Job description – Customer Data and Research Assistant
What does the team do?
The purpose of the Marketing & Insight team is to stay relevant and inspire a generation. Our vivid description is “to bring innovative marketing solutions with messages that are relevant and personal to our target audiences at a time and place which suits them”.
Our detailed vision objectives are:
· To co-ordinate for all areas of the business how and when we communicate with our customers
· To work as one with other teams
· To always innovate
· To devise communications that are responsive at a 121 level
· To maintain relevance of message and media
· To engage with all of our chosen audiences: education specialists/learners/parents/employers/government
· To continue to stay ahead of the curve with our market research and Customer Insight Business Intelligence
· Measurement and improvement of customer experience
· To actively contribute to the development of the NCFE brand.
What’s the team structure?
What are the main priorities of the role?
Quite simply, we want our Customer Data and Research Assistant to build marketing and customer lists, audit our data list quality and work with other teams to ensure the quality of our data is continually maintained.
The post holder will work closely with a range of teams across the organisation including our Digital team and CRM teams.
The Customer Data and Research Assistant also plays a key role in analysing our customer data to support the organisations approach to segmentation
What does the job involve?
The specialist duties and responsibilities of the Customer Data and Research Assistant are:
Data
· liaise with other teams to present customer data and information findings in a format which meets the needs of the end user
· identify commercial opportunities and trends which can inform marketing activity by analysing internal and external customer data
· produce and manage marketing, survey and customer data lists to maximising customer targeting & profiling and revenue income streams
· work closely with the wider projects and research team to understand the trends and profile customer data
· monitoring of our innovations and ideas platform on a daily basis
· operate in line with current legislation and codes of conduct eg Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act.
· develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders
· maintain a current knowledge of developments in education and the sector
· work with CST to manage new bulk data returns from marketing email campaigns and other activity to ensure they are incorporated into our customer database(s)
· identify and carry out other tasks to support the Marketing team
· carrying out any other duties, appropriate with the grade of the post, as requested by the Marketing Projects and Research Leader.
Research
· liaise with other teams to present customer data and information findings in a format which meets the needs of the end user
· produce “where did you hear about us” reports on a quarterly basis (Jan, April, July, October)
· produce “estimated number of learners” report on a monthly basis
· organise and facilitate focus groups when required.
· support the ongoing work to ensure effective R&PD product evaluation (fulfilling regulatory and commercial requirements of the organisation
· undertake adhoc project surveys using survey monkey and other online tools.
· support the Customer Insight Officer and Research Co-Ordinator with the creation of the monthly customer experience report
· assist with research and insight administrative duties
· identify opportunities and trends which can inform marketing activity by analysing internal and external quantitative data such as the 6 monthly Ofqual report
· develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders
· maintain a current knowledge of developments in education and the sector
· support the production of the monthly customer experience and other insight related reports
…and we’d expect every single member of staff to…
· deliver exceptional customer service to all NCFE customers, both internal and external
· improve the performance of NCFE by seeking new business opportunities and continually reviewing and implementing improved working practices and processes
· support NCFE in maintaining its compliance with the Conditions of Recognition and additional regulatory criteria
What will you need to be able to do the job?
Qualifications & Experience
· an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both quantitate and qualities research
· ability to learn quickly, share ideas and work with enthusiasm
· excellent telephone manner
· excellent written and oral communication skills, including good grammar and spelling
· demonstrable word processing and email skills
· excellent knowledge of excel including pivot tables and LookUp functions
· ability to learn, use and understand the organisations range of data mining tools
· excellent report writing and presentation skills
· attention to detail and ability to work accurately
· experience of understanding and analysing customer data
· an excellent understanding of NCFEs PRO and Emily systems or a willingness to learn
· a good understanding of Survey Monkey or a strong willingness to learn.
Abilities & Behaviors
· attention to detail and the ability to work accurately
· Analytical and curious – the ability to spot and understand anomalies, patterns and trends in customer data.
· ability to behave in a way that demonstrates our Values in Action behaviours at the following levels:
- Service Excellence – Level 2
- Agility – Level 2
- Influencing – Level 1
- Development – Level 1
- Impact – Level 1
- Operational Excellence – Level 1
- Commerciality – Level 2
- Direction – Level 1
- Working Together – Level 1
It would be even better if you also had…
· at least A-level/GCE standard or equivalent
· a good understanding of Mircosoft Dynamics
· a good understanding of the UK education market
· a good sense of humour!
What might a typical day be like? A day in the life of a Customer Data and Research Assistant…
The good news is that there isn’t a typical day, but ‘a day in the life of’ could look like this:
9.00 – I made use of my flexi time allowance and went to the gym before work today. Once at work I brewed a quick cuppa before settling down to read my emails, a new task came in last night to compile a survey to support a piece of research for R&PD. I look over this and set up a meeting with the Development Team Leader to further understand the team’s requirements.
9:45 – At the moment I have lots of emails to deal with. I’m in the process of conducting our annual data cleanse for our DoPs mailing which results in lots of cleansing of data records.
10:30 – I had a quick catch up meeting mid morning with the Marketing Projects and Research Leader, usually this happens once a week. Looks like we’re going to be organising some targeted campaigns on a regional level to ask customers what they think about some new products in the next couple of months.
11:30 – I attend the fortnightly Accounts and Contacts meeting, which is a cross team group who meet to discuss a project aimed at improving the way we store and access customer data. We discuss how best to achieve some key requirements of the project.
12:30 – We’re in the process of producing the new directory to be sent to our customers next month, so I took this opportunity to review the accuracy of our customer contact data so that any amends necessary could be made before the mailing went out.
13:30 – Lunch, there is no set time for lunch, sometimes I go out and meet friends at the local cafe.
14:30 – I’ve volunteered to help with a new innovation project so I attend a 30 minute session with the innovation team to find out how I can get involved.
15:00 – I spend the rest of the afternoon analysing job titles with the Customer Insight Officer. We’re looking to understand how our customer data is currently split across some core job titles which will help with a customer journey project we’re working on.
17:00 - Just remembered as I was leaving that tomorrow is the last day of the month “NewsbiteDay”, when we’re given a roundup of the month’s achievements at NCFE plus a cake/fruit to celebrate with, so I won’t need to bring anything for my morning break.
Job Information Pack
Customer Data and Research Assistant
£19,827 - £24,444 per annum
This pack contains the following documents:
· How to apply
· Our benefits – what we can offer you
· What does the job involve
· What you need to be a Customer Data and Research Assistant (Person Specification)
· Background information about the role, the team and what you’d be doing
· How to claim interview expenses
You can find out more information about what we do, our history, our culture and our products and services on our website www.ncfe.org.uk. If there’s anything particular that you can’t find on our website, please call us and we’ll be happy to help answer your questions.
How do I apply?
First of all, thank you for showing an interest in coming to work for us. You’ll need to send us the following so we can consider your application:
You’ll need to send us the following so we can consider your application:
Covering Letter – you should use this to tell us:
· How you fit with NCFE’s values
· Why you’re the best candidate for the role
· Why you want to work at NCFE
CV – this should tell us about your relevant skills and experience for the role for which you’re applying.
You can type or handwrite your application - we don’t mind as long as it’s easy to read!
What can we offer you?
At NCFE we genuinely believe that we reward and treat our colleagues well and that NCFE is a great place to work. As a result, everyone provides a great level of service to our customers and colleagues. This enables us to grow and earn the money that we can then re-invest in the company and the people for the benefit of our customers.
These are the benefits whilst working at NCFE:
Office Environment
In December 2013 we relocated from our Newcastle City Centre Office to a brand new spacious office located in Q6 at Quorum Business Park in Longbenton.
The office has some great new facilities for our increasing number of colleagues working for us such as onsite car parking, our own café, a large self-service kitchen area, a games room, a dining area, a wellbeing room, picnic benches, a wide range of meeting rooms, hot desks within quiet areas, tea points, and even soundproof seating areas.
We’re really excited about our new home and giving our people an even better working environment, which will ensure that working for NCFE is now an even greater experience.
Competitive Rates of Pay
We think we pay a good basic salary – we regularly check our salary scales against comparable roles in the North East. From time-to-time we benchmark the salary scales applied to every job, most recently using the Croner R£ward system.
Performance-Related Salary Increments
You can earn more money if you perform at an exceptional level and exceed expectations in the delivery of your objectives, job performance measures and competencies. Pay awards are either a one-off ‘bonus’ or as an increment built into your basic salary.
Relocation Expenses
We want the best people to join us so if you need to relocate to be here at NCFE then we may be able to support you with your Relocation Expenses if you currently live more than 50 miles from our head office.
Holidays
We offer a generous holiday entitlement:
· for most posts, the basic entitlement is 25 days’ annual leave, rising to 27 days after 2 years’ service
· for Manager posts and above and Business Development Officers, we offer 27 days’ annual leave, rising to 30 days after 2 years’ service.
This doesn’t include Bank Holidays (you get those as well!) and, in addition, we’d usually close the office between Christmas and New Year, which doesn’t come out of your holiday entitlement.
Flexible Working
We know that keeping a sensible work-life balance is getting harder all the time so we try to allow staff to work flexibly if they need to. We obviously need to put the needs of our customers first, but if anyone needs to start early or finish early we will try to accommodate this.
For posts below Manager level we also offer a flexible flexi-time scheme, as well as being able to be considered for the various other flexible ways of working for all staff.
Pension
We operate a flexible pension scheme which all staff can join and pay money into once they have completed 12 weeks’ service. We’ll pay the equivalent of 9% of salary into your pension fund as long as you contribute a minimum of 3% yourself. If this doesn’t fit your needs you can choose to make a 1% contribution which we will pay 3%, or alternatively you can make a 2% contribution and we will pay 6%.
Maternity Pay
We look after you if you’re expecting! If you meet the eligibility criteria, we offer enhanced maternity pay of 8 weeks’ full pay (including SMP) and the remaining 18 weeks at half of normal salary followed by any additional statutory entitlements. You can also get paid time off for ante-natal, health visitor and midwife appointments. We’re a member of the Tommy’s Baby Charity Pregnancy Accreditation Programme and we’ll even give you one of our now-legendary NCFE babygrows!
Paternity Pay
New dads who meet the eligibility criteria are entitled to 2 weeks’ paternity leave, paid at full salary (inclusive of Statutory Paternity Pay) and may also be eligible to request Additional Paternity Leave where you may be able to take up to 26 weeks leave.
Adoptive Leave
If you happen to have an adopted child or adopt while you’re with us, we’ll treat you exactly the same as if you were the biological parent. We offer comparable adoptive leave and pay as well as paid time off for any appointments related to your adoption.