Business, research and administrative professionals

How to become a business and related research professional

Official title: Business and related research professionals

Also called: Research worker, Research officer, Research assistant, Research associate, Research executive, Research consultant, Research technician, Market research analyst, Market research executive, Market research consultant, Research operations specialist, Research and development technician

Business and related research professionals carry out a variety of research activities for the broadcast and print media, for the police and armed forces intelligence services, for national security agencies and in other non-scientific areas.

Main tasks

Liaises with production team to generate and develop ideas for film, television and radio programmes
Research sources for accurate factual material, finds suitable contributors to programmes or print features and deals with any copyright issues
Briefs presenters, scriptwriters or journalists as required via verbal or written reports
Provides administrative support for programme development such as booking facilities
Provides support to criminal intelligence or to military or other security operations by gathering and verifying intelligence data and sources
Presents findings in the required format, via written reports or presentations
Researches images for clients in a wide range of media using specialist picture libraries and archives, museums, galleries etc., or commissions new images
Liaises with client on the appropriate image/s to be used

How to become one

Entrants usually possess a degree or equivalent qualification. Training is usually provided on-the-job, or support may be given for postgraduate study. Professional qualifications are available in some areas.

Ways in

Apprenticeship (England): Intelligence analyst (level 4). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0516.
Apprenticeship (England): Market research executive (level 4). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0883.
University: Science degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

Median full-time pay: £41,128 a year The middle half earn £34,995 to £49,985.
About 72,400 people work in this job now, and about 81,300 are projected by 2035. (+12.2%)

Questions people ask

How do I become a business and related research professional?

How much does a business and related research professional earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £41,128 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £34,995 to £49,985.

Is a business and related research professional a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 12% by 2035, from about 72,400 to about 81,300 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become a business and related research professional?

Usually. 80% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Sources

Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.