Description

 The Senior Statistician will lead the design and delivery of complex survey methodology, including sampling, weighting and advanced analysis. The role involves developing new statistical approaches, providing expert advice to researchers and clients, and contributing to high-quality research outputs and proposals with minimal supervision. 
Key Responsibilities
Design sampling and weighting schemes from scratch with minimal input from other statisticians.
Select survey samples using statistical software with minimal input from other statisticians; check/QA samples generated by other statisticians.
Generate survey weights for survey analysis with minimal input from other statisticians; check/QA weights generated by other statisticians.
Review, develop and implement new methodology related to survey design and analysis with minimal supervision.
Undertake complex data analysis using techniques such as logistic regression and Latent Class Analysis (LCA). Advise/teach researchers and customers on statistical and methodological issues with support from other statisticians.
Be part of the tendering process for research projects – both contributing to Research Proposals and being a member of the team for tendering interviews.
Write sections/chapters for research and technical reports with minimal input from other statisticians.
Disseminate statistical work via conferences and written reports/papers.
Perform any other reasonable duties that NatCen may require that are consistent with the broad nature of the job role.

Skills Knowledge and Expertise

Good academic background, preferably including a degree with substantial statistical content.
Demonstrable experience working in survey research; for example, in social/market research, government, other public/voluntary sector, or academia. This can include work towards successful completion of a postgraduate qualification with a strong research or research methods component.
Knowledge of survey statistics, with some practical experience of survey sampling and weighting.
Familiarity with SPSS, R, Stata or a similar statistical package (with experience of scripting/coding using the relevant command language).
Excellent Excel skills, with ability to manage large datasets, use advanced formulas, and produce accurate, well-formatted outputs.
Good standard of written English.
Aptitude for explaining complex statistical issues in a clear and comprehensible manner, with some experience of doing this in a professional environment.
Ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple deadlines, with some experience of doing this in a professional environment.
Keen eye for detail.

Benefits
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
 
 Holiday
25 days’ holiday plus 8 bank holidays. Leave increases to 30 days after 3 years’ employment.
 
 Pension
All new employees will be automatically enrolled on the pension scheme 3 months from their start date unless stated otherwise. The minimum employee contribution is 3% and the maximum employer contribution is 5% of salary. If the employee does not wish to contribute to the pension scheme, there will be a process that will be in place for them to follow to opt out of the scheme for a limited period.

Staff can also join our defined contribution pension scheme. The minimum employee contribution is 4% and the maximum employer contribution is 7.5% of salary. You can join this pension from when you start working with us.
 
 Life Insurance
All employees are eligible for a lump sum benefit payable to the named beneficiary (this does not have to be a spouse, partner or dependent, and can be split between beneficiaries) on the employee’s death of 5 times their annual salary. Beneficiary form must be completed – further details can be found when you start working with us.
 
 NatCen Rewards
This is an online employee benefits scheme featuring discounts at over 800 retailers and service providers in the UK, both online and in store.
 Health Cash Plan
 Employees can sign up to healthcare cash plan which lets you claim back the cost of treatments, such as laser eye treatment, dental treatment, physiotherapy, hospital scans etc. You can pay as little as £1.20 per week, and when you receive treatment, you send the details to the provider and it reimburses you, depending on the terms of your cash plan.
 
 Professional Subscriptions
We will pay the cost of one professional membership subscription per individual per annum, where that subscription is required for the job.
 
 Cycle to work scheme
This is a government initiative which allows NatCen to provide bikes and associated safety equipment to employees to use as a means of transport for work purposes.
 
 Season ticket loan
We offer an interest free loan to buy annual season tickets for travel to work. This is available once you have completed your probation period.
 
 Eye care vouchers
NatCen will contribute up to £30 per year for an eye test. If the glasses/contacts are solely for VDU use then NatCen will contribute up to £100.
 
 Flexible working
Flexible working is supported where it helps to meet the aims of the company, as it increases motivation and reduces the level of stress. Examples of this include home working and job sharing. Some flexibility in working hours may be possible. Core hours of work are 10am – 4pm.
 
 Parental leave
Employees who meet the qualifying criteria can claim up to 18 working weeks unpaid leave per child under 5, or up to 18 years of age if the child has a disability. Employees can take parental leave in blocks of one week and no more than 4 weeks per year.
 
 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
EAP is a confidential helpline designed to help you deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting your home life or work life, health and general wellbeing.
 
 Career Development
We are passionate about learning and the value it brings to the organisation and our clients.
 Everyone has access to training and development which supports them in the work they do and personal learning & development plans are tailored to help develop individuals and teams achieve our goals. We aim for a culture of continuous improvement which includes active reflection on development needs and goals.

About the National Centre for Social Research
At The National Centre for Social Research we believe that social research has the power to make life better. By really understanding the complexity of people’s lives and what they think about the issues that affect them, we give the public a powerful and influential role in shaping services that can make a difference to everyone. And as an independent, not-for-profit organisation we’re able to focus our time and energy on meeting our clients’ needs and delivering social research that works for society.
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