Research Lead (FTC)

The Economist is the leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs. We deliver world-class, thought provoking content through a range of formats, from web and app, to newspapers and magazines, conferences, film and audio. What ties us together is the objectivity of our opinion, the originality of our insight and our advocacy of economic and political freedom around the world.

With a growing global subscriber base and a reputation for insightful analysis and opinion on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications and the foundation of our digital consumer product portfolio.

Reporting to the VP Insights and part of the Data & Insights team, the Research Lead will support the design and execution of user, customer and market research focused on delivering actionable insights and answering the core questions of the business in close partnership with wider teams.

How you will contribute:

• Delivering best-in-class research, aligned to the company’s strategic goals, providing a deep understanding of our audiences and products via actionable insights
• Partnering with analytics and commercial data teams to provide well-rounded insights reporting
• Building strong relationships with senior stakeholders to translate business questions into focused research objectives, while anticipating future needs
• Being the voice of the consumer across the company; championing research and its value
• Feeding the wider business with audience, brand and category insight in creative and engaging ways to enable more customer-centric decision making

Day-to-day you will be managing all aspects of primary research projects to include:

• Setting clear objectives, timings and methodological recommendations
• Draft and script surveys, manage data collection, qual moderation and analysis for studies
• Manage and process all data generated from qualitative and quantitative fieldwork and help synthesise insights
• Review survey responses, run statistical analyses and create a reporting plan
• Create clear and accessible outputs complete with relevant analysis and actionable insights to meet business objectives
• Effectively communicate and interpret results to key stakeholders
• Work collaboratively with members of the Research, Data & Insights team to join up audience behaviours from analytics and research findings to create clear outputs.
• Champion the adoption of emerging research tools, including AI-enabled methodologies, to enhance insight generation, efficiency, and impact.

The essential skills for this role are:

• We’re looking for a team player to help The Economist increasingly leverage research-based insights and data.
• Extensive hands on experience with conducting a broad range of quantitative research (audience profiling / segmentation, brand strategy, product development, pricing, commercial research, managing online communities / panels)
• Experience of qualitative methods such as depth interviews, video diaries / ethnography
• Experience of working with behavioural data in conjunction with research to create a fully rounded picture
• A talent for delivering a compelling story, actionable insights and strong presentation skills are a key requisite for the role
• Strong experience collaborating with numerous stakeholders across business functions and ability to integrate learnings from various non-research sources to make well-rounded business recommendations
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint or Google suite
• Experience with survey research tools and online communities (e.g. qualtrics,)
• Working knowledge of statistical software (such as SPSS, Q, or R)
• Demonstrated/proven attention to detail
• Demonstrated project management and organisational skills

Ideal but not essential skills:

• Experience in a global subscription or membership-based business and knowledge of standard media industry secondary sources is a plus
• Experience conducting B2B and commercial research is a plus

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