Research Manager (Sport)

at YouGov Sport: Sydney, Melbourne, Hybrid, Australia

YouGov Sport APAC provides expertise on sports data, insights, and media evaluation. Since 2019, we have quickly cemented ourselves as the preferred research provider for Australia’s premier sports

leagues and clubs.

What separates us? By combining agile research and customer-centricity, we are able to adopt an

insight-led approach to everything we do, and by being able to translate complex data into useful and actionable insights, we are able to reach out to a much wider audience and provide more value to our clients.

The Role

Reporting directly to the Research Director - Sport, you will primarily be managing the research requirements for some of the largest sports rights holders in Australia. Our client base is second to none, including but not limited to leagues and clubs across the AFL, NRL, A-Leagues, Netball Australia, Rugby Australia, Cricket Australia and more. You will be exposed to a variety of sports professionals and the opportunity to develop life-long professional and social networks.

Your day-to-day will include exposure to a diverse range of research briefs and projects. This can range from evaluating sponsorships for commercial teams, helping clubs attract new sponsors, conducting economic impact studies for events, building fandom segments to support league growth or tracking marketing activity and testing advertising campaigns for a club.

To achieve this for your clients, you will be using a hybrid research approach involving the use of existing syndicated data tools to pull together actionable insights or running custom bespoke research from start to finish. You will have high levels of exposure to clients in-person via presenting, training, and developing their competency in utilising our tools.

Internally, you will also be responsible for supporting junior researchers/interns, helping to develop our sports data and research tools and being pro-active with new innovative ideas to further improve our processes and quality of work. This role is not for your everyday researcher, it’s for someone who is truly passionate about sport, has exceptional organisation skills and due diligence and wants to take a step up in their career from a commercial standpoint - the idea of growing your accounts through consistently strong, proactive account management and working on new business outreach and pitches must excite you to be successful in this role. We’re in a continuous state of growth and need team members with a growth mindset and who enjoy the challenge of an ever-changing environment, particularly as AI will rapidly change processes and outputs over the coming years.

The opportunities are endless at YouGov, being a global research and sports agency powerhouse. You’ll be working with the ‘best of the best’ in the industry, both in regard to premiere clients and the extensive sports expertise of your fellow collegues. Whilst enjoying all of the learning and development opportunities, internal and external events that come with working at a business of scale, not to mention exceptional benefits such as our highly utilised working abroad scheme and companywide bonuses.

Responsibilities

• Working closely with the Research Director to develop project plans, training sessions, analysis and deliverables

• Independently and confidently account manage a portfolio of top-tier accounts

• Managing complex projects from start to finish either independently or as a small team which include workshopping briefs, questionnaire design, data cleaning, analysis, and full reporting

• Using syndicated tools to run compelling training/upskilling sessions and deliver end of season reporting to clients

• Submit proposals in line with client requirements along with competitive costings

• Data analysis combining both proprietary and custom methodologies - looking into trends, identifying key movements and collating into clear insights and recommendations

• Keep up-to-date with new data insights techniques and models, including how they are relevant and applicable for the business, whilst seeking to continuously improve existing techniques

• Keep up to date with the sports landscape and know your clients’ businesses intimately

Required Skills

• Bespoke quantitative research professional

• Strong client relationship management skills

• Confident independently working with / meeting with clients

• Work equally well in teams and independently

• Impeccable attention to detail

• Proactive problem-solving abilities

• Strong analytical mindset

• Strong desire to proactively seek out innovative ways to contribute to the client's growth

• Honed professional communication skills

• A can-do, positive mindset no matter the day, type of work or challenge

• Bonus skills that would be highly valued (non-mandatory): Qualitative research experience, experience in utilising AI to strengthen processes/delivery in a work environment, experience in sports research, sales/business development experience, complex quantitative analysis/projects, Q software experience, management of junior researchers

Qualifications

• Minimum 3-4 years of Market Research experience

• Bachelors degree or higher in a related field

• Ability to run custom projects from start to finish including questionnaire design is mandatory

• Strong attention to detail, exceptional time management and organisation skills

• Proven track record of managing multiple projects and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced dynamic environment

• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to approach and solve problems

• Effective communication skills (written, spoken and presentation)

• Excellent stakeholder engagement with senior-level internal (management) and external (executive/c-suite) stakeholders

Why join YouGov?
Join our global team to help us achieve our social mission: to make millions of people’s opinions heard for the benefit of our local, national, and international communities.

Understanding diversity of opinion requires diversity of background. Although our global panel of millions of people worldwide powers our research, our biggest asset is our people. If our research is to be truly representative of what the world thinks, we need people from all walks of life to be part of the team to bring their perspective to the work we do. 

Life at YouGov
We are driven by a set of shared values. We are fast, fearless, and innovative. We work diligently to get it right. We are guided by accuracy, ethics, and proven methodologies. We respect and trust each other, bringing these values into everything that we do.

We strive to provide YouGovers with best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing. We want our employees to have a sense of belonging and uniqueness in a supportive workplace, so they can bring their full selves to work. 
 
Equal Opportunity Employer
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity or expression, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, marital status, age, disability, genetic information, HIV status, political affiliation, socioeconomic background, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law or in line with our responsibilities as a fair and ethic employer. All employment decisions are made based on occupational qualifications, merit, and business need.

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