National Centre for Social Research
Field Performance Manager (FPM)
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Field Performance Manager (FPM)
£30,000-£38,000 (depending on experience)
Home-based | Hybrid (Ashton Gate/London office)
Travel across England required
Opportunities North & South England
Full time | Permanent
Location
Home-based or hybrid working from the Ashton Gate/London office
Reporting to
Head of External Field
Team
Field Interviewers, Fieldworkers, and Supervisors within an allocated team
Instant Impact in partnership with NatCen (The National Centre for Social Research) is hiring a Field Performance Manager to lead and support a team of field interviewers and supervisors delivering some of the UK's most important social research studies.
This role is all about helping people perform at their best. You'll use performance data, coaching, and regular engagement to support fieldworkers, improve response rates, and ensure high-quality fieldwork delivery. Working closely with colleagues across the wider Field and Operational teams, you'll play a key role in ensuring surveys are delivered efficiently, ethically, and to the highest standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and support a team of field interviewers and supervisors - providing coaching, guidance, and regular performance management to help individuals succeed.
- Use performance data to drive results - identify trends, monitor delivery against targets, and take timely action to improve response rates and quality.
- Be the first point of contact for your team - supporting fieldworkers with operational queries, survey rules, processes, and pay-related questions.
- Develop and grow capability - identify training needs, support development plans, and help interviewers maximize their performance.
- Work collaboratively across NatCen - partnering with allocation teams and internal stakeholders to resolve issues, manage risks, and support successful delivery.
- Lead field engagement activities - including team meetings, field accompaniments, and in-person management meetings where required.
- Support recruitment activity - helping identify future resourcing needs and participating in interviewer recruitment when required.
- Improve ways of working - identify opportunities to improve processes, systems, and service delivery across the field operation.
- Champion high standards - ensuring compliance with operational standards, survey requirements, and quality expectations.
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Skills, Knowledge, and Expertise
- Experience leading, managing, or supervising people in a performance-focused environment.
- Strong coaching and development skills with the ability to motivate, support, and challenge others.
- Experience using data and management information to make decisions and improve performance.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Strong problem-solving ability and a proactive approach to resolving issues.
- Ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining high standards of service and delivery.
- Collaborative working style with a focus on building positive relationships.
- Knowledge of field operations, interviewer management, or survey delivery would be advantageous.
- Previous experience as a field interviewer is beneficial but not essential.
If you're a people-focused leader who enjoys developing others, using data to drive performance, and delivering high-quality operational outcomes, we'd love to hear from you.
Benefits
As well as a competitive salary and excellent working environment (including a home/office hybrid working environment), you will be working for the largest independent social research organization in the UK. We are proud of the benefits we offer our employees, which include:
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- 25 days holiday (plus 8 bank holidays) and flexible working
- Generous company pension scheme
- Life insurance and health cash plan
- Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loan
- Career development, professional subscriptions support, and mentoring support from industry-leading experts
About the National Centre for Social Research
At The National Centre for Social Research, we believe that social research has the power to make life better. By really understanding the complexity of people's lives and what they think about the issues that affect them, we give the public a powerful and influential role in shaping services that can make a difference to everyone. As an independent, not-for-profit organization, we're able to focus our time and energy on meeting our clients' needs and delivering social research that works for society.
Our Values & Behaviours
- We Are Curious: Uses data and insight to improve field performance and outcomes; Identifies opportunities to improve processes and ways of working.
- We Move with Purpose: Drives delivery against survey targets and operational standards; Takes action to address performance issues and delivery risks.
- We Act with Integrity: Supports fair, ethical, and compliant field practices; Builds trust through openness, consistency, and accountability.
We are proud to say we are a Disability Confident Committed Employer, so if you require any reasonable adjustments during the interview process, please make us aware, and we will endeavour to support you to help showcase your best self during our hiring process.
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