Research Officers

Job summary

Do you want to produce statistics to improve society?

The Office for National Statistics provides statistics to give insight into different areas of society and our economy. We are at the forefront when it comes to the production of reliable data, giving trusted and unique insights into health, well-being, work, household finances, local economies, high streets and more.

Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet – a once-in-a-decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation, and community planning for the next decade.

We will achieve these goals through quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research so are seeking to recruit people with the relevant research skills to support us in this.

By joining us as a Research Officer you will become a member of Government Social Research (GSR), which is the analytical profession for civil servants who generate and provide social and behavioural research and advice. To apply for these roles, all candidates need to demonstrate competence in quantitative social research.

The majority of GSR roles in ONS are quantitative but a handful of qualitative roles are also available. In your online application you can select your preference for qualitative roles, but we are unable to make guarantees on placement for successful candidates.

At ONS we are creative about the way we work to deliver brilliant and sustainable outcomes and as we collaborate, we approach working together with positivity and trust, investing in building excellent and inclusive working relationships across the organisation.

This campaign is to fill current vacant posts, therefore apply only if you have already completed your degree or are due to complete and receive your degree by 30th September 2026.

Job description

High quality data and analysis are required to inform the UK, improve lives and build the future. You could be working on topics of interest and programmes of work that include Census 2031, responding to changing data needs, population and migration, health monitoring, crime or survey transformation and quality.

Key responsibilities

Responsibilities vary depending on the role but will include some of the following:

• Production and publication of high-quality National Statistics on a range of subject matters.

• Discrete pieces of analysis to provide context and understanding around statistical outputs.

• Development of new methods, production systems and reporting/dissemination to make sure we meet data users’ changing needs.

• Assisting with research to understand administrative datasets and how they can be used in the production of official statistics.

• Conducting qualitative research (employing a range of methods including mental model research, focus groups, cognitive interviewing, pop-up research, usability testing and so on) with the public and businesses. This may include conducting participant recruitment for the research.

• Designing and developing questionnaires for social and economic surveys (suitable for paper, telephone, face-to-face and online self-completion) using qualitative research methods.

• Disseminating work in various ways and to different audiences via written reports, through presentations, at ‘show and tell’ meetings, and through papers to a variety of audiences, both in the UK and internationally at conferences and other community events.

• Building strong professional working relationships with project stakeholders. Answering queries from customers and departments on ad-hoc analyses or standard outputs; helping customers make best use of our statistics.

• Using specialist statistical software such as R, Python or equivalent to support this research.

Person specification

As a GSR Research Officer, we will be looking for you to demonstrate skills and experience in 5 key areas below. Your evidence can come from academic study and/or professional work. In your personal statement provide evidence of how your skills and experience meet ALL of the following:

• Experience with using quantitative and/or qualitative methods and techniques, including research design and data collection.

• Experience in conducting and interpreting quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis, includes selecting appropriate analytical techniques, identifying the most relevant findings, and considering the strengths and limitations of the analysis.

• Ability to communicate complex analysis to both specialist and non-specialist audiences in a range of formats (e.g., written, verbal), using appropriate tools (e.g., visuals) to support understanding.

• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, including taking a leading role when required, and build strong collaborative relationships with a diverse range of colleagues.

• Experience with managing your own workload, prioritising tasks to meet tight deadlines, and adapting plans when faced with professional challenges.

Qualifications

Entry Routes for this vacancy

To be eligible to apply for this Research Officer (RO) role in the Government Social Research (GSR) profession, you need to fulfil the criteria of one of the following three entry routes:

Qualification route

Hold, or expect to get by 30th September 2026, an undergraduate degree at a minimum of 2:2 or a postgraduate degree in a social science related subject with sufficient social research content. Your degree must include training or experience in quantitative methods including research design, data collection, and data analysis.

The RO Eligibility form attached to this advert includes detail on what qualifies as a social science subject. Please read this form carefully to ensure that you meet the criteria for this route.

Badged route

Already be a member of the Government Social Research profession.

You must use the RO Eligibility form to tell us if you are already a badged member of GSR, which will be checked when we process your application. Please read this form carefully to ensure that you meet the criteria for this route.

Professional Experience route

• Hold, or expect to get by 30th September 2026, an undergraduate degree at a minimum of 2:2 or postgraduate degree in any subject or hold a degree equivalent (for example, an advanced Certificate or Diploma from MRS),

AND

• At the time of application, have at least four years of successful experience of working in applied social research in which strong analytical skills have been clearly demonstrated. Your experience must include working with quantitative methods including research design, data collection, and data analysis.

The RO Eligibility form attached to this advert includes further information on what qualifies as successful work experience. Please read this form carefully to ensure that you meet the criteria for this route.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• GSR technical skills: * Knowledge of research methods, techniques & application of these in small scale projects * Identifying research needs, designing and specifying research * Analysis & interpretation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,144, Office for National Statistics contributes £10,181 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

For these posts the requirement for SC level security clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying i.e. resident in the UK from at least May 2023.

If you are unsure that you meet this requirement, please read the information available on Gov.uk in this link, or contact Social.Research.Recruitment@ons.gov.uk by email BEFORE applying to discuss.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.

ONS are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants are expected to hold a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are applying on a time-limited visa, this will need to be valid for at least 18 months at point of application.

To work at the ONS, candidates must meet both UK right to work and security clearance requirements (where applicable).

_______________________________________________________

This campaign is to fill current vacant posts, therefore apply only if you have already completed your degree or are due to complete and receive your degree by 30th September 2026

There are two stages to this recruitment process – stage 1 is the Application Process and stage 2 is the Interview Process.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU READ AND FOLLOW ALL GUIDANCE to understand what you need to do.

STAGE 1: Eligibility, application and online test

There are 6 key steps to completing the application process and this section advises of the steps on how to apply. The Candidate Pack contains information to help you complete your application, please read it. It is attached at the bottom of this job advert.

1. Please establish if you are eligible to apply through one of three entry routes.

2. Having decided you are eligible you must fill out the Research Officer (RO) Eligibility Form.

3. Complete the online Application Form.

4. Include how your skills and experience meet the job requirements, as outlined below in the Personal Statement section of the Application Form.

5. Attach your completed Research Officer Eligibility Form to your completed online Application Form and submit.

6. After submitting your online application you will be invited by email to complete a GSR Skills Knowledge Test by Tazio, the designated test management provider. (Please see the attached Candidate Pack for more information about the test.)

ELIGIBILITY

Entry Routes for this vacancy - To be eligible to apply for this Research Officer (RO) role in the Government Social Research (GSR) profession, you need to fulfil the criteria of one of the following three entry routes: Qualification route; Badged route; Professional Experience route.

See the 'Qualifications' section of the advert for the explanations of each of the entry routes. The Candidate Pack attached to the advert also includes information on the entry routes.

Research Officer (RO) Eligibility Form - This form is attached to the advert. (i) Read the form carefully, (ii) Complete the relevant section, depending on your entry route of application and (iii) Upload/attach your completed form when you submit your application.

APPLICATION

Application Form - Found via the 'Apply Now’ button in this advert. To apply for the Research Officer role you must complete all parts of the online application form including the Personal Statement.

Personal Statement - Your personal statement should be no longer than 1,250 words. You should use this space fully to provide evidence for each essential criterion in the Person Specification. As the criteria are scored we would recommend that you give clear examples for each including the impact of your actions. Further information on the personal statement is included in the Candidate Pack attached to this advert.

ONLINE TEST

After you have submitted your application and following the advert closing date you will be invited by email to complete a GSR Skills Knowledge Test by Tazio, the designated test management provider. This is a timed test, lasting 30 minutes, and it must be completed by the deadline advised in the invitation email.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to complete the Knowledge Test, for example needing extra time please email us immediately after submitting your application at Social.Research.Recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Please head your email ‘Knowledge Test: 462424 Research Officers’ and a member of the team will respond to your adjustments request. Please do not wait to make your request for additional time as it cannot be amended once you have received your email invite from Tazio.

Candidates do not need to complete the GSR Skills Knowledge Test if they are already GSR profession badged or if they have successfully passed the Knowledge Test within the last 12 months. If you have successfully passed the GSR Skills Knowledge Test between 1st June 2025 and 31st May 2026 you are asked to contact us immediately after submitting your application at Social.Research.Recruitment@ons.gov.uk Please head your email ‘GSR KT Pass’ and include evidence of your pass as confirmed by Tazio, no later than 2nd June 2026.

Candidates who do not pass the GSR Skills Knowledge Test can repeat it after having waited at least six months.

More information on the GSR Skills Knowledge Test can be found in the candidate pack.

Please Note: Failure to complete all sections of the online Application Form including your Personal Statement OR failure to complete and attach your Research Officer (RO) Eligibility Form to your online application OR failure to pass the GSR Knowledge Test will result in your application being sifted out of the recruitment process.

STAGE 2: Interview

Candidates who successfully pass sift stage will be invited to the final stage which is an online interview assessment. The assessment has two elements - a short presentation and an interview - to further assess candidates general and technical competence for the Research Officer role.

If you are successful at sift stage you will receive an invitation to book an interview slot. The invitation to interview will contain an attachment with all the information you will need about what to prepare for your presentation and interview.

At interview you will be assessed against the GSR technical skills, which are set out in the advert’s Technical Skills section, and align to the GSR Technical Framework. You will also be assessed against the Civil Service Behaviours, which are set out in the advert’s Behaviours section and align to the Civil Service Success Profiles.

Interviews will take place using video conference via the MS Teams platform.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Application closing date: Tuesday 2nd June 2026

• GSR Knowledge Test – via Tazio - from Monday 8th to Monday 15th June.

• Application Sift from Wednesday 17th to Friday 26th June.

• Sift results issued w/c 29th June.

• Interview invites issued w/c 29th June.

• Candidate Interview dates from Wednesday 8th to Friday 17th July.

• We aim to provide feedback to all applicants no later than 31st July.

All dates may be subject to change.

______________________________________________________________

In instances where high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

If there are more successful candidates than vacant positions, a reserve list may be held for period of up to 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Candidates should note this is a multi-location campaign and therefore the reserve list is recorded by location in merit order.

If you already work for ONS, please note that by applying to this recruitment you may be moved to a priority role in a different team or directorate to that in which you are currently working.

Successful candidates are required to carry out all their duties from a UK location and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time, unless this has been specified as a part of their role. Presence at an ONS office location will vary and have flexibility built around the following: Needs of the role and business objectives. Successful collaboration and effective partnerships with teams/customers and stakeholders. Personal Preferences. Disability and well-being considerations.

For the full Terms and Conditions of the posts please see attachment.

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Social Research Recruitment Team
• Email : Social.Research.Recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Social.Research.Recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission

Attachments

Terms & Conditions for Permanent and Fixed Term Roles (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 100kB)Candidate_Pack_May_2026 (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 7618kB)Research Officer Eligibility Form_3 Opens in new window (docx, 46kB)