Director, Market Research & Customer Insights

Principal Market Research Professional

Cicero, part of MGT is seeking a Principal-level market research professional to strengthen and expand our Customer Insights capability. This role is designed for a post-MBA, senior researcher who combines deep methodological expertise with strong client presence and a hands-on mindset. This role will help to lead complex market research engagements, personally design and execute advanced analyses, support business development, and coach teams through best-in-class methodologies. The ideal candidate combines strong knowledge of market research methodologies, business acumen, and the ability to translate insights into actionable recommendations for clients.

Key Responsibilities Research Leadership & Delivery (Primary Focus)

• Lead and personally execute end-to-end market research engagements, from problem framing and study design through analysis, synthesis, and executive delivery.
• Identify high-value research offerings (e.g., customer insights, competitive intelligence, market segmentation, market sizing, product development, pricing optimization, brand tracking) and build services that align with client needs.
• Design and oversee advanced quantitative research, and apply qualitative and mixed-method approaches to deepen insight where appropriate.
• Translate complex data into clear, defensible, decision-ready recommendations aligned to client business objectives.
• Present findings to senior and executive-level client audiences and serve as a trusted research advisor.

Methodology, Tools & Innovation

• Serve as a senior methodological authority, ensuring analytic rigor, relevance, and consistency across engagements.
• Evaluate, pilot, and apply AI-enabled tools and workflows to improve speed, scale, and insight generation (e.g., AI-assisted survey design, text analytics, synthesis, automation).
• Develop and refine reusable templates, models, and workflows that elevate quality while maintaining efficiency.
• Stay current on emerging research methodologies, platforms, and data sources and selectively integrate them into client work.

Business Development & Growth Support

• Support and, at times, lead the research component of business development efforts, including proposal design, methodology framing, and scoping.
• Partner with consulting and practice leaders to shape insight-driven solutions that address client needs.
• Participate in client conversations to define problems, recommend research approaches, and build confidence in MGT's research capabilities.
• Contribute to thought leadership and points of view that support market-facing efforts.

Coaching, Enablement & Quality Assurance

• Provide hands-on guidance on research design, analysis, and interpretation to elevate overall quality.
• Review and strengthen research outputs to ensure methodological soundness, clarity, and impact.
• Deliver targeted training sessions and develop playbooks as needed to build internal capability.

Qualifications Required

• Masters Degree required (i.e., MBA, MS in Marketing/Market Research, Business/Data Analytics, etc.)
• 812+ years of experience in market research, customer insights, or analytics (consulting, research firm, or in-house).
• Deep, applied expertise in quantitative research methods, particularly conjoint, segmentation, and pricing.
• Strong working knowledge of qualitative and mixed-method approaches.
• Demonstrated ability to personally execute complex analyses, not solely oversee the work of others.
• Strong client-facing communication skills and executive presence.
• Comfort operating as a senior individual contributor in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.

Preferred

• Experience in a management consulting or research-driven consulting environment.
• Familiarity with tools such as Qualtrics, Sawtooth, SPSS/R/Python, Tableau, MarketSight, and AI-enabled insight platforms.
• Experience supporting proposal development and client scoping discussions.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to play a defining role in shaping and elevating MGT's market research capabilities
• Exposure to diverse industries and high-impact client challenges
• Competitive compensation and benefits
• A collaborative culture that values rigor, curiosity, and practical impact