Zinnov is a global management consulting firm that helps organizations make decisions that actually get used — and deliver results that matter. For over two decades, we’ve partnered with leading enterprises, high-growth technology companies, and investors to answer some of the toughest questions they face:
Where should we invest?
How do we scale globally?
What capabilities will win in the next decade?
Our work shapes market entry strategies, global operating models, M&A decisions, and long-term growth bets. We’re known for being data-led, execution-focused, and outcome-driven — not opinion-heavy slideware.
At Zinnov, how you work matters as much as what you deliver. We value independent thinking, crisp communication, and early ownership. With 450+ professionals across 10 global offices, we work across industries including Digital Services, ER&D, Enterprise Software, Semiconductors, Healthcare, BFSI, Automotive, Media & Telecom, and Private Equity.
Zinnov isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who want steep learning curves, honest feedback, and the chance to see their work influence real business decisions — not just presentations.
Research Lead Thought Leadership & Research | 5-8 Years Globalization Excellence (GE) Practice · Zinnov |
ABOUT ZINNOV
Zinnov is a global management consulting firm that helps organizations make decisions that get used and deliver results that matter. For over two decades, we have partnered with leading enterprises, high-growth technology companies, and investors to answer some of the toughest questions they face: Where should we invest? How do we scale globally? What capabilities will win in the next decade?
Our work shapes market entry strategies, global operating models, M&A decisions, and long-term growth bets. We are known for being data-led, execution-focused, and outcome-driven. With 450+ professionals across 10 global offices, we work across Digital Services, ER&D, Enterprise Software, Semiconductors, Healthcare, BFSI, Automotive, Media & Telecom, and Private Equity.
ABOUT GLOBALIZATION EXCELLENCE (GE)
Zinnov's Globalization Excellence practice helps enterprises build and scale Global Capability Centers end-to-end, from Design & Discovery to Build, Scale, and Run. In GE, you don't work in silos. You own complex, end-to-end client journeys, work across GCC advisory, managed services, and BOT/outsourcing models, and influence leadership decisions that shape long-term talent and operating strategies. This is where strategy meets execution, and talent plays a defining role.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The GE practice is building a dedicated Thought Leadership & Research function, modelled on the internal think tanks of the world's leading consulting firms. As Research Lead, you are the intellectual engine of this function. You won't be rotating across client engagements. You will go deep: spending months on a focused research agenda, developing original frameworks and methodologies that the GE practice can deploy with clients, and producing work that is credible enough to be published, cited, and recognised in the GCC ecosystem.
This role sits at the intersection of rigorous research and practical consulting impact. You will work closely with a rotating bench of consultants who bring ground-level client context, and with senior GE leadership who will channel your outputs into the practice's go-to-market, advisory, and capability agenda.
Zinnov isn't for everyone, and this role especially isn't. It's for someone who thrives on intellectual ownership, is energised by building something new, and wants their ideas to shape how the GCC market thinks.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Research Agenda & Intellectual Development
Analysis & Synthesis
Output Development & Communication
Collaboration & Practice Development
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Technical & Research Skills
Research Design | Ability to formulate a focused research question, choose appropriate methodologies, and run a multi-month project with clear milestones and testable hypotheses, with minimal external direction |
Quantitative Analysis | Proficiency in statistical methods including regression, survey analysis, benchmarking, and descriptive statistics; comfortable with R, Python (pandas/statsmodels), Excel, or Stata |
Qualitative Methods | Skilled in structured expert interviewing, thematic analysis, and synthesis of qualitative evidence into defensible, structured conclusions |
Literature Synthesis | Ability to map and critically assess academic and grey literature; extracts genuine insight, identifies gaps in existing thinking, and positions original work relative to the field |
Framework Development | Track record of translating empirical research into named, structured frameworks (models, matrices, or diagnostic tools) that can be applied independently of the underlying study |
AI Fluency | Comfortable using AI tools (LLMs, AI-assisted research platforms, synthesis and coding tools) as a core part of the research workflow; evaluates AI-generated outputs critically; and where needed, can scope or build lightweight AI tools or prompting frameworks to accelerate and scale research tasks |
Data Visualisation | Competence with Tableau, Power BI, or Python-based visualisation to communicate findings clearly; strong instincts for visual communication in long-form reports |
Secondary Research | Facility with databases including OECD, World Bank, IMF, academic journals (JSTOR, SSRN), and business intelligence platforms (Capital IQ, Statista, industry-specific sources) |
Report Writing | Demonstrated ability to produce long-form analytical documents with well-structured arguments, original claims, and evidence-based reasoning, to a publishable or near-publishable standard |
Mindset & Soft Skills
Comfort with Ambiguity | Makes meaningful progress before the full picture is clear; structures uncertainty rather than waiting for it to resolve; distinguishes productive open questions from misdirection |
Structured Problem Decomposition | Breaks large, ill-defined questions into component parts instinctively; builds issue trees, isolates the crux of a problem, and works from hypotheses rather than open-ended exploration |
Abstract-to-Actionable Translation | Moves fluently between the conceptual and the concrete; takes a nuanced research finding and shapes it into something a senior executive can act on without losing intellectual integrity |
Intellectual Curiosity | Reads across disciplines; draws unexpected connections; brings genuine interest in ideas, including those outside management consulting, into the research agenda |
Independent Drive | Manages own research agenda with minimal supervision; sets milestones, holds to them, and proactively flags blockers; does not need the structure of a client-facing project to stay focused |
Collaborative Depth | Works openly with rotating consultants, academic collaborators, and senior partners; shares thinking before it's polished; elevates others' outputs without losing ownership of quality |
Persuasive Communication | Writes and speaks in a way that makes complex findings feel accessible and urgent to non-technical, senior audiences, in reports, briefings, and live presentations |
Calibrated Scepticism | Questions assumptions, including their own; does not overstate certainty, does not cave to seniority pressure; knows when a finding is ready to go external and when it isn't |
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
We are open about background. This role can be filled from consulting, academia, a research institute, think tank, or policy. What matters is the quality of thinking and the track record of original output.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
In your first 6-12 months, you will have:
You're not joining a team. You're building one, and defining what GCC thought leadership looks like.
Zinnov is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, communities, and experiences.
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