Smart Pension
Head of Research and Insights
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Head of Research and Insights
At Smart, our mission is to transform retirement, savings, and financial wellbeing across all generations, around the world.
About the Role
The Head of Research and Insights is a leadership role, central to informing the leadership team in the execution of the Master Trust strategy. A key focus is on defining and prioritising insight needs, ensuring that data analysis and market research directly support strategic business objectives and outcomes.
This position is responsible for determining the analytical requirements necessary for effective decision-making and evaluation of outcomes. This involves translating strategic needs into specific data requirements and shaping the demand for insights from the Data as a Service function.
This role integrates market research with business data insights to drive:
- Business growth
- Product proposition
- Retirement outcomes
- Competitive advantage
Responsibilities
- Define and lead research and insights objectives, aligned with business growth strategy and the evolving regulatory landscape.
- Partner with leadership and business functions (marketing, proposition, policy) to understand, prioritise, and translate strategic questions into insight and analytical requirements.
- Establish a clear framework for insight generation, analytics, and market research to inform business decisions and measurable outcomes.
- Provide recommendations to support:
- Product proposition development
- Customer engagement
- Retirement outcomes
- Competitive positioning
- Ensure a strong commercial focus through new Value for Money requirements, while providing strategic guidance based on:
- Actionable insights
- Performance metrics
- Emerging trends
- Oversee the development of dashboards and reporting metrics (e.g. AUM, contributions, churn, retirement outcomes).
- Lead competitor and market analysis, identifying commercial impact, opportunities, and risks.
- Represent Smart’s proposition in response to RFIs to position within the market.
- Combine research and data to drive insights supporting:
- Customer acquisition
- AUM (Assets Under Management) growth
- Contribution rates
- Foster a data-driven culture across the business area.
- Oversee reporting aligned with regulatory and client requirements.
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Who We Are Looking for
The skills, experience, and aptitudes we seek are listed below. We don’t expect you to meet every single criterion—what matters most is a "can do" attitude.
Essential Requirements
✔ Experience in Financial Services (mandatory). ✔ Experience in fintech, wealth tech, or digital pensions platforms (preferable). ✔ Deep DC pension market experience. ✔ Degree in Research, Statistics, Economics, or a related field. ✔ Proven commercial leadership experience. ✔ Knowledge of behavioural science or customer research methodologies. ✔ Experience in growth analytics, commercial insights, or business intelligence. ✔ Experience in competitor analysis and market intelligence. ✔ Excellent communication skills (ability to influence senior stakeholders). ✔ Track record of translating data into strategic recommendations and measurable outcomes.
Who We Are
We partners with governments and financial institutions in the UK and internationally. Our cloud-native digital platform is transforming how people worldwide approach retirement savings.
At our core, we’re a financial technology business dedicated to innovation and customer-centric solutions. Our engineers highlight the opportunity to develop world-class technological solutions, collaborating with like-minded professionals.
Beyond work, our culture thrives on making a meaningful impact—bettering financial outcomes for savers. This drive extends beyond standard working hours, creating a collective sense of purpose.
Explore what colleagues say about working at Smart on:
- LinkedIn Life (search Smart Studios)
- Glassdoor
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Benefits
At Smart, one of our guiding principles is:
“We want happy and good people in our team.”
To achieve this, we provide an inclusive benefits package:
Core Workplace Benefits
- 25 days’ holiday ( ↗ with service tenure )
- £500 annual training budget for professional development
- Extensive private healthcare, including:
- Dental
- Eyecare
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
- Enhanced sick leave (three months’ pay per year)
- Enhanced maternity leave: 6 months fully paid
- Enhanced paternity leave: 3 weeks fully paid
- Death in service insurance cover
- Fully-paid five-week sabbatical after five years of employment
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Perks
- In-office wellbeing services:
- Manicures
- Massages
- Barbering
- 50% discount on merchandise from our sister company, Arena Flowers (Britain’s most ethical florist), including:
- Hand-tied bouquets
- Luxury flowers
- Letterbox flowers
- Plants & gifts
Culture & Commitment to Inclusion
At Smart, we champion an inclusive and equitable workplace, fostering growth where everyone feels: ✅ Valued ✅ Respected ✅ Empowered to excel
Diverse perspectives drive our leadership in transforming retirement, savings, and financial wellbeing. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, recognising that innovation thrives on inclusion and fairness. Discrimination based on any protected characteristic is strictly prohibited.
Reasonable Adjustments
If you require modifications during recruitment or within the workplace, they are encouraged. We’re committed to supporting inclusivity throughout the process.
Ready to Join Us?
If Smart’s mission, innovation, and culture resonate with you—we’d love to meet you. Here’s to our collective success and shaping the future of financial wellbeing.
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