Director, Consumer & Market Insights

The Director, Consumer & Market Insights leads all research and insights across SE West, delivering deep, actionable insights about diverse audiences. Reporting to the Head of Data-Driven Insights, they are an integral part of the wider Western Publishing team focused on delivering unforgettable experiences to players around the world. They collaborate with internal teams including Development, Marketing, Creative, Sales and the broader Data functions to design critical research that informs and inspires the portfolio of games and entertainment.

Working alongside key leaders across multiple offices and regions, they play a critical role as a strategic advisor and lead a small yet nimble team to deliver critical insights from design to development, creative to experience testing, publishing strategy to launch performance and post-launch assessments, audience engagement to opportunity identification, and more.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned data storyteller with skills across multiple research modalities and a true passion for cultivating a culture of accountability to players and fans.

Requirements

Role, Responsibilities & KPI's

• Lead a team of managers and user researchers in delivering end-to-end execution of research projects across publishing activities, industry and player understanding, and game development, and oversee the internal research lab.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the globe, including Japan but not limited to, and accelerate collaboration with stakeholders in every region to strengthen global alignment.
• Partner and build relationships with key stakeholders, gain a deep understanding of business needs and consumer questions, and translate stakeholder briefs and goals into actionable research project plans, defining the best research methodologies to meet objectives.
• Build and manage relationships with multiple internal and external vendors across North America and Europe (coordinating project bids, discovering new vendors for nontraditional methodologies, and recommending a matrix of partners), and partner with Forecasting and other internal Data functions to embed consumer and player perspectives into forecasting and planning processes.
• Lead the planning and execution of all phases of consumer research and user testing, including project scoping and design, method selection, questionnaire/discussion guide development, target sample definition, programming and testing surveys, field and quota management, and quantitative/qualitative analysis.
• Drive the creation of insightful takeaways, analysis, and reports by leveraging expertise in the gaming market/industry, synthesizing information from a variety of sources and methods, and doing deep data mining where required.
• Ensure the delivery of best gaming experiences by championing player-centric decisions through systemic player- and user-testing along the game publishing and development cycle, and deeply understand player experiences and friction points to guide the development of benchmarks, standards, and norms.
• Conduct research that evaluates the effectiveness of strategies and tactics, including launch performance and post-launch assessments, to build durable company-wide knowledge, and contribute to the identification of new business opportunities.
• Develop a vision for how to continuously improve how we connect with and understand our audiences around the world, advancing collaboration with Japan Office at a global level to improve efficiency and productivity of research operations, establishing and embedding a globally consistent player segmentation framework, championing quick and iterative research methodologies, and exerting influence over publishing activities through research-driven insights.
• Consistently innovate and implement best-in-class research methodologies, analysis, and tools to efficiently scale quality research across the organization.
• Be the key advocate for gamers around the world. Championing the consumer voice internally across key game development milestones and campaign beats, and instill a data-driven, consumer-focused culture.
• Performance measures: Stakeholder satisfaction, ad hoc feedback, Insight Adoption Rate, Research Operations (% of the projects meeting the deadline), Revenue and Profit.

Qualifications and Skills

• 10+ years of experience in market research or consumer insights field, preferably at a research provider or corporate research team.
• 4+ years of management experience.
• Solid understanding of social research fundamentals.
• Mastery of multiple research frameworks and requirements for a wide range of methodologies (qualitative and quantitative), including basic descriptive and inferential statistics.
• Focus on the human side of data; able to translate data into actionable insights.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, with a passion for coaching and developing team members.
• Established relationships with vendors and the ability to select best-fit partners.
• Strategic and flexible thinker with the ability to work across corporate matrices to build consensus and gain alignment.
• Experience working in video games, entertainment, branding, strategy consulting, or related fields is plus.

Competencies, Skills, and Attributes:

• Exceptional project management, problem-solving, and analytics skills.
• Inspirational and influential communicator.
• Excellent writing, presenting, and data visualization skills.
• Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Superior attention to detail and a passion for precision.
• Flexibility and willingness to work across time zones of global stakeholders as needed.
• Proactive self-starter, very detail-oriented with the ability to multi-task, meet deadlines, work independently, and maintain highly confidential information.
• Game enthusiast.

Purpose & Values

• Purpose: Creating New Worlds with Boundless Imagination to Enhance People’s Lives.

• Values:

• Deliver Unforgettable Experiences

• Embrace Challenges

• Act Swiftly

• Stronger Together

• Continuously Evolve

• Cultivate Integrity

- Lead a team of managers and user researchers in delivering end-to-end execution of research projects across publishing activities, industry and player understanding, and game development, and oversee the internal research lab. - Collaborate with stakeholders across the globe, including Japan, to strengthen global alignment. - Partner and build relationships with key stakeholders, gain a deep understanding of business needs and consumer questions, and translate stakeholder briefs and goals into actionable research project plans. - Build and manage relationships with multiple internal and external vendors across North America and Europe, coordinating project bids and discovering new vendors. - Lead the planning and execution of all phases of consumer research and user testing, including project scoping, method selection, questionnaire/discussion guide development, and analysis. - Drive the creation of insightful takeaways, analysis, and reports by leveraging expertise in the gaming market/industry, synthesizing information from a variety of sources. - Ensure the delivery of best gaming experiences by championing player-centric decisions through systemic player- and user-testing along the game publishing and development cycle. - Conduct research that evaluates the effectiveness of strategies and tactics, including launch performance and post-launch assessments. - Develop a vision for how to continuously improve how we connect with and understand our audiences around the world, advancing collaboration with Japan Office. - Consistently innovate and implement best-in-class research methodologies, analysis, and tools to efficiently scale quality research. - Be the key advocate for gamers around the world, championing the consumer voice internally and instilling a data-driven, consumer-focused culture. - 10+ years of experience in market research or consumer insights field, preferably at a research provider or corporate research team. - 4+ years of management experience. - Solid understanding of social research fundamentals. - Mastery of multiple research frameworks and requirements for a wide range of methodologies (qualitative and quantitative), including basic descriptive and inferential statistics. - Focus on the human side of data; able to translate data into actionable insights. - Excellent communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, with a passion for coaching and developing team members. - Established relationships with vendors and the ability to select best-fit partners. - Strategic and flexible thinker with the ability to work across corporate matrices to build consensus and gain alignment. - Experience working in video games, entertainment, branding, strategy consulting, or related fields is a plus. - Exceptional project management, problem-solving, and analytics skills. - Inspirational and influential communicator. - Excellent writing, presenting, and data visualization skills. - Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. - Superior attention to detail and a passion for precision. - Flexibility and willingness to work across time zones of global stakeholders as needed. - Proactive self-starter, very detail-oriented with the ability to multi-task, meet deadlines, work independently, and maintain highly confidential information. - Game enthusiast.