Thank you for your interest in the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and I hope you will consider applying to become a Trustee of Britain’s largest independent social research organisation. 

NatCen was established in 1969 and we have a proud heritage of conducting social research, to understand the complexity of people’s lives and give the public a powerful voice in shaping decisions and services that make a difference to everyone.

We believe that social research has the power to make life better. The research we do helps policymakers make the right decisions about the big issues and we’re passionate about ensuring its widest possible impact on the world around us.

As a not-for-profit organisation, we are never compromised by commercial or political agendas. Our reputation for delivering relevant and robust research is down to our policy sector specialists, survey methodologists, data analysts and expert quantitative and qualitative researchers.

NatCen’s Board of Trustees govern and direct the strategic vision of the organisation, and we are currently looking to recruit additional Trustees to diversify and strengthen our current Board, to support the delivery of our ambitious Making Life Better strategy. 

At the heart of our strategy is our goal to become the recognised trusted, independent, not-for-profit organisation that provides high quality research and advice on society and social issues.  Our commitment is to grow and diversify into new areas of work to support our customers and given the competitive landscape, we aspire to be fresh and innovative in what we do, embracing change and using the best methods and enabling technologies to improve what we can offer.

Due to the nature of our work and the competitive marketplace in which we operate, we are looking for individuals with significant leadership experience and professionalism, who can help us with our offering and bring a fresh perspective to entering new sectors and developing new areas of research. We are looking for individuals with organisational leadership experience, especially in the research environment, understanding of government funding and business development and strategic finance leaders.

Through the research we conduct, NatCen works with members of the public, representing a vast range of different communities and values. We are looking for Trustees that can support our commitment to these communities and values, and to equality, diversity and inclusion.

If this sounds like an exciting opportunity and if you have the skills, expertise and passion to help NatCen make our ambition a reality, then we’d be delighted to hear from you. 

We’re Britain’s largest independent social research organisation. For the last 50 years we’ve worked on behalf of government and charities to find out what people really think about important social issues and how Britain is run.

Over the next decade, we will position ourselves as the first port of call for our clients and be recognised as the “trusted” independent, not for profit making organisation that provides high quality research and/or advice on society and social issues.

We are a registered charity, and our charitable objective is to provide high quality research to policy makers, to influence change and make life better for people. Our work and influence are widespread, relating to all aspects of public life.

As a business, we have an effective and sustainable financial model that works, this provided us with the basis to not only see out but flourish during the Covid-19 pandemic without it ever threatening our existence.

Post Covid-19 the volume of survey work actually increased but the practicalities for delivering it had changed, and we needed to adjust our model to suit both. The first year after the pandemic was therefore a year of restructuring which has made us fit for the future and returned us to surplus in the most recent financial year. Our forward-looking business plan now shows an expectation that financial performances will continue to improve with annual income of £50m+ and annual operating surpluses of up to £2m being delivered in the next three years.

View our 2024 financial statements here.

Our research

Today, our work and influence are easy to find, and the organisation is especially highly regarded for its health research and biomedical work, including having its own specialist nurse field force; its numerous evaluations for policy makers; its work on attitudes, including the British Social Attitudes Survey and the associated NatCen Panel; its Methodology and Innovation Hub, including its questionnaire design and testing and training capacity (NatCen Learning); and its many social surveys, both large interviewer-based surveys and mixed mode and web-based data collections.

We have built up an extensive knowledge about society and the social issues that affect us now and may do so in the future (for example, through our horizon scanning). Our unique position in the research landscape comes hard-to-reach the following key features that we can offer:

• Organisation – Not for profit, independent and trusted research organisation;
• Scale – over 100 social scientists of all types in one place;
• Subject expertise – all major social policy areas, including children and families, health (physical and mental), crime and justice, communities, work and income, equalities, attitudes;
• Methodological expertise – coordinated through our Methodology and Innovation Hub, including surveys and data collection; questionnaire design and testing; quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research; and experts in evaluation;
• Data collection – all four modes (face-to-face, telephone, postal and web) individually or mixed;
• Getting to hard-to-reach groups, including via our qualitative experts in sensitive topics – from people in poverty, care homes and refugees to prisoners and child sex offenders, the young, the bereaved, the traumatised to those using food banks;
• Partnerships – working with the public sector, universities, funders, charities and commercial organisations where there is a common interest;
  
• Scotland – ScotCen provides high quality and tailored research services for Scotland.

Our vision and values

We are driven by the belief that social research has the power to make life better. We want to make a positive difference to our society by providing exceptional and relevant evidence to inform decision taking.

Our strategy, “Towards 2025”, sets out our direction as an organisation and galvanises us around that belief in our research and the power it has to improve lives. We want to be recognised as the National Centre for Social Research. In doing that, we will utilise our unique selling points and existing strengths, including our reputation; our scale (the number of outstanding social scientists at our disposal); our capability, including mixed mode data collection capacity (web, telephone, postal and field operations); our recognised status as an independent research organisation and our Scottish presence (ScotCen).

As social research methods are changing rapidly, for example with the advent of new sources of data and new technologies, NatCen aims to continue to innovate and develop its methodological expertise to ensure it retains its reputation for high quality, trusted research.

The Trustee board is chaired by Sir Stuart Etherington who was appointed in 2021. The Chief Executive is Michael Davis who was appointed in 2024. There are currently 13 members of the board, and some members are coming up for retirement in 2025. As such, we are seeking to diversify and increase the membership of our current board with the appointment of 3 new Trustees in 2025.

The trustees of NatCen Social Research are as follows:

• Sir Stuart Etherington – Chair
• Bruce Gordon
• Desiree Lopez
• Helen Barnard
• Jude England
• Mark Duke
• Oliver Foster
• Peter Havelock
• Phyliss Macfarlane
• Saratha Rajeswaran
• Sundari Anitha

This is a voluntary, unremunerated, post.

The Trustees will be appointed for an initial 4-year term with the opportunity to extend for a further 2-year periods subject to board performance reviews. The appointment term is in line with Charity Commission good governance guidance.

Reasonable travel expenses directly incurred, on NatCen business, are reimbursed.

Time Commitment

‘The time commitment is approximately 6-8 days a year.

There may also be additional meetings dedicated to particular topics, including the work of the Board’s committees and meetings with staff. Meetings usually take place in London, but very occasionally at NatCen’s other offices in Edinburgh and Romford, Essex. 

The trustees are also encouraged to attend other events as ambassadors for NatCen.

Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to NatCen, an executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisement.

The closing date for applications is Monday, 5 May 2025.

Applications should consist of:

• A full CV.
• A cover letter (maximum of two pages) outlining your motivations for the role and how you meet the essential criteria of the person specification.
• Please include details of two referees in either your CV or covering letter, though please note that we will not approach your referees without your prior consent and only should you be shortlisted.

Should you wish to discuss the role in strict confidence, please contact Paul Aristides at paul.aristides@andersonquigley.com or Carolyn Coates at carolyn.coates@andersonquigley.com or 07825 871 944.