Social Impact Researcher

The Company:

Wagestream is on a mission to bring better financial wellbeing to frontline workers.

We partner with some of the world’s most famous employers, like Bupa, Burger King, Green King and the mighty NHS to give their teams access to fairer financial services - all built around flexible pay. Over three million people can now choose how often they’re paid, track their shifts and earnings, start saving, use budgeting tools, get free financial coaching, and access fairer financial products. All in one financial wellbeing super-app.

Wagestream is unique: VC-backed and growing at scale-up pace, but with a social conscience. Some of the world's leading financial charities and impact funds were our founding investors, and we operate on a social charter - which means every product we build has to improve financial health and reduce the $5.6bn ‘premium’ lower-income earners pay for financial services each year.

You’d be joining a team of over 200 passionate, ambitious people, across Europe and the USA, building a category-leading fintech product and all united by that same mission.

The Opportunity:

We are looking for a self-starting, outcome-driven Researcher to join our team on a 4-6 month fixed-term contract, with the potential for a permanent role. This role is suitable for part-time working. You’ll be working closely with our Chief Impact Officer, providing research support across long-form projects, field research, and data analysis.

This role is ideal for someone with strong analytical and writing skills, a background in STEM or humanities tied with a passion for generating real-world insights that will better equip Wagestream in providing fairer financial services to the people that really need them.

This is a rare chance to work on high-impact research that influences both private and public sector decision-making, getting to collaborate with leading academics, businesses, and policymakers.

The Team:

This role will work closely with data, client success, marketing as well as external thought leaders across academia and the public and private sectors.

What will you be doing?

• Supporting long-form research projects, including journals, podcasts, and collaborative studies with academic institutions, governing bodies, and public/private sector organisations.
• Conducting quantitative and qualitative research, gathering data from front-line staff across industries to identify key pain points and trends.
• Translating raw data into actionable insights, working closely with internal teams including Data, Marketing, and Client Success.
• Spending time in the field, embedding yourself in different companies to understand workforce challenges first-hand.
• Contributing to our Impact Annual Report, working with key stakeholders to shape evidence-based narratives.
• Taking broad, sometimes vague research briefs and running with them independently, with minimal hand-holding.

What experience might you have?

• Strong research and analytical skills – able to interpret and distill complex data into meaningful insights.
• Excellent writing skills – capable of producing well-structured reports, summaries, and thought leadership pieces.
• Commercial awareness – some industry experience in the private sector is ideal. This could be a placement year.
• Outcome-focused mindset – you prioritise impact and actionable results.
• Self-starter – comfortable working autonomously, taking initiative, and owning projects with minimal oversight.
• STEM or Humanities background – preference for candidates with proven research experience (MSc in Sustainability or a related field)..

Working Policy: We operate a hybrid policy with a requirement of 2-3 days a week in the office

Duration: 4-6 months with extension and permanent potential

Hours: This role is suitable for part-time working, ranging from 15-20 hours per week

Salary: £30,000 - £40,000 per year (Pro rata)

At Wagestream we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our product and our community to flourish. Wagestream is an equal opportunity workplace. We are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, or veteran status.