Associate Manager, Primary Research

Associate Manager, Primary Research

The Associate Manager of Primary Research for People Inc. is the entry point to a mid-tier management position on our team and one level below the Manager position. As a mid-level team member, you are expected to bring an experienced perspective to the primary research staff, helping ideate new approaches, strengthen business relationships with internal stakeholders, cultivate partnerships with outside research companies to elevate our quality of work, and develop executive-friendly insights narratives that drive strategic decision-making.

Our team also oversees a substantial infrastructure of internal research panel communities that currently host 150K+ People Inc. consumers across 7 research panels for in-house, agile research that's used in conjunction with our workload of outsourced research projects. The Associate Manager of Primary Research will have heavy involvement in executing panel work and be depended upon to build a portfolio of impactful and innovative panel research projects. All your work is methodologically sound but also fun, unexpected and creative in approach. You will support panel engagement tactics to keep current panelists engaged and excited. This particular role supports the Entertainment, Beauty & Style, and Health business verticals and therefore involves the management of our Entertainment, Beauty & Style, and Health panels (including a small community of physicians).

The primary research team collaborates closely across all facets of People Inc.'s business including advertising sales & marketing, events, brand licensing, digital product design, magazine design, commerce and content creation to shape brand strategy and bring a consumer-driven POV to short-term, day-to-day decision-making. We work in close collaboration with many others within the larger Data Strategy & Insights division, such as syndicated and digital 1st party analytics teams, to deliver multi-dimensional storytelling that embodies People Inc.'s strong commitment to being data-driven and connected to our consumer.

Your presence on the primary team will embody an environment of trust, curiosity, and openness to new ideas. Exploration and innovation are strongly expected to inspire less-experienced staff, push thinking and set the tone of an ever-changing mentality toward research practices. Lastly, you will convey passion and value for powerful storytelling to ensure hard work isn't lost through a stale, predictable or unclear deliverable.

Schedule Requirements: Hybrid 3x a week (New York). In-office Expectations: This position is hybrid in-office, with the ability to work remotely for up to 2 days per week.

People Inc. reaches over two-thirds of the internet population. At the heart of our work as the Primary Research Team is a deep commitment to bringing rich, detailed explanations of consumer behavior, attitudes, and values across a range of business categories including health, food and cooking, home design and décor, entertainment and celebrity, beauty and style, finance and travel. Our proprietary intelligence through a healthy balance of qualitative and quantitative methodologies empowers our business leaders to make targeted, informed decisions based on extensive market knowledge.

Weight % Accountabilities, Actions, and Expected Measurable Results

• 60% — End-to-End Project Management: Own the full lifecycle of primary research initiatives, from intake and scoping through fieldwork, analysis, and delivery. Manage timelines, budgets, workflows, and cross-functional coordination across multiple concurrent projects. Oversee external research vendors, ensuring methodological rigor, cost efficiency, quality control, and on-time execution. Negotiate scope, manage contracts, and hold partners accountable to performance standards. Proactively identify risks, streamline processes, and maintain clear stakeholder communication throughout.

• Expected Result: Projects are delivered on time and within budget, meet high methodological and quality standards, maintain strong stakeholder satisfaction, and consistently drive actionable business outcomes.

• 20% — Panel Strategy & Health Management: Oversee the health, engagement, and performance of the Entertainment, Beauty & Style, and Health research panels. Monitor recruitment quality, retention, engagement metrics, representativeness, and response quality. Develop and implement strategies to sustain panel vitality and ensure panels remain scalable, reliable, and aligned with evolving research needs.

• Expected Result: Panels maintain strong engagement and retention rates, deliver high-quality representative data, and remain a scalable, trusted source of agile research for the organization.

• 15% — Stakeholder Partnership: Translate business questions into rigorous, actionable research frameworks. Partner closely with editorial, marketing, sales, and strategy teams to clarify objectives, shape hypotheses, and align research to commercial priorities. Act as a trusted thought partner, ensuring research outputs inform decision-making and strengthen internal relationships.

• Expected Result: Research is clearly aligned to business objectives, strengthens cross-functional relationships, and is consistently utilized in strategic and day-to-day decision-making.

• 5% — Innovation & Methodological Advancement: Champion improvements in tools, methodologies, workflows & reporting to increase research agility, rigor, and efficiency. Stay current on evolving best practices, including AI-assisted research approaches.

• Expected Result: Continuous elevation of research quality, efficiency, innovation, and storytelling, with measurable improvements in workflow effectiveness and research impact.

The Role's Minimum Qualifications and Job Requirements:

Education: Bachelor Degree from a 4-year university

Experience: 5–7 years of quantitative and qualitative primary research experience across a range of methodologies and business disciplines, ideally in media or in fields related to entertainment, beauty/fashion or health

Specific Knowledge, Skills, Certifications and Abilities:

• Strong organizational and project management skills

• Flexible & able to pivot between projects & competing priorities

• Proficiency with data tabs & analyzing complex data

• Proven ability to translate research findings into clear, compelling narratives for both internal stakeholders and external audiences (e.g., advertisers, clients)

• Hands-on experience with core primary research methods: surveys, focus groups, IDIs (in-person or virtual), online bulletin boards, and research panels

• Familiarity with common insights approaches, including MaxDiff, Van Westendorp, Kano, etc.

• Strong skills in building visually impactful presentations and infographics; you know how to make research feel like a story, not a technical report

• A creative, experimental mindset — you're energized by trying new approaches, even when the outcome isn't guaranteed

Strong Plusses:

• Experience managing in-house research panels, including survey execution, member recruitment, and engagement best practices

• Comfortable applying advanced analytics and statistical techniques (e.g., factor analysis, cluster analysis) to quantitative data

• Experienced in assessing and mitigating data quality issues

• Curious about, or actively experimenting with, AI tools to automate or streamline research workflows

• Experience with sales & marketing research, content development, new product development, event research, pricing strategy, predictive market trends, or thought leadership

• A genuine interest in entertainment/pop culture, beauty & style, and/or health

% Travel Required (Approximate): <5% (Occasional conferences or potential for team meetings in other markets)

It is the policy of People Inc. to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, the Company will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. Accommodation requests can be made by emailing View email address on click.appcast.io.

The Company participates in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For further information about the E-Verify program, please click here:

Pay Range

Salary: New York: $85,000.00 - $100,000.00