Researcher

Job Title

Researcher

Department

Innovation-BG-UK

Overview of Department

Purpose of Role

We are recruiting three Researchers to join our Research & Development (R&D) team.

The team helps Baillie Gifford make informed decisions about complex business, market and technology opportunities. We are looking for people with complementary experience, which could include:

• Strategy, management consultancy or business advisory.
• Market intelligence, commercial research or business research.
• Technology research, innovation, emerging technology or the start-up ecosystem.

You do not need to be an expert in all three areas. What matters is your ability to frame difficult questions, conduct high-quality research insights and communicate with influence.

Responsibilities

You will help the firm answer important questions where the opportunity, evidence or route forward is not yet clear.

Working with stakeholders and subject-matter experts, you will define the problem, establish the research approach and bring together internal knowledge with external insights from emerging market, business practice or technology trends.

You will turn that evidence into clear implications, strategic options and recommendations. Research may include:

• Exploring a new business proposition or transformation opportunity.
• Informing an operating model or organisational design review.
• Assessing market, competitor or industry developments.
• Evaluating an emerging technology, vendor or start-up.
• Identifying opportunities that are not yet visible through existing business plans.

This is a hands-on research and advisory role. You will conduct research yourself while building the relationships and external networks needed to access specialist knowledge.

 

Responsibilities

• Work with stakeholders to frame ambiguous business questions and define the decision the research needs to support.
• Develop structured research plans covering hypotheses, methods, and evidence requirements.
• Conduct primary and secondary research, including interviews, market analysis, benchmarking, data analysis and expert engagement.
• Ensure that all research is grounded in evidence with explicit details of any assumptions, incomplete sources or potential bias that may impact the findings or recommendations.
• Where research involves options analysis, assess strategic fit, commercial potential, and feasibility.
• Translate complex or incomplete information into clear insights and recommendations choosing the right medium for the research outcome (presentation, written report etc).
• Build trusted relationships both internally and externally (i.e. industry peers, academia, professional networks etc).
• Create engaging internal thought leadership, including briefings, articles and blog posts that make the team’s insight accessible across the firm.
• Challenge assumptions constructively and recommend when an opportunity should proceed, stop or be reframed.
• Experimenting with emerging techniques and technology to gather evidence of how it could be relevant to our business.
• Work with colleagues across R&D and the wider organisation to complete research, seeking input from subject-matter experts as required.

 

Your knowledge and experience

We are looking for people who can bring depth in at least one relevant area, while being curious and adaptable enough to contribute across a broader research portfolio.

Your experience could have been developed in a range of settings, including:

• Strategy or management consultancy, internal consulting, corporate strategy or business advisory.
• Market or competitive intelligence, commercial research, strategic foresight or industry analysis.
• Technology research, innovation consulting, venture or start-up assessment, product strategy or emerging-technology advisory.
• Business design, proposition development, operating-model design or transformation discovery.

Essential

Whatever your background or level of experience, you will need to demonstrate the ability to:

• Structure complex or ambiguous questions and develop a clear approach to investigating them.
• Gather, evaluate and synthesise qualitative and quantitative information.
• Analyse organisations, business models, competitors or technology trends and identify the implications for a business.
• Move beyond describing information to form conclusions, identify the “so what” and communicate useful insights.
• Use data, digital tools and emerging technology, including AI, appropriately to improve the quality or efficiency of research.
• Communicate findings clearly in written and verbal formats.
• Work effectively with stakeholders and contribute constructively to collaborative problem solving.

At an earlier career level within the role of Researcher, we would expect evidence that you can undertake structured research, analyse information thoughtfully, communicate clearly and learn quickly, with support and guidance where needed.

With greater experience, we would expect increasing evidence of independently shaping research questions, handling ambiguity, integrating multiple sources of evidence, developing options or recommendations and managing stakeholder relationships.

More experienced colleagues are also likely to have a strong track record of leading complex research or advisory work, applying judgement in uncertain situations, influencing stakeholders and translating insight into practical strategic choices or action.

Depending on your experience, you may also bring strengths in areas such as:

• Developing scenarios, options, business cases or actionable recommendations.
• Producing concise presentations and written material for senior audiences.
• Facilitating interviews, workshops or collaborative problem-solving sessions.
• Building external relationships and sourcing insight through professional networks.
• Assessing the commercial or strategic relevance of emerging technologies.

Knowledge of asset management or financial services would be useful, but it is not essential. We are equally interested in transferable experience and your ability to learn a complex business quickly.

The type of candidate we're looking for

You will be intellectually curious, commercially aware and comfortable working with ambiguity. You will bring a structured, evidence-led approach to problem solving, with the judgement to identify the real question behind an initial request and turn complex findings into clear, compelling business narratives.

You will be practical and hands-on in your research, confident using AI to improve and accelerate outcomes, and curious about markets, organisations and technology. You will combine creativity and first-principles thinking with commercial realism, challenge assumptions where needed, and work collaboratively to build strong relationships, including with senior stakeholders.

 

What success looks like

• Broad or unclear requests become focused, decision-relevant research questions.
• Stakeholders have confidence in the quality, independence and practical relevance of your work.
• Research produces actionable insight rather than simply summarising available information.
• Your internal and external relationships improve the quality and reach of the team’s research.
• Your reports, presentations and thought-leadership content make complex subjects accessible.

 

Critical Skills

• Nurture relationships
• Digital effectiveness (including AI)
• Improvement mindset
• Openness & discernment
• Storytelling

Closing Date

October 10, 2026

Should you choose to use AI tools to support your application, we ask that you do this thoughtfully. We encourage you to ensure your application reflects your own voice, experience, and motivations. We value authenticity and want to understand your individual strengths and perspectives.

At Baillie Gifford, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful culture in which each of our colleagues can thrive and develop. We believe that our clients are best served by a diverse workforce with the experiences, ideas and perspectives that this brings.

If you are currently working at Baillie Gifford as an employee or contractor please apply to this job from the firm's Workday internal career site.