Manager, Research & Insights

Job Title:Manager, Research & InsightsOverview:OverviewThe NAM Research & Insights team is looking for a manager to drive our consumer and customer-centric culture forward through leading research studies that push boundaries across marketing/communications, product innovation, and business development. The ideal candidate is passionate about bringing consumer/customer empathy and understanding into business decision-making. They are a highly motivated, intellectually curious, analytical/creative storyteller and possess an entrepreneurial mindset. As Mastercard is a leader in the payments industry, this role delves into topics that cover culturally relevant topics, such as: commerce/payment, finance, technology, small business, retail, travel, experiences and purpose.RoleIn this position, you will:• Leverage existing intelligence – both external: primary, secondary, and culturally relevant trends (including syndicated data tools) and internal: primary research from other teams (global, etc.) - to shape and inform the foundation of research projects and to answer ad-hoc business questions• Identify emerging consumer behaviors and culturally relevant trends; manage insights repository• Partner with cross-functional teams – consumer and B2B marketing/comms, product, small business, business development, account management, etc. to identify gaps in knowledge, uncover hypotheses, and formulate research recommendations (i.e., partner selection, appropriate methodologies)• Manage and execute custom qualitative/quantitative research projects with external partners/vendors, including identifying key consumer and customer unmet needs, wants, desires to provide decision-making and recommendations across business units• Push the boundaries in research approaches and team efficiencies – provide creative ideas on interesting methodologies, progressive research partners/vendors, innovative data visualization tools, etc.• Be a storytelling expert, an analytical master of spotting nuances in data analysis, shape creative narratives and outputs, and push findings to “so what” recommendations for the business• Provide creative ideas on socializing insights and developing thought leadership materials from research, possessing a “marketing of insights” mentality• Provide team operational support in monthly project tracking, etc.All About You• Previous experience in a strategic insights/planning role• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree, Advanced Degree preferred• Client-side and partner/agency-side experience preferred; experience in payments/financial industry a plus, but not required• Use empathy and understanding to look at business challenges through the eyes of consumers/customers• Possess an analytical mindset, with a passion for deconstructing and reframing questions and an ability to distill datasets into clear and meaningful recommendations• Have consultative abilities to diagnose research needs, influence senior stakeholders, and problem solve• Continually keep a pro-active eye on the market, trends and competition in culture, our industry, and our partners’ industries• Be a strong, confident writer and speaker, able to communicate vision and roadmap effectively to a wide variety of stakeholders• Possess strong skills in persuasive and engaging presentation and creative deliverable writing• Have a high-degree of self-initiative, moving nimbly and re-prioritizing projects based on business need; be deadline-driven and own multiple projects at one time• Have a fundamental understanding of how to educate and inspire others across various departments and levels of experience• Be an enthusiastic, resourceful team-player• Be detail-oriented and possess operational skills to maximize team efficiency (i.e., project management)Technical skills:• Draft RFP’s, facilitate questionnaire changes/updates, manage shifting project schedules, provide presentation feedback• Have a solid understanding of business objectives, marketing objectives and KPI’s and how this translates to research approaches• Have solid quantitative research experience (i.e., cluster analysis, concept testing, ad testing, segmentation, MaxDiff, Conjoint Analysis) and qualitative approaches (i.e., human-design thinking, creative methodologies)• Experience with detailed analysis and aligning disparate data sources; familiarity with using syndicated data platforms, data analysis and or/data visualization tools (any of the following: Domo, Tableau, crunch.io, YouGov BrandIndex/Profiles, MRI, Simmons, SPSS)• Advanced excel and powerpoint/storytelling skills• Have supported development of thought leadership materialsTHIS POSITION MUST BE IN OUR PURCHASE, NY LOCATION AND IS 3 DAYS/WEEK IN OFFICE