Senior Research Director
We are a specialist division of M&C Saatchi.
Our aim is to harness the power of cutting-edge marketing, communications, and creativity, so that they become key tenets of social and behaviour change activity. Clients include a range of governments, INGO’s, foundations and multilaterals.
We are focused on tackling some of humanity's most challenging and important problems, in fragile states and developing countries, through the creation of multimedia messaging campaigns.
A specialist research team exists within the company to provide formative research support and to evaluate the progress of the campaigns. We are looking for an experienced mixed-methods researcher to lead this research team.
The Senior Research Director will be confident leading the Research & Insights Department, managing & overseeing a team across two offices. This will involve overseeing the design of assessment frameworks to ensure both the effectiveness of the messaging is assessed, as well as the assessment of the strategy/Theory of Change itself. The Senior Research Director will also oversee report writing for internal audiences as well as clients. The position requires relationship management with research partners who perform the primary research on behalf of the organisation. The position will also require representing the research team internally, with especial regard to working with the accounts, strategy and production teams. The position will additionally entail other research tasks, including but not limited to open-source research; desk reviews; lessons learned/best practice write ups; etc.
Reports to the Indo-Pacific Director
Job purpose
· Working as part of a core team that supports M&C Saatchi World Services’ communications campaigns, providing research, analysis and insights to support program management teams.
· Leading the measurement and assessment of ongoing communications campaigns, applying quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Main Accountabilities
· Implementing evaluation strategies, including designing assessment strategies and reviewing draft formative and evaluative research instruments produced by Analysts working on the project.
· Owning project research reporting including assessment reports and formative research reports. This includes reviewing reports delivered by Managers & Analysts working on the project to ensure we are providing meaningful and actionable insights.
· Presenting research findings to internal and external audiences in a clear, articulate and timely manner.
· Managing relationships with research fieldwork partners and overseeing all project management when outsourced.
· Assisting with optimising the project’s strategy and delivery.
· Feeding into strategy/Theory of Change development.
· Regional research craft leadership and line management of Managers & Analysts within the team, contributing to both formal and informal training and mentorship of members of the team.
· Development and productisation of research capabilities for existing and potential clients. This includes selling capabilities to prospective clients and development of bespoke methods and tools for commercialisation.
· Reporting and updating the Leadership team regularly, managing upwards as well as downwards
Knowledge and Expertise
· Expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods; research, data and insights
· A firm interest and understanding of geo-politics and International Relations.
· Regional expertise: The SRD is expected to be (or become) an authority on the APAC region, with the ability to sense-check the analysis produced by the analysts within the team, and knowledge of best practice when conducting research in Asian markets.
· Proven ability to lead and manage a regional team.
Desirable:
· Knowledge of, and/or experience in, the media industry, creative production, and media dissemination.
· Knowledge of behaviour change communications.
· Knowledge of Strategic Communications.
Experience and Qualifications and Core Skills:
· Minimum of 8 years relevant research, monitoring and evaluation experience.
· Experience managing research projects from design to report writing.
· Strong qualitative and quantitative analysis skills (with experience using SPSS, Q, R or Stata).
· Experience designing and conducting mixed methods research studies.
· Department lead or extensive line management experience.
· Strong report writing and data visualisations skills.
· Good communication skills including experience presenting research findings and explaining technical concepts to multiple stakeholders including non-researchers, clients, etc.
· A strong work ethic with ability to stick to deadlines.
· Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
· Fluent in written and spoken English.
· Proficient in all components of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel).
Desirable:
· Experience with evaluating behavioural change.
· Experience evaluating the impact/effectiveness of multimedia communications activity.
· Experience with digital and innovative research methods.
· Experience designing logical frameworks (logframes) and assessment strategies.
· Experience using data visualisation software such as tableau.
· Experience of myriad tools, research processes and partners that have improved ways of working.
Additional Key Qualities
· Understanding of the company’s culture and business area.
· Sense of responsibility towards the organisation’s reputation.
· Ability to travel and work independently.
· Forward leaning attitude and ability to represent the research team internally and externally.
· Willingness to manage, mentor and train members of the team.
· Anticipation of challenges and show of initiative across all projects.
