Research Manager

Overview

This role will comprise two core responsibilities, with about 80% of time spent on managing and delivering research projects and 20% of time spent on managing and overseeing the ISO program for the YouGov research team.

 As a Research Manager with YouGov, you will manage and deliver market research projects related to a wide range of industry sectors, support and develop key client accounts, and contribute to the wider YouGov team in Australia. You will be supported by 1-2 research executives whom you will manage, and an expert in-house operations team across panel, scripting, and data processing.

You will need well-developed communication and people skills to build strong relationships with clients and your own team of researchers, as well as supporting collaboration across the broader YouGov team in Australia.

As the team's ISO Manager, you will need to ensure projects are completed in accordance with the YouGov quality manual and ISO 20252 standards. This is likely to include being the team's ISO champion, training the team in ISO requirements, and checking project documentation once a project has been completed to ensure all relevant information is saved in the project folder.

Key Responsibilities

Research Design and implementation: Use your well-developed research knowledge and experience to develop research approaches, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, that address clients’ objectives and required outcomes. Design questionnaires and discussion guides, oversee questionnaire scripting and testing for online surveys, undertake focus groups and depth interviews as required.

Project management: You will contribute to ensuring the projects you work on are completed on time and on budget, are accurate and meet the client’s requirements. This will involve project planning, capturing scope creep, delegation of tasks to, and supervision of, your direct reports. You will be expected to be a ‘hands-on’ manager where you instruct and guide as well as work along-side your team to deliver research projects.

Team and people management: Manage 1-2 research executives, coach and mentor them for key tasks on political and polling projects including questionnaire scripting and testing, data analysis and drafting reports. You will be responsible for performance management and helping your direct reports develop and strengthen their research skills.

Data analysis and reporting: Analyse results from quantitative and qualitative research to identify key insights and demographic trends. Interpret the results of advanced analysis techniques including segmentation, max-diff and multivariate regression. Prepare clear, accurate and compelling reports. Prepare and deliver presentations to brief clients on the results of research projects.

Account Management: You will work to develop close relationships with your key contacts on the accounts you work on to understand their needs, advocate the best research practices for different research projects, and provide relevant and useful insights from research. You will identify new opportunities to grow the revenue from existing and new clients.

New business development: Support in the preparation of proposals and quotations including project costings and timelines in response to research briefs from your existing client base. You will also be required to collaborate with the New Business team to help pitch YouGov’s credentials and support with preparing proposals to win new client accounts.

*ISO Management for the Australian Team: Lead the team in ISO management and compliance including team training, checking of project folders for compliance with the YouGov quality manual, supporting and managing the internal and external ISO audit processes and working with Directors and other Research Managers closely to ensure compliance.

Requirements

• 3-5 years of market research experience in an agency with relevant knowledge.
• Strong understanding of ISO 20252 standards, preferably with experience as an ISO champion or manager in an accredited agency.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills for presenting research findings to clients.
• Proficient in quantitative research methodologies, data analysis, and statistical techniques; knowledge of qualitative methods is a plus.
• Experience supervising and mentoring team members in research skills.
• Strong emotional intelligence, able to remain calm under pressure and adopt a solution-oriented approach.
• Effective problem-solving skills for resolving client project issues.
• Willingness to collaborate across teams for the advancement of YouGov's business in Australia and globally.
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in Psychology, Political/Social Sciences, or Business/Commerce are highly regarded.
• Fluent in English (written and spoken).
• Australian citizen or permanent resident with working rights.