Research & Insights Manager

Location: United Kingdom/Europe

Reports to: Head - Research and Insights

Role: Full Time

Work Arrangement: Hybrid (2 days/week)

Compensation: £40-50K per annum

Experience Level: Senior (4-6 years).

Broad Description of the Role:

We are looking for a Research & Insights Manager to join SAMY’s Northern Europe Research & Insights team in [UK / Nordics].

This role leads modern research with social listening intelligence at the centre, combining multi-source data (social, performance, market context and cultural signals) to answer client business questions and unlock growth opportunities. You will define the research approach for projects, lead analysis across complex datasets, and turn findings into clear, senior-ready narratives that guide strategy, creative and media decisions. You’ll own delivery across social listening programmes, brand and category understanding, audience insight, cultural/trend work and (where relevant) performance reporting. You will also set standards for data quality and methodological rigour, partner closely with Strategy/Creative/Media and Data Science, and coach junior team members to raise the consistency and impact of our outputs.

You’ll sit within the Northern Europe Research & Insights team and report directly to the Head of Research & Insights.

UK Version

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Core Focus

• Lead social listening-led insight projects end-to-end: shape the approach/methodology, build/refine queries and taxonomies, validate outputs, and deliver clear client-ready insight.

• Own performance reporting delivery across cycles (monthly/QBR + ad hoc): track what’s changing, explain why it’s changing, and translate movements into implications and actions for the brand across channels, creators, and content streams.

• Deliver clear, client-ready insight storytelling: sharp headlines, defensible interpretation, and recommendations that senior stakeholders can act on.

• Deliver multi-market, multi-language cultural analysis: ensure translation checks, linguistic consistency, and cross-market comparability to ensure insights hold up at the global and regional levels.

• Work across multiple data sources (social, search, behavioural signals, trend inputs) to strengthen interpretation and produce well-rounded recommendations.

• Partner cross-functional team with Strategy, Creative, Content, Media, Implementation/DS to align insight outputs to campaign objectives and business priorities.

• Protect data quality and consistency: apply strong QA discipline, troubleshoot noise/inconsistencies, and maintain reliable KPI definitions and benchmarks over time.

• Turn complexity into clarity: craft sharp headlines, defensible interpretation, and recommendations that senior stakeholders can act on

Additional Responsibilities

• Improve efficiency by contributing to repeatable reporting workflows (templates, standard checks, reusable analysis structures) that reduce manual effort.

• Support automation-minded delivery: partner with DS/Implementation on light automation opportunities (validation routines, reporting acceleration, dashboard optimisation).

• Test and embed new methods and platform capabilities that deepen insight or accelerate speed (e.g., segmentation, clustering, emerging AI features).

• Support pitches and proactive work: provide rapid insight inputs and evidence-led storylines that strengthen proposals and client conversations.

• Coach Analysts/Juniors on insight craft, QA habits and slide standards; contribute to shared documentation and best practices.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Must Have

• 4–7 years of experience in research, digital analytics, insights or market intelligence, with a specific focus on social listening.

• Hands-on social listening delivery (not just reviewing outputs): proven experience in tools such as Sprinklr, Talkwalker and/or Brandwatch/Radarly, including query logic, noise reduction, taxonomy/tagging, theme sizing, and insight synthesis.

• Experience leading performance reporting (monthly/QBR + ad hoc): able to interpret trends over time, connect brand/category movement to drivers, and maintain consistent KPI definitions across reporting cycles.

• Strong communication and storytelling: concise headlines, defensible interpretation, and actionable recommendations; confident presenting to senior stakeholders.

• Strong cross-functional collaboration with Strategy, Creative, Content, Media and Account teams; able to lead working sessions to align outputs.

• High data rigour and QA discipline: strong attention to detail, able to troubleshoot inconsistencies and protect dataset reliability over time.

• Fluent English; comfortable working at pace across tight deadlines and reporting cycles.

Good to have

• Advanced listening methods (topic modelling, journey mapping, audience segmentation, trend frameworks).

• Familiarity with R/Python/SQL, with an appetite to learn and apply for efficiency and automation in day-to-day delivery.

• Wider knowledge of modern research tools (e.g., Pulsar, Audiense, GWI/YouGov and other content/audience intelligence tools).

• Strong visualisation skills (Google Slides/PowerPoint; bonus: Looker/Tableau/Power BI).

• Multi-market/multi-language experience and additional European languages (role-dependent).

• Curiosity for culture and consumer behaviour: actively tracks trends, creator ecosystems, and category signals.

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Nordics Version

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Core Focus

• Lead social listening-led research end-to-end: shape the approach, build/refine queries and taxonomies, validate outputs, and translate conversation data into clear insight.

• Deliver multi-market, multi-language cultural analysis: ensure translation checks, linguistic consistency, and cross-market comparability so insights hold up across the Nordics.

• Bring strong cultural and category context into insights: identify themes, tensions and emerging narratives, and explain what they mean for brands and communications.

• Work across multiple data sources (social intelligence, performance signals, search, behavioural or trend inputs when relevant) to strengthen interpretation and recommendations.

• Deliver clear, client-ready insight storytelling: sharp headlines, defensible interpretation, and recommendations that senior stakeholders can act on.

• Protect data quality and consistency: strong QA discipline, ability to troubleshoot noise/inconsistencies, and maintain reliable KPI definitions and benchmarks over time.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Strategy, Creative, Content, Media, Implementation/DS and Account teams to align outputs to business objectives and campaign needs.

Additional Responsibilities

• Support performance reporting delivery (monthly/QBR + ad hoc) projects for Nordic clients, focusing on insight delivery across channels and content streams.

• Improve efficiency by contributing to repeatable workflows (templates, standard checks, reusable analysis structures) that reduce manual effort.

• Support automation-minded delivery: partner with DS/Implementation on light automation opportunities (validation routines, reporting acceleration, dashboard optimisation).

• Test and embed new methods and platform capabilities that deepen insight or accelerate speed (e.g., segmentation, clustering, emerging AI features).

• Support pitches and proactive work: provide rapid insight inputs and evidence-led storylines that strengthen proposals and client conversations.

• Coach Analysts/Juniors on insight craft, QA habits and slide standards; contribute to shared documentation and best practices.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Must Have

• 4–7 years’ experience in research, digital analytics, insights or market intelligence, with a specific focus on social listening.

• Hands-on social listening delivery (not just reviewing outputs): proven experience in tools such as Sprinklr, Talkwalker and/or Brandwatch/Radarly, including query logic, noise reduction, taxonomy/tagging, theme sizing and insight synthesis.

• Multi-market / multi-language analysis experience: confident ensuring translation checks, linguistic consistency, and cross-market comparability of insights and recommendations across the Nordics.

• Strong communication and storytelling: concise headlines, defensible interpretation, and actionable recommendations; confident presenting to senior stakeholders.

• Strong cross-functional collaboration with Strategy, Creative, Content, Media and Account teams; able to lead working sessions to align outputs.

• High data rigour and QA discipline: strong attention to detail, able to troubleshoot inconsistencies and protect dataset reliability over time.

• Full professional proficiency in English, and fluency in at least one Nordic language (Finnish/Swedish/Norwegian/Danish) is required to support multi-language analysis and market nuance.

Good to have

• Experience leading performance reporting (monthly/QBR + ad hoc): able to interpret trends over time, connect brand/category movement to drivers, and maintain consistent KPI definitions across cycles.

• Advanced listening methods (topic modelling, journey mapping, audience segmentation, trend frameworks).

• Familiarity with R/Python/SQL, with an appetite to learn and apply for efficiency and automation in day-to-day delivery.

• Wider knowledge of modern research tools (e.g., Pulsar, Audiense, GWI/YouGov and other content/audience intelligence tools).

• Strong visualisation skills (Google Slides/PowerPoint; bonus: Looker/Tableau/Power BI).

• Curiosity for culture and consumer behaviour: actively tracks trends, creator ecosystems, and category signals.

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Appendix

Reference [Older Version]

• Lead social listening-led insight projects end-to-end: shape the approach, build/refine queries and taxonomies, validate outputs, and deliver clear client-ready insight.

• Own reporting delivery across cycles (monthly/QBR + ad hoc): track what’s changing, explain why it’s changing, and translate movements into implications and actions.

• Run multi-market, multi-language analysis: ensure translation checks, linguistic consistency, and cross-market comparability so insights hold up across the Nordics.

• Partner cross-functionally with Strategy, Creative, Content, Media, Implementation/DS to align insight outputs to campaign objectives and business priorities.

• Protect data quality and consistency: apply strong QA discipline, troubleshoot noise/inconsistencies, and maintain reliable KPI definitions and benchmarks over time.

• Turn complexity into clarity: craft sharp headlines, defensible interpretation, and recommendations that senior stakeholders can act on.

• Deliver projects based on experience in modern research methods, with a specific focus on social listening intelligence, alongside strong knowledge of digital/content analytics, benchmarking and market intelligence.

• Hands-on experience across listening tools (not just reviewing outputs) such as Sprinklr, Talkwalker and/or Brandwatch, including research setup (query logic, noise reduction, taxonomy/tagging, theme sizing) and insight synthesis.

• Experience of leading performance reporting for clients (monthly/QBR + ad hoc): able to interpret trends over time, connect category/brand movement to drivers, and maintain consistency across cycles.

• Expert in client-ready insight storytelling: concise headlines, defensible interpretation, clear implications and recommendations that influence decisions.

• Strong stakeholder collaboration: able to partner smoothly with cross-functional teams (Strategy, Creative, Content, Media) and lead working sessions to align outputs.

• Keen focus on data rigour and governance: QA discipline, able to troubleshoot inconsistencies and protect dataset reliability over time.

Additional

• Experience of advanced social listening techniques: topic modelling, journey mapping, audience segmentation, trend frameworks (brand/creator/category).

• Familiarity with R, Python, or SQL, or eagerness to learn and apply these tools.

• Familiarity with modern research tools around content performance and audience intelligence (e.g., Pulsar, Audiense, GWI/YouGov) and comfortable learning new stacks quickly.

• Strong understanding of data visualisation tools (Google Slides/PowerPoint; bonus: Looker/Tableau/Power BI).

• Experience running multi-market projects, ensuring linguistic consistency and cross-market comparability of insights and recommendations.

• Nordic language capability (e.g., Finnish/Swedish/Norwegian/Danish) and/or additional European languages.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• 4–6 years in research, market intelligence, digital analytics or insights roles.

• Strong hands-on experience with social listening tools (e.g., Sprinklr, Brandwatch, Radarly/Talkwalker).

• Strong analytical foundation (sampling, data hygiene, trend interpretation) and high attention to detail.

• Excellent storytelling + visualisation (PowerPoint, Excel/Sheets): can turn complexity into clear action.

• Confident communicator: able to engage senior stakeholders and work cross-functionally.

• Comfortable in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines and reporting cycles.

• Fluent in English