Vehicle Data Researcher
Investigate vehicle record sources, coverage and discrepancies, then turn findings into accurate product guidance.
Car Check helps people understand a used car’s history. We bring vehicle records together with clear explanations, keeping the source, timing and limits of the information close to each finding.
We care about the whole experience, from the reliability of a lookup to the words that help someone decide what to ask next.
The opportunity
We are looking for a Vehicle Data Researcher to help the team understand what a vehicle record actually tells us. A keeper is not necessarily an owner, a historical inspection is not a promise about today and an absent record is not always a clear result. Those distinctions need to survive every step from the source to the explanation a buyer reads.
You will investigate UK vehicle information, review source material and work with engineering and content on how findings should be represented. The role combines careful research with practical product judgement: which details need to be visible immediately, which need more explanation and which questions the available evidence cannot answer.
We want someone who enjoys getting the terminology right and making it useful to other people. Your work should leave a traceable explanation that another researcher can check and a product team can use without having to repeat the investigation.
What you’ll work on
- Investigate primary sources. Review definitions, coverage, update timing and limitations for the vehicle information the product is intended to explain, recording the evidence behind your conclusions.
- Translate records into usable guidance. Work with content and design to explain a finding in plain language while preserving its source, date and relevant qualifications.
- Review report interpretations. Check whether a status, summary or comparison is supported by the underlying information, especially where a missing or conflicting record could be misunderstood.
- Build a useful research record. Maintain concise source notes, terminology and examples that engineers, writers and support colleagues can use when the same question appears again.
- Investigate discrepancies. Work with data and backend engineers to distinguish a source limitation from a transformation issue or a mistaken interpretation.
- Keep explanations current. Identify changes in source guidance or definitions, assess the affected content and help the team make consistent corrections across the product.
What you’ll bring
- You have researched complex subjects using primary sources and can show how you checked a claim, handled conflicting evidence and recorded the limits of your conclusion.
- You write clearly and pay attention to distinctions that change meaning, including dates, definitions, missing information and the scope of a source.
- You are comfortable asking for clarification and leaving a question unresolved when the evidence does not justify a confident answer.
- You can work with structured records and explain a discrepancy to technical colleagues, even if your main background is research rather than engineering.
- You are interested in the questions people face when buying a used car and can connect a detailed finding to a practical explanation for that audience.
Useful, but not required
- Familiarity with UK vehicle registration, MOT records, finance markers or insurance write off terminology.
- Experience in automotive research, consumer information, fact checking or another field that depends on careful source interpretation.
- Comfort using spreadsheets or SQL to compare records and investigate inconsistencies.
Your first few months
- Review a defined set of report fields and document their source, meaning, coverage and common opportunities for misunderstanding.
- Resolve a research question with engineering and content, turning the conclusion into a clearer product explanation.
- Create a reusable source note or review process that makes the next investigation easier to complete and verify.
How we work
Start with the buyer, follow the evidence and make the complex clear. We value thoughtful questions, shared learning and care in the details of what we build.
We work in focused pieces, make important decisions easy to follow and bring questions into the open while there is still time to act on them. You will have room to shape the work, with the responsibility to explain your choices, ask for help and follow through on the result.
Apply for this role
Share a research example where the details changed the conclusion. Explain the sources you used, what was uncertain and how you communicated the result to someone unfamiliar with the subject.