Office for National Statistics
Deputy Director of Strategy, Research and Innovation
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Job summary
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.
Social Surveys Directorate plays a central role in delivering the ONS mission through the design, collection and production of household survey data that underpin some of the UK’s most important economic and social statistics. Our work supports decision-making across government, business, academia and the wider public, and provides the evidence base for policy, operational delivery and public understanding on issues that matter nationally and locally.
The 2026 ONS Business plan prioritises improving the quality and trustworthiness of published statistics, providing timely and relevant data for decision-makers, and building a more efficient, resilient and adaptable organisation. For social surveys, that means stabilising and recovering the quality of our core surveys, completing the transformation of the Labour Force Survey, strengthening the long-term sustainability of our survey system and investing in the development of our people.
With around 2,000 colleagues, Social Surveys Directorate is one of the largest business areas in ONS. It brings together the leadership, operational capability and in-depth social research expertise needed to run and improve the UK’s largest and most complex social surveys.
This role is the Deputy Director for the Social Surveys Strategic Research and Innovation Division. The Division works in partnership with the following five Divisions:
- Social Surveys Field Collection
- Social Surveys Telephone and Ports Collection
- Social Surveys Research and Production
- Social Surveys Transformation
- Social Surveys Central Division
The post holder will play an important leadership role in ensuring these interdependent parts of the system work together effectively to deliver high-quality survey data and support the wider strategic priorities of ONS. The role will report directly to Alex Lambert, Director for Social Surveys, who in turn reports to James Benford, Director General for Surveys and Economic Statistics.
Job description
The purpose of the role is to lead the Social Surveys Strategy, Research and Innovation Division. Operating outside the day-to-day data collection operation, the Division provides the capacity for longer-term strategic development, shaping the future direction of social surveys and delivering a programme of research and innovation to support their recovery and sustainability. The Division’s work is strategically important, as the economic indicators and official statistics produced from these surveys inform decisions across government and wider society.
Only a year old, the Division has already made significant progress in establishing its identity, ways of working and culture, while building capability and momentum. In its first twelve months it established two credible research portfolios to support social survey recovery and the use of alternative data, and developed and launched a new external survey performance dashboard to increase transparency and build trust with users. It has also launched a new social survey sector forum to align activity across the sector around shared challenges and, jointly with communications and media colleagues, delivered products and a developing media campaign to promote participation in our surveys.
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Over the coming year, the Division’s priorities, in line with ONS, SES and Directorate business plans, are to:
- Develop a new Social Survey Strategy to provide a road-map for recovery and a clear direction for the future of social surveys in ONS.
- Advance research on artificial intelligence and alternative data, identifying opportunities across the end-to-end survey system to improve quality and efficiency.
- Deliver a portfolio of survey research and innovation to support ONS in improving public engagement with surveys, including work on incentives, media and communications campaigns, and assessing the case for mandatory participation.
- Continue to build the capability and culture of the new Division as it grows to around 50 FTE, establishes clear routes into delivery and becomes embedded at the heart of Social Surveys.
As Deputy Director for Social Surveys Strategy, Research and Innovation, you will lead the Division’s leadership team and provide clear direction across a broad portfolio of survey strategy, research, innovation and external engagement activity. You will oversee priorities, delivery, resources and capability across the Division, ensuring that strategic and research activity is focused on the issues that matter most for the recovery, sustainability and future direction of social surveys. You will build capability across the Division, invest in your people and support an inclusive, high-performing culture.
As part of the Directorate Senior Leadership Team, you will help ensure strategic alignment across Social Surveys, shape collective priorities, manage strategic trade-offs and support decisions on the prioritisation of resources. You will play an important role in senior stakeholder management, working across ONS, government and the wider survey community to build collaboration, strengthen external relationships and ensure that research and innovation activity is connected to operational priorities and wider organisational strategy.
This is a badged Government Social Research role requiring strong technical and strategic leadership. You will provide expert leadership and judgement across survey strategy, research and innovation, including decisions on priorities, evidence, research direction, methodological development and the application of new approaches to surveys such as artificial intelligence and alternative data. The role requires strong technical judgement, strategic leadership and the ability to translate research and innovation into practical improvements that support high-quality, sustainable surveys.
Role Responsibilities:
- Leadership – a visible and inspiring leader, you will draw on your expertise and work with people to set the direction and priorities for the Division during this time of change. You will lead the broader strategic leadership of the Division, working collaboratively with colleagues in the Directorate Senior Leadership Team so that it acts as one.
- Management – you will manage a growing division, with immediate direct line management of five Grade 6s and broader responsibility for building the Division’s capability, culture and ways of working. As the Division develops, you will help shape its structure, leadership model and priorities so that it is a strong and inclusive community and a great place to work.
- Technical – you will provide authoritative technical leadership across an emerging survey strategy, a new portfolio of social survey research and innovation and during strategic stakeholder engagement internally to ONS, nationally and internationally. You will have responsibility for providing insight, direction and decisions on research priorities, survey improvements and the use of emerging approaches such as artificial intelligence and alternative data. You will use your Government Social Research expertise to coach, challenge and develop others while ensuring that research and innovation activity is technically sound and supports high-quality, sustainable surveys.
- Stakeholder Management – you will be responsible for building close working relationships with colleagues across the Directorate and wider ONS, and with external stakeholders across government and the wider survey community, to strengthen collaboration, shape priorities and support the strategic development and innovation within surveys.
- Influencing – you will influence key stakeholders with competing demands and build mutually beneficial ways of working across organisational boundaries, helping secure alignment around strategic priorities and the role of research and innovation in improving survey quality and sustainability.
- Core member of the Social Surveys Directorate Senior Leadership Team – you will help ensure strategic alignment across Social Surveys, shape collective priorities, manage strategic trade-offs and support decisions on the prioritisation of resources.
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Further information on the role can be found in the attached candidate pack.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- An inclusive leader, with strong people management skills and a proven track record of developing capability and building large, diverse, high performing teams.
- An extensive track record of delivery and continuous improvement across the full end-to-end scope of social surveys, from user engagement and requirement capture through to research, survey development, operational collection and processing.
- Strong Government Social Research expertise, with the professional credibility and judgement to set strategic direction, provide expert challenge and assure research and innovation across social surveys.
- Excellent communication skills, with an ability to engage effectively with staff at all levels and communicate credibly with analytical and non-analytical audiences.
- Experience of building constructive and collaborative relationships across organisational boundaries and managing complex stakeholder/user relationships.
- Experience of developing and delivering strategy and/or strategic initiatives, working with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders at all levels from problem definition to delivery.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Technical skills will be tested via a presentation at interview stage. This will be given to candidates one week in advance of their interview.
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