Research Panel Lead

Job description

Scope’s Research Panel is a platform where disabled people and parents or carers of disabled children can get their voices heard and is a central tool in Scope’s mission to achieve ‘Everyday Equality’.

In surveys, depth interviews, or discussion groups, panellists help improve Scope’s advice and support services, policies and campaigns, and fundraising events. They also advised Scope’s partners who want useful feedback from disabled people.

This role is pivotal, the panel lead manages all aspects of running, building, and balancing Scope’s Research Panel. Day to day, they deal with a range of projects and clients, ensuring panellists are not overused and there’s enough to fulfil target samples.

Main responsibilities

• Recruiting panellists for on-going projects, advising on panel capacity for project briefs, and reporting panel balance and safeguarding issues.
• Oversight of the Research Panel’s online portal, posting research projects and newsletters, monitoring panellists’ responses and activity, and developing it to be a positive experience for all.
• Expanding the number of active panellists to robustly cover all parts of England and Wales, creating recruitment initiatives and liaising with potential sources of more disabled panellists.
• Tracking the panel’s profile so it represents as balanced a cross-section of the disabled population in England and Wales as possible, for criteria such as, age, gender, ethnicity, and range of conditions and impairments.
• Responsibility for panellists’ personal information security and compliance with GDPR, with the overall goal to be ISO compliant in approach.
• Provide training and support to the Panel Executive and set day to day agenda for them to work on.
• Be the Scope Research Panel structural expert for internal and external training and questions.

Internal contacts

• Scope Research Panel Executive
• Insight Manager and Executives
• Strategy, Impact and Social Change team
• Information and Advice team
• Partnerships team
• IT support staff

External contacts

• Scope Research Panel Members,
• WIZU and Tivian support teams,
• Corporate Partners.

Person Specification

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• Educated to degree level, preferably with a research element
• GCSEs for English Language and Maths, or an acceptable equivalent qualification
• Two years direct experience of running a community, recruitment or tracking panel
• Some appreciation of market research methodologies and best practices
• Experience of managing projects to timelines and working in a team environment
• Proven ability to learn new IT software tools
• Knowledge of GDPR legislation and other data protection requirements

Desirable

• Lived experience of disability
• Experience of working in a charity insight team
• Experience in website building and HTML coding
• Experience of growing a research panel

Skills

Essential

• Able to quickly develop a rapport with a wide range of people
• High levels of attention to detail and accuracy
• Passionate about delivering value added insight
• Self-motivated with the ability to work on own initiative
• Able to problem solve and calm decision-making abilities
• Good time management and ability to prioritise workload
• Ability to appreciate all aspects of a project
• Be a positive team member
• Willingness to adapt to a new culture and methods