Job Description
- An independent research organization focused on Field, Market and Social Research currently needs to fill the role of a Director of Research.
- The Director of Research is a senior management position that reports directly to Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors.
- The DR will also work with the senior leadership team to establish and operationalize the appropriate and necessary research infrastructure to advance the mission of the Organization.
Primary Purpose of the Role
- The Director of Research leads the Organization's research and development strategy and direction, and drives significant research programs to ensure achievement of valuable research outcomes. He/She will also be responsible for client service, project planning, resourcing, account management, business development, team development and disseminating sensory knowledge.
Key Accountabilities
Project Planning:
- Ensure that all projects are sufficiently and appropriately resources and that our recommended project management and analysis approaches are being adhered to
- Assign teams for every project, taking into consideration:
- Existing client teams and continuity
- Skills required for the project (e.g. specialist techniques etc.)
- Current workloads
Team dynamics/interpersonal skills.
- To monitor on a day to day basis, resources for live projects, supplementing/modifying teams as required, and generally acting in the role of troubleshooter to ensure smooth progress of all projects.
- To take an overview of the management of all live projects, ensuring that relevant meetings take place - initiation, mid-project update, product handling, field, data processing and data analysis briefings, debrief planning and postmortems. This will involve direct liaison with key personnel across the relevant departments.
- Scrutinise proposed timings for projects and discuss them with the key departments to ensure that client's needs are met.
- To promote and monitor implementation of correct procedures throughout the Research team.
- To actively lead a review of the research process, identify areas for change and manage such change together with the implementation of an ongoing monitoring process.
- To keep abreast of outstanding proposals to foresee and plan workload levels.
- Provision of internal cost controls, to sign off on research design and debrief content; and manage the costing of all proposals and ensure that overhead recovery targets are monitored and advise the CEO on a regular basis as to actual results against target while identifying and implementing organisational efficiency improvements including ways of reducing direct costs.
Resourcing:
- To line manage all Research staff within the team, planning their career development, identifying training needs, supporting them with their own line management responsibilities, conducting appraisals
- To identify future resource needs within the Research Team and submit proposals with costs for consideration within the budget.
- Ensure that the research team recognise the need for growth and for change and given sufficient opportunities to develop and succeed within the business
- Foster an environment which is rewarding, where people have a passion and people enjoy their job (albeit with a high degree of challenge)
- Coach and mentor the research team to help realise their developmental potential and identify additional training needs where necessary
Business Development/Managing Client Accounts:
- The generation of New Business through warm leads generated by the Organization and from other personal contacts.
- Identifying opportunities, funding and support for research programs in an environment of political, industrial, social and financial sensitivities, constraints and enhanced competition for available funding
- The generation of warm leads through promoting awareness of the Organization amongst potential clients and contacts.
- The identification of business risk and development opportunities within accounts and the implementation of appropriate solutions.
- Add value to the client experience by providing advice, consultancy and a high level of interpretation and direction, where appropriate.
- The provision of a senior presence at key client interface situations with ultimate responsibility for the quality of service provided and business developed on allocated accounts.
- Own delivery of an agreed value of business from existing and new clients in line with overhead recovery and net profitability targets
Qualifications, Work Experience & Competencies
- Minimum of PhD in Statistics, Research, Data / Information Analysis or any related course from a recognized institution.
- Minimum of 10 years work experience in conducting Field, Market or Social Research in a similar industry.
- Successful track record delivering high quality services in a large complex multi - disciplinary environment.
- Demonstrable leadership and management skills.
- Ability to cope under pressure and work to ambitious deadlines.
- Self-motivated, energetic and flexible, with well-developed interpersonal skills.
- Has presence, commands attention.
- Personal resilience, self-awareness, determination to succeed.
- Keen to develop themselves and others, open to new ideas and willing to share their experience with others
- Experience of successfully working to deadlines and completing tasks
Special Requirements:
- Ability to travel to meet the requirements of the role.