Head of Community Insight

Why Southwark?

Southwark is committed to understanding the needs and experiences of its residents and using this to shape services and decisions.

This role sits within the Strategy, Performance and Insight team, part of the wider Strategy & Communities department. The team brings together corporate strategy, performance, data and insight to support better decision-making and a clearer focus on outcomes across the council.

We are seeking a Head of Community Insight to lead how the council gathers and maximises insight from residents and communities. This role will play a key part in ensuring that resident experience is understood and reflected in strategy, policy and service design.

What You'll Be Doing

In this role you will:

• Lead the council’s approach to resident and community insight
• Oversee research, consultation and engagement activity
• Ensure insight informs strategy, policy and service design
• Develop a clear picture of resident needs and experiences
• Work with services to use insight in decision-making
• Build relationships with communities and partners
• Support senior leaders with evidence and insight

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who has:

• Experience leading insight, research or engagement work
• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills
• Experience working with diverse communities
• The ability to turn insight into clear recommendations
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills

Additional Information

Advert close date: 11:59pm on 26th April 2026

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

Attachments

• Head of Community Insight G15.pdf