JOB OPENING FOR BUSINESS UNIT HEAD, MARKET RESEARCH

CASE STUDY – JOB OPENING FOR BUSINESS UNIT HEAD, MARKET RESEARCH

 

Client: Azure Knowledge Corporation

Azure Knowledge Corporation, headquartered at Piscataway, NJ, is a globally trusted provider of market research and digital experience solutions. Azure Knowledge is ranked at No. 60 among the fastest growing companies in North America on Deloitte’s 2018 Technology Fast 500™, and at No. 170 on Inc’s 37th annual Inc. 5000 list.

 

We are trusted by the world’s leading brands, top consulting firms and research advisory companies for their research and analytics needs. With 9 offices across 6 countries spanning 4 continents, Azure team has executed market research and digital experience projects in 100+ markets and in 35+ languages, with a focus on complex multi-country projects requiring cross-border capabilities.

 

Additionally, we have custom-built technology tools and platforms to enable the execution of complex global projects at scale. Azure Knowledge is among the few MR service organizations that hold the triple ISO certification (ISO 20252, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001) while running MR operations that are 100% compliant with ESOMAR, MRS and Insight Association guidelines.

 

Problem:

Azure was struggling to find the head of business unit to head the new division in North America. The problem is that the market research industry is very small, and everyone knows everyone. They have alliances, partnerships, client relationships which make it even difficult to hire people from the competition or clients.

 

The head of business unit not only has to be next to the CEO, bring new logos but also increase the business with the existing clients showcasing Azure’s differentiation. If someone is already doing all of this then why would one move and if the current outsourced revenue is budgeted then how does one bring win more business to grow Azure.

 

On top, Azure only concentrates on the data collection side of the business rather than being a full-service market research firm.

 

Solution:

TALSMART aggregated all the individuals who were in sales, business development, customer engagement in the market research space using data mining. We were able to decode a pattern using the data points that the best of the candidate is either working in smaller companies but managing a wide scope of work from strategy to sales and delivery or salespeople working in large organization but only managing the data collection sales department.

 

Additionally, we were able to filter the candidates who worked in the IT, Software and Technology industries using AI/ML engine and are capable enough to quickly bring the new logos from that industry in addition to increasing the business from the top market research firms.

 

Third aspect which was came out of the data points was looking at the salespeople who are based in FL or TX and are managing South American clients and are bilingual.

 

The whole process of data mining, crunching and pattern recognition by our data scientists took almost 1 month but our team was able to submit 9 candidates and client hired 3 instead of 1 position.

 

Position Overview:

The Business Unit Head would essentially play the role of a CEO within the organization for a pre-defined set of clients.

 

BU Head will own, nurture, and grow the Business with multiple clients across geographies.

 

He or she must establish and drive all facets of internal working teams to deliver on clients’ goals, objectives, and overall strategic direction.

This person must be team-oriented and possess excellent problem solving, interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.

 

He/she is responsible for of all areas of client delivery, profit and loss, business retention, business growth and overall relationship health.

 

Financial responsibilities include review and sign-off of monthly billing and forecasting, client management or escalation of billing as needed.

Candidates must be prepared for a fast-paced environment and be comfortable making decisions.

 

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Heading the Business Unit for North America/Europe region.
  • Leading the activities related to Business Revenue and Client Relations.
  • Managing P&L of the Business Unit.
  • Establishing relations with new clients and expanding relations with existing clients.
  • Managing relations with Partner/Vendors.
  • Leading Project Execution and Delivery.
  • Bid response and pricing of projects, especially online Market Research (MR) projects.
  • Create and provide appropriate solutions for bids/opportunities to maintain high win ability ratio on bids.
  • Project management of MR projects and ensuring client delight.
  • Build and manage a large and high-quality network of market research suppliers/partners.
  • Setup processes and systems in place to continuously recruit high quality partners and retain them..
  • Responsible for the gross margins on projects managed and for completion/conversion of project scope.
  • Design and implement roadmap of client’s organization to map with our sales and marketing action plan.
  • Create feasibility report for each project/client.
  • Define partner SOW terms carefully to ensure 100% of fulfilment from both sides and in sync compliance with client contracts.
  • Invoicing and payment communication with finance head, ensuring CFO is in sync with all financial parameters.

 

MINIMUM REQUIREMENT

  • Minimum 15 years’ experience of working in Market Research Industry and a Minimum 10-year experience in the role of Client Engagement/Senior client-side marketing experience.
  • Should have a prior experience of managing and growing business with North American clients especially USA based clients.
  • Should be based out from North America/Europe.
  • Prior exposure in managing Quantitative and Qualitative studies through 3rd party vendors / partners.