Brand Researcher

Job Description

The RoleOur fantastic Brand team currently have an exciting opportunity for a Brand Researcher to join us in our Bristol office. The Brand team at Unite Students is a team that sits within the wider Commercial and Communications function. We`re passionate aboutall things brand and how we can elevate the Unite Students brand and any sub-brands to be first-in-class in our markets, grow our brand equity and ultimately deliver an amazing branded experience to our prospective customers, customers and partners.Reporting to the Head of Brand, you will play a crucial role in supporting the team to grow our brand, with particular emphasis on supporting the delivery of market and customer research, that ultimately helps drive our brand strategy and the decisions wemake.What You`ll Be DoingWorking with the Insights team and various different stakeholders and teams across the business, you`ll be conducting market, customer and competitor research to help us understand current and future trends to inform what we do now and in the future. Thiswill involve both quantitative and qualitative research including surveys and focus groups. At times working with our existing student panel and other times working with external research partners. Collecting, analysing and reporting on findings, making recommendationsand tracking changes:

• Undertaking research that supports our product innovation initiatives. Testing concept designs through to physical product delivery. Informing the product design decisions we make by championing the voice of the customer.
• Ensuring that we have a deep understanding of what our future customers want and need, conducting focus groups and quantitative research with university applicants, sixth-form aged students and younger age groups to better understand trends.
• Conducting competitor research and delivering ongoing tracking.
• Conducting brand research and social listening. This will include managing our annual brand tracking survey.
• Working closely with the Brand Partnership Manager to ensure that we are offering a great brand proposition that enhances our core student offer, researching potential brand partners and making recommendations on fit and appropriateness for our markets.
• Working with the UX/UI team on collaborative projects to help inform the development of our tech channels.
• Owning the internal promotion of research findings, including internal education and building and maintaining a brand research hub where colleagues can self-serve insight.
• Managing our external research partners to deliver on our expectations.
• Acting as a guardian for our brand and voice of our customer - passionately championing at every opportunity and supporting the correct representation at all levels, internally and externally and across all channels.
• Managing a research budget

What We`re Looking for in You

• Demonstrable experience in conducting market research initiatives and thorough understanding of research methodologies.
• Ability to work at pace whilst maintain a high level of accuracy and obsessive attention to detail.
• A passion for brand and a clear understanding of what good branding looks like.
• Experience in using brand guidelines, assets and Tone of Voice.
• An effective communicator, with strong written and presentation skills.
• Ability to build relationships internally at all levels of an organisation.
• Ability to manage own time effectively, prioritising tasks when required.
• Proven ability to work as part of team or on own initiative.

What You`ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success
• 25 days` paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite StudentsFounded in 1991, Unite Students is a FTSE 100 business and the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 25 leading university towns and cities, with 74,000 students calling US home! We are driven by our values, culture,and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas.Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn`t just what we do but who we are.People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.Room for EveryoneWe`re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we`re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong.We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what`s right, keeping US safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for studentsthat live with us.We are US.