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Senior Research Manager - B2C

London - Commercial

Who we are

We are an organisation that exists to drive progress. That's the “red thread” that connects everyone at The Economist Group (TEG). Our businesses share a devotion to innovation, independence and rigour in their fields of expertise. We empower people to understand and tackle the critical challenges and changes facing the world. Our analytical rigour, global expertise and evidence-based insights enable individuals and organisations to make sense of these shifts and chart a course through them.

We deliver analysis and insights in many formats to subscribers and clients in 170 countries through our four businesses, The Economist, Economist Impact, Economist Intelligence and Economist Education, which uphold our global reputation for excellence and integrity. 

The Senior Research Manager role will lead The Economist’s B2C Research function and to be that trusted adviser to senior stakeholders supporting them in high-impact strategic decision-making. They will lead a small team in delivering best-in-class research that provides a deep and actionable understanding of audiences, brands and categories. 

The core purpose of this role is to mould and lead a team that builds deep partnerships with senior executives by creating high-impact narratives that lead to clear business actions. In addition, the role is tasked with re-imagining the purpose and activities of the Research function to be "fit for the future" by leveraging AI to improve the pace, timeliness, rigor, and impact of insights. 

Direct Reports: 3x Lead Researchers 

Measures of success

Qualitative Measures: 

  • Trusted Adviser Status: The degree to which the Senior Research Manager and their team are consulted proactively on complex strategic questions rather than being reactive "order-takers". 
  • Influence & Relationship Strength: The ability to build deep partnerships with business stakeholders to understand their core problems and to influence decision-making. 
  • Insight Narrative Quality and Impact: The effectiveness of storytelling and the creation of high-impact narratives that lead to clear business actions.
  • Focus on Excellence: The degree which the team is regarded as a torch-bearer of excellence which sets and meets the highest standards in terms of quality, pace, innovation and expertise. 

Quantitative Measures: 

  • Engagement Impact: Improved speed of insight delivery and the degree of integration of research insights into core business workflows and decisions 
  • Adoption: Level of engagement and usage of self-service research and analytics tools both within the Research team and across the organization. 

Responsibilities

  • Lead and deliver best-in-class research, aligned to the organisation’s strategic goals. 
  • Provide a deep understanding of audiences, brands, and categories via actionable insights. 
  • Partner effectively with data and analytics colleagues to provide well-rounded insights reporting. 
  • Effectively manage senior stakeholders relationships to translate complex business questions into focused research objectives, while anticipating future needs. 
  • Be the voice of the customer/consumer across the company, championing the value of research and insight. 
  • Disseminate audience, brand, and category insight in creative and engaging ways to enable more customer-centric decision-making across the wider business.

Strategy & Leadership: 

  • Manage the Research function, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives. 
  • Define and implement an action plan for scaling research capabilities and delivering consistent, high-quality insights. 
  • Advocate for data-driven decision-making and the value of market and consumer insight across the business.
  • Direct strategic research to deliver business growth and a better understanding of consumers and how they interact with products and services. 

Project Management & Execution: 

  • Design, manage, and lead complex research projects across multiple business areas and audience segments. 
  • Set clear objectives, timings, and methodological recommendations for all projects. 
  • Use a broad range of quantitative and qualitative methods to explore market opportunities, consumer needs, and test business strategies. 
  • Analyse and synthesise data from various sources (e.g market research, analytics, competitor data) to develop clear, actionable insights.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: 

  • Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including product, acquisition and retention marketing, editorial, and commercial departments. 
  • Effectively communicate and interpret results to key stakeholders, tailoring the presentation to different audiences. 
  • Create clear and accessible outputs complete with relevant analysis and actionable insights to meet business objectives. 
  • Work collaboratively with the data Insights team to integrate audience behaviours from analytics and research findings, creating holistic outputs. 

People Leadership: 

  • Manage and mentor a team of 3 experienced researchers, setting clear objectives and delivering timely insights to meet business goals. 
  • Build a culture of excellence, AI-powered efficiency, learning, innovation and embedding the DRI team behaviours in mindsets and ways of working 
  • Identify and develop outstanding talent including building talent pipelines and nurturing successors 

Transformation & Innovation: 

  • Re-imagine the purpose, activities, approaches and added-value of the Research function to make it ‘fit for the future’ in a world of rapid technical change driven by AI 
  • Continuous and substantial process, technical and operating model innovation that delivers quantified KPI improvement and material commercial impact 
  • Leveraging AI to deliver improvements in the pace, timeliness, rigor and impact of research 
  • Seeking and delivering on opportunities to close the ‘say-do’ divide by integrating behavioural and consumer data into research data-sets 

Who you are

  • Quantitative Research Depth: Extensive experience with conducting a broad range of primary quantitative research (e.g., audience profiling/segmentation, brand strategy, product development, pricing, commercial research, managing online communities/panels). 
  • Qualitative Research Depth: Knowledge of qualitative methods such as depth interviews, video diaries, or ethnography. 
  • Methodological Breadth: Ability to integrate learnings from various non-research sources [e.g. behavioural and customer analytics] to make well-rounded business recommendations. 
  • Analytics Orientation: Some experience of or strong curiosity about commonly used research analytics methods [e.g. MaxDiff, CDC, PSM, clustering, etc.] or of merging behavioural and customer analytics data-sets with research data sets would also be very desirable 
  • Storytelling Excellence: A talent for delivering a compelling story, actionable insights, and strong presentation skills that changes perspectives, that spurs action and that drives decisions 
  • Portfolio Breadth: Proven experience of collaborating with numerous stakeholders across various business functions. 
  • Trusted Advisor: Demonstrable track record of building trusted advisor relationships with and of influencing senior executives 
  • Project & Portfolio Management: Demonstrated project management and organisational skills, with proven attention to detail, on-time delivery and clear/accurate stakeholder updates 
  • Innovation & Curiosity: Demonstrated and evidenced track record of leveraging AI and other technologies to improve the pace, timeliness, rigor, and impact of research. 
  • Toolset Experience: Experienced and fluent in the use of product and user analytics tools [e.g. Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, etc.] ● Statistical Tools & Languages: Working knowledge of statistical software [such as SPSS, Q] or relevant programming languages [e.g.Python, SQL or R]

Desirable Experience & Expertise:

  • Domain Knowledge: Experience in a global subscription or membership-based business. 
  • Research Sources: Knowledge of standard media or relevant industry secondary sources

#LI-Hybrid 

 

Working Arrangements

The majority of our roles operate on a hybrid working pattern, with 3+ days office attendance required. 

AI usage for your application

We are an innovative organisation that encourages the use of technology. We recognise that candidates may utilise AI tools to support with their job application process. However, it is essential that all information you provide truthfully and accurately reflects your own experience, skills, and qualifications.

What we offer

Our benefits package is designed to support your wellbeing, growth, and work-life balance. It includes a highly competitive pension or 401(k) plan, private health insurance, and 24/7 access to counselling and wellbeing resources through our Employee Assistance Program.

We also offer a range of lifestyle benefits, including our Work From Anywhere program, which allows you to work from any location where you have the legal right to do so for up to 25 days per year. In addition, we provide generous annual and parental leave, as well as dedicated days off for volunteering and even for moving home.

You will also be given free access to all The Economist content, including an online subscription, our range of apps, podcasts and more.

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