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Strategic Innovation Director
GfK
London, , United Kingdom
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We are on the lookout for an exceptional candidate to support the FuturePath team within GfK's Market Opportunity and Innovation division (MOI). FuturePath is the GfK brand for market understanding and landscaping studies (U&A, Segmentation and Market sizing). Roughly half the work done in the team uses GfK's FuturePath framework of thinking which adds a forward looking view to studies which historically have been very focused on the present. FuturePath is not a straightjacket, but rather a suite of thinking which we can match with client needs when appropriate. The other half of the work is fully customized. FuturePath is the sister team to our concept testing team and there is frequent cross-team working between these units, so concept testing is also likely to be part of the remit.
Almost all studies within the team are ad hoc. Currently 18 people work in the team with a spread of balanced job grades from trainee to Director.
The candidate would also support our sector focused account manager team in creating winning proposals and then delivering these from start to finish. The team delivers around £3m of annual revenues, predominantly created from ad hoc work for existing UK and International clients.
Some degree of experience of Tech research is essential as a large part of our business is with Communications / Technology companies. The tech client portfolio includes mobile operators, handset manufacturers, software providers and other tech players. A proportion of the work is in B2B rather than Consumer, so any experience doing research amongst business decision makers would also be beneficial.
Key tasks & responsibilities:
• Helping the team head to motivate and inspire a team of 15 bright Execs who are passionate about innovation research
• Hands-on involvement in design, execution & delivery of quantitative UK and International projects
• Predominantly ad-hoc work covering a wide variety of mid to late stage innovation areas, such as market sizing, segmentation, U&A, concept testing, pricing, optimization, forecasting etc.
The team works in a collaborative environment with a flat structure feel and aims to have a strong 'intrapreneurial' ethos with collective responsibility for shaping its future direction.
Examples of recent projects completed across the innovation lifecycle by members of the team:
• Segmentation of mobile owners by their behaviour, attitudes & needs across a number of African markets
• Exploration of leading edge consumer behaviour in relation to multi-device usage
• Conjoint & Forecasting assessments linked to product portfolio design for a security software provider
• B2B market share measurement in mobile operator markets
Requirements
Competencies:
The ideal candidate has a collaborative, respectful and trusting people style, a passion for technology and innovation alongside a solid background in quantitative ad hoc research. Specifically, we are looking for someone with experience of and a genuine interest in:
• Tech research – an understanding of the latest developments affecting us as consumers and research solutions to address these
• Quantitative B2B research approaches
• Innovation lifecycle – e.g. U&A, segmentation, NPD, Concept testing, proposition refinement (e.g. through conjoint), market opportunity assessment etc.
• Designing, managing and executing multi-country quantitative projects
• Delivery of insightful, story-driven and memorable presentations
• An analytical mindset for successfully responding to client briefs and designing research approaches across all relevant stages (e.g. sampling, methodology, analytics, reporting and implementation)
• Proactive attitude, and thrive on taking responsibility for initiating and implementing actions to develop our client propositions and team capabilities
• Excellent client handling skills, and a clear understanding of how research is used by clients and their internal stakeholders
• Great communication skills – a pro-active team player who enjoys working in smaller teams and flat structures, and is able to provide the key link between the business and the client
• Proven record delivering projects in a timely manner and meeting financial targets
• Some experience in, or an interest in, developing & pitching thought-leadership to clients about the latest innovation research solutions, or industry thinking
Typical education and work experience:
A solid, agency based market research background (minimum 8 years' experience) with good exposure to all aspects of Technology research. Our clients are interested in creative solutions which draw on a broad range of skills rather than black box off the shelf packages, so custom research experiences from an ad hoc background are preferable
About us
Having choices is what makes life exciting. Make your choice today and take your future into your own hands. We value skills and talents, and will support your development within our international teams. GfK makes your choice easy as we offer an exciting work environment that brings people together and encourages an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. As a trusted leader in market research present in over 100 countries, we know what makes consumers’ hearts beat—globally and locally. We work on projects for successful companies in virtually every major industry.