Associate Manager, Research & Insights

Working as part of the US CX & Insights Team, this position is responsible for executing qualitative and quantitative primary research projects to enable insight-driven business decisions within the US Life Insurance segment.  This role will work with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to understand their needs, recommend and design effective research approaches, conduct the research, analyze the data, identify actionable insights and report the findings and recommendations.  This position also requires working closely with research vendors to obtain both primary, syndicated, and secondary research.

A successful candidate will have experience developing and conducting custom qualitative and quantitative research projects from start to finish, with a strong focus on actionable insights and reporting excellence, as results from these projects will inform the US Segment strategic decisions, solution and experience design, marketing strategies and campaigns, product development, and provide key insight into our customers.  
 

Position Responsibilities:

• Engaging and getting feedback from life insurance producers, intermediaries, end-customers, beneficiaries through quantitative, qualitative, and usability research

• Identifying, designing and implementing research projects from inception to completion in-house: writing proposals, drafting the questionnaires / discussion guides, programming and deploying surveys and interviews, analyzing the data, synthesis and reporting, identifying actionable insights and presenting findings and recommendations to business partners

• Managing research projects from inception to completion through vendors: including proposal writing, RFP management, vendor selection, reviewing the questionnaires/recruitment screeners/discussion guides, attending the qualitative research sessions, developing the tab plan, reviewing the reports, and presenting the insights and recommendations to business partners

• Delivering actionable insights and recommendations leading to competitive advantage for the business through the synthesis and integration of various data sources – custom, tracking, secondary & syndicated research – to provide a comprehensive understanding of the audience

• Managing internal stakeholders and research vendors during research projects

• Managing the relationship with key industry research partners and share relevant third party research within the organization

• Developing a deep understanding of key audiences, including attitudes, needs and behaviors, and drivers of brand/product preference

• Providing insights proactively to: identify and fill information gaps in the business; keep a pulse of key audience industry trends, competitive movements, industry advancements and government decisions that impact distributors and customers and the business; bring forward new ideas/thought leadership/challenges to the status quo without a specific business request

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree in business, marketing, data analytics or other relevant degree

• Additional research training/certifications is a plus.

• 3-5 years of relevant work experience in market research industry. 

• Financial and life insurance industry experience will be an asset.

• Must have hands-on experience designing and applying qualitative and quantitative market research methodologies, techniques, tools and technologies to produce actionable insights

• Ability to write questionnaires/reports/presentations/actionable recommendations based on research data and stakeholder input

• Passion for Customer-first thinking and customer centric design

• Experience conducting B2B research with hard-to-reach and niche audiences

• Strong understanding of statistical methods and statistical analyses tools

• Working knowledge of research platforms (e.g., Qualtrics, UserTesting, etc.)

• Ability to translate research data into effective insight reports and recommendations

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills

• Hands-on experience effectively presenting insights to different levels of organization

• Growth mindset, adaptability and ability to manage multiple, changing and competing priorities

• Strong drive and initiative with a demonstrated track record of results achievement

• Ability to work autonomously, but excel in team-based environment

• Highly motivated with experience managing multiple projects under tight timelines

• Strong written, oral, and presentation communication abilities, including storytelling

• Ex