Matt Hunt

Research and Policy Professional

Talent

Winchester, Winchester District, HampshireMember since October 4, 2025

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About

An inquisitive research professional with demonstrable success in managing quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method approaches. Holding a BSc in Psychology and MSc in Global Health Policy.

Experience

Ipsos UK (Scotland)

Research Manager | May 2024 – June 2025

Designed, conducted and communicated findings on major quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research, including co-production and deliberative methods. One project explored the reasons for decreasing response rates to Scottish Government’s major population surveys, the findings of which will have implications for official statistics across the UK. I ensured co-ordination and coherence between the different strands of this project, forming effective working relationships with colleagues, suppliers, competitors, Scottish Government and the project’s Strategic Steering Group. High-quality outputs have been delivered, culminating in a stakeholder workshop.

Responsible for leading the quantitative strand of Ipsos’ evaluation of Homewards, a five-year programme aiming to demonstrate that ending homelessness is possible by using a prevention approach. I designed, managed and reported on a quantitative survey of Homewards’ stakeholders, plus a nationally representative survey exploring the public’s perceptions of homelessness. These were presented at internal and external workshops and events.

Designed, conducted and reported on process and impact evaluations, for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Glasgow City Region and the City of Edinburgh. As part of this, I designed quasi-experimental approaches to analyse the effects on local communities of greater investment in local green spaces.

Contributed substantial chapters to Ipsos’ bids for social research and evaluation tenders, helping to secure Ipsos a position on both of the Scottish Government’s highly competitive frameworks, for social research and evaluation.

Walnut Unlimited

Senior Research Executive | January 2022 – May 2024

Research Executive | January 2021 – January 2022

Academy Executive | September 2019 – January 2021

Managed large-scale quantitative projects, including research for Citizens Advice into the financial, social and mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis.

Designed and delivered randomised control trials with blinding, to test innovations in our clients’ products and give recommendations on which options could go to market. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, I adapted these methods quickly to allow fieldwork to continue during lockdown, and including additional quality control checks.

Wrote story-led reports which were easy to follow and contained a clear line-of-sight to the data. The 2023 Musicians’ Census report was based on my presentation of the findings, and it featured in Policy Commons’ Editors’ Choice list for 2024. Presented engaging, visual debriefs, to audiences of twenty or more stakeholders, including clients from the UK, USA, Spain, Poland and Moldova.

These ensured everyone had a shared understanding of the most meaningful findings, even if English was not their first language.

Represented Walnut at conferences and events, such as presenting our research on workplace sexual harassment at the MRS Pride Conference.

As a co-ordinator for Walnut’s entrants in the MRS Advanced Certificate, I provided advice and feedback for candidates as they worked to attain a challenging professional qualification. The number of Walnut candidates doubled in two years, and we maintained a pass rate above 90 percent.

National Citizen Service

Team Leader | July – August 2018

Led a group of young people through two weeks of residential activities, before helping them to organise a week of volunteering and fundraising for a local charity. I created a shared vision of what the team wanted to achieve through their fundraising and built the motivation to get there. My team surpassed their fundraising target, which paid for a young carer to have a holiday with a local charity.

Aldermoor Health Centre

Voluntary Research Assistant | September 2017 – May 2018

Held voluntary roles on two clinical studies alongside my undergraduate studies. The first investigated the factors linked to those with acute fatigue developing chronic fatigue syndrome. The second explored main reasons for compliance, or lack of compliance, with a nutritional intervention among older people who were at risk of becoming malnourished.

Organised clinical packs, conducted CATI data collection, and used SPSS for data entry and cleaning. Transcribed qualitative interviews and participated in thematic analysis: this included suggesting areas where the code frame could be developed and collaboratively reaching consensus with our second coder.

Education

University of Edinburgh

MSc Global Health Policy | September 2022 – August 2024

Areas of study included health systems analysis, the social and commercial determinants of health, and the global politics of public health. My dissertation included a literature review and analysis of the alcohol industry’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Passed with Distinction
Awarded Dean’s Prize for highest overall performance

University of Southampton

BSc Psychology | September 2016 – June 2019

Research methods and statistics were woven throughout. My dissertation was one of the first to explore sexual risk-taking among people who had been vaccinated as part of the UK’s school-based HPV programme.