to business development, including opportunity shaping, developing proposals and client pitches, and supporting pipeline development through your client relationships and market knowledge.

You will contribute to market-facing thought leadership and the evolution of the EY Studio+ proposition and play an active role in the go-to-market for our Solutions, including Customer Experience (CX), shaping how R&I insight is packaged and taken to clients.

You will maintain rigorous standards across project governance, commercial management, risk and quality assurance in line with EY policies.

Skills, attributes and experience

You will demonstrate customer insights specialism and recognised depth in understanding customer needs, behaviours, motivations and experiences, alongside the ability to connect insight to customer experience design and business transformation.

You will have a genuine mixed-method research background with deep, hands-on expertise across both qualitative and quantitative methods, with the ability to design and integrate them within a single programme.

You will have strong experience in statistical modelling and advanced analytics, with a proven ability to turn data into commercial insight.

You will have hands-on proficiency in research and analysis tools - including Q/Displayr, SPSS and Qualtrics – and be be familiarity with behavioural science, systems thinking and social listening methods.

You will be experienced in using AI in research and as an output - applying AI tools to accelerate analysis, synthesis and the creation of research deliverables.

You will have experience leading cross-functional teams and workstreams - with experience of helping set direction and delivering through multidisciplinary teams spanning customer insight, analytics, strategy and customer experience design, while mentoring and growing high-performing practitioners.

You will have a consulting, professional services or agency background, with a track record of managing complex client workstreams or engagements with strong senior-stakeholder communication, storytelling and stakeholder-management skills.

To qualify for the role you must

Be able to describe EY Studio+ UK capabilities and commitments accurately when discussing possible business opportunities with external contacts

Show that you have consistently produced research & insight work of high quality in regulated sectors that is accurate, complete and compelling

Be holding of a Degree level qualification in a relevant field (e.g. social sciences, statistics, psychology, market research, data science).

Ppreviously obtained an industry-recognised research or analytics accreditation (e.g. MRS), or relevant platform/AI certification.

Be able to create presentations that are clear and impactful, translating EY Studio+ UK ’s services into meaningful value propositions for clients

Show how you have contributed to a positive design team environment

What working at EY offers

We offer a competitive remuneration package where you’ll be rewarded for your individual and team performance. Our comprehensive Total Rewards package includes support for flexible working and career development, and with FlexEY you can select benefits that suit your needs, covering holidays, health and well-being, insurance, savings and a wide range of discounts, offers and promotions. Plus, we offer:

Support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues and practitioners around

Opportunities to develop new skills and progress your career

The freedom and flexibility to handle your role in a way that’s right for you

About EY

As a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, we’re using the finance products, expertise and systems we’ve developed to build a better working world. That starts with a culture that believes in giving you the training, opportunities and creative freedom to make things better. Whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime.

If you can confidently demonstrate that you meet the criteria above, please contact us as soon as possible.

Join us in a building a better working world.

EY | Building a better working world

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.