Summary

Earn a London-salary based in Oxford and be published with our media partner, The Sunday Times. Research, meet and write about the UK’s best entrepreneurs and companies. Oxford-based Fast Track is the leading research & networking events firm focused on top-performing private companies and entrepreneurs, with support from Sir Richard Branson for 17 years.

Fast Track is looking for a first-rate business researcher, writer and - if suitably experienced – a project and people manager with some financial literacy. Their role will be both to research and conduct telephone and face-to-face interviews with the companies short-listed for our league table supplements, published in The Sunday Times, and to assist our director of research & editorial in drafting Fast Track’s extensive written output.

The company

• Fast Track researches and produces seven annual league table programmes ranking the UK’s fastest-growing to the biggest private companies. Our league table supplements are published with our media partner, The Sunday Times, within the business section, including the iPad edition

• We also run 30 invitation-only awards and networking dinners a year. Speakers and regular attendees range from David Cameron to Niklas Zennstrom of Skype, founders of league table companies such as Sir James Dyson and Charles Dunstone to Rich Reid of innocent drinks and Michael Acton Smith of Moshi Monsters

• Our sole source of revenue is from our long-term blue-chip sponsors, including Virgin and PwC (all 17 yrs), HSBC, UBS and Lloyds (for over 10 yrs)

• We are based in Oxford, and employ 17 full-time staff and 7 freelancers from a range of backgrounds, some of whom have worked for Fast Track for over 10 years

The role

• Identify companies and diligently capture company financials, using internet sources, news articles, financial databases and company accounts

• Write extensive and succinct company and speaker profiles, press releases and thought-leadership reports

• Conduct telephone and face-to-face interviews with the founders and directors of top private companies

• Write daily updates on Fast Track’s Twitter account of companies on past league tables

• Account handle and help service our all-important blue-chip clients, and importantly lead interviews at research/company visits with senior representatives from PwC, Barclays, Grant Thornton, BDO and RSM Tenon

• Project-management of the research and publication process of one or more of our league tables, including liaising with The Sunday Times sub-editors

• Basic analysis of company accounts

• Being responsible for reviewing and improving a league table programme of activity across the year and helping develop new projects

Main skills required

Applicants will be a graduate with 2-5+ years’ experience in a relevant field (e.g. business journalism, research analyst, accounting, banking, private equity or consulting), numerate and capable of understanding basic company accounts, able to write and edit with meticulous attention to detail, service-orientated and a team player.

Go to www.fasttrack.co.uk for more details about the company and the role.

To apply, send a one-page cover letter and CV stating relevant experience, current salary, which position you are applying for and where you saw the vacancy, to jobs@fasttrack.co.uk