Research Manager (Qualitative)

ID 5589

Job Description

We’re looking for a sharp, curious, and driven Research Manager to join our growing research team at McCann Birmingham. If you’re a creative and strategic thinker with an ability to spot insights and bring truth to your research, then we’d like to talk to you! We’re looking for someone who knows how to get under the skin of the consumer, bring insight to life, and report back on market and consumer issues – with the ultimate mission ‘to find the truth that drives effective creativity’.

As a Qualitative Research Manager, you’ll play a key role in helping clients better understand their market, competitors, and customers. You’ll contribute to delivering thoughtful, creative research that informs brand, communication, and engagement strategies.

What makes this role exciting?

You’ll be right at the heart of a busy creative agency – sitting alongside strategists and creatives, with the opportunity to influence ideas from the ground up. It’s a role where your insights don’t just sit in a deck – they inspire real campaigns, shape big ideas, and drive meaningful business change.

Who we are

We’re the Birmingham branch of the world’s largest advertising and communications network – McCann Worldgroup – which boasts over 200 offices in 130 countries worldwide. Yep; the one from Mad Men.

Add to this the (literal) wheelbarrow full of awards we’ve got including Euro Effies most effective global agency, Campaign’s European Integrated Agency of the Year, Cannes Lions Network of the Year, plus McCann Birmingham has won a number of Cannes Lions over the past 2 years, not to mention D&AD pencils, Clio, One Show and Creative Circle Awards.

We believe creativity sells. Scratch that, we know creativity sells.

From the simplest idea to the most complex strategy, creativity is the only way to prosper in an increasingly competitive world. It differentiates, entertains and persuades. And it helps our clients’ brands and businesses play a meaningful role in people\’s lives.

Creativity, in the form of ideas, stories and messages, has the power to capture people\’s imaginations and move them to change their views, make choices and take action. And when integrated into people\’s journeys through life, creative ideas connect, get shared and inspire action.

That\’s why creativity is at the heart of our business strategy. Done well, it gets results. Every time.

The Culture

Having parked in your free parking space, enjoyed your free breakfast, be ready to start working on some of the biggest brands around.

Just as importantly, you\’ll work with amazing people and be exposed to everything from social media to television. You\’ll be learning all the time too, not just on the job but through our training and development programme that keeps your career developing at a healthy pace.

Skills & Mindset:

• A skilled user of PowerPoint – able to take rich insights and bring them to life in a deck, in creative, neat and engaging ways
• Creative thinker who enjoys problem-solving and coming up with fresh ideas
• Curiosity to learn and uncover new approaches to answering a variety of different client questions and challenges
• Engaged and interested in how AI can help drive efficiencies to the research process
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills
• Personable and confident communicator – able to explain complex ideas in a clear, engaging way
• A good listener who can demonstrate how they’ve applied listening skills to solve client challenges
• Team player who thrives in a collaborative environment
• A strategic thinker able to see the bigger picture – always framing our insights in a way that is relevant and useful to our client’s needs
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and juggle deadlines
• Fluent in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and PowerPoint

Experience

• 3+ years of experience in a research agency or insight consultancy is essential with a proven ability to generate ideas, uncover insights, and translate them into meaningful outcomes for clients
• Literate and numerate – comfortable working with large datasets and finding the story within
• Experience presenting findings to clients and packaging ideas into actionable recommendations
• Ideally experience with data analysis and visualisation tools (e.g., Q, SPSS, Displayr, Excel, Tableau or similar)
• Confident integrating AI into your everyday work
• Qualitative research experience is essential, but if you’re from a mixed methodology background that would be excellent as the role will require you to tap into both qualitative and quantitative skillsets.

Why Join Us?

We’re a close-knit, insight-led team that believes in doing thoughtful, purposeful research. You’ll be surrounded by supportive colleagues who are passionate about turning research into real-world impact. You’ll work on a variety of projects spanning qual and quant – from deep audience segmentation to campaign evaluation and customer journey mapping – and have plenty of opportunity to grow, learn, and shape your own development path.

In addition to a competitive salary, we are committed to creating a brilliant environment for all our people. This includes benefits such as 28 days holiday, plus the opportunity to buy more holiday, enhanced pension contributions, life assurance, and much more.

A culture of learning and development is also central to our ethos, so you’ll have access to industry-leading training and development programmes, plus you’ll get to work closely with the world’s biggest media partners to access exclusive features and products.

Most importantly, you’ll be part of a fun and collaborative team and you’ll work in an environment where you are supported and developed.

If you want to join an iconic network agency that offers you the chance to work on one of the top clients in our portfolio & the opportunity to progress your career with an unrivalled development programme, contact us now. And not through a recruiter, please.

Our commitment to equal opportunities

For us, diversity is a business imperative – one that must be embedded into every aspect of how we operate in order to drive success. Simply put, we believe an encouraging and inclusive environment makes sound business sense.

As a globally integrated community that influences and shapes culture, it’s vital that the talent mix in our agencies encompass all dimensions of diversity, and that we demand the same of the people we work with.

Conscious inclusion encompasses social, cultural and cognitive differences and cultivates an ethos of belonging, connection and shared purpose. It is the integration of this philosophy that allows us to create meaningful experiences for our employees, drive better business practices with our vendors and clients, and ultimately lead with purpose.

McCann helps brands build the most meaningful brand platforms that drive exponential growth and leave a lasting impact on culture. Founded 100+ years ago with their own platform, “Truth Well Told”, McCann is the world’s leading advertising agency network, creating some of the most creatively and commercially impactful advertising globally. McCann is the founding unit of McCann Worldgroup marketing services company, part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG).

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