Senior Marketing Research Manager

This position’s primary responsibility is to manage marketing research for the Entertainment and Devices Division (E&D) Microsoft Premium Mobile Experiences business.  This will include primary and secondary research to meet the evolving needs of the Premium Mobile Experiences in terms of helping to inform its strategies, and product roadmaps.  The research you manage will span different types of primary and secondary research, such as syndicated research to assess the market and opportunity spaces for these new areas of investment, habits and practices research to identify unmet consumer needs, concept testing of new products, positioning and messaging testing in support of the value proposition and product satisfaction and brand tracking to measure the in-market experience.  This research is critical to the business group for planning and implementing their product and marketing activities successfully. Specifically, it is used to inform both short and long term business decisions, as well as to provide critical metrics for key strategic business reviews (i.e., market size and growth rates, new product volume estimates, etc).  You will also be involved in initiatives aimed at building cross-learning across the Mobile Communications business and other E&D businesses, as needed.  As the Senior Research Manager, you will establish the research agenda with the business partners, and manage all phases of specific primary research projects.  In this role, you will work collaboratively with product planners and the marketing teams to insure business actionable results. You will provide project direction, design and analysis for U.S. and international research.  Additionally, you will be responsible on an ongoing basis for synthesizing relevant consumer research into integrated analyses for new insights on consumers.  This position will require independent project management, very strong communication skills, the ability to work flexibly and adapt to a fast paced and changing environment, knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative research techniques, secondary analysis skills, and the desire to be directly and deeply involved with the business partners.  The research you lead will be broadly published to the business group and will be used in business group reviews, etc.  You will work closely with other researchers on the team in the execution of research and coordinate your research efforts with other directly-related studies to keep the business partners informed and to link the content of your studies with other efforts underway on the team. Microsoft Premium Mobile Experiences Marketing research (approximately 85% of workload) Independently manage Marketing research:·  Planning for and launching the primary research, such as habits and practices, segmentation research, tracking studies·  Establishing a strong relationship with Microsoft Premium Mobile Experiences Product planners, Marketing partners and CMG partners·  Establishing linkages with researchers in CMG to inform these studies and to leverage other studies·  Developing the analysis, reporting and research plans including both primary and secondary research Manage a suite of primary and secondary research focused primarily on issues related to product planning and new product development·  Designing, and managing a suite of research·  Establishing a strong relationship with product planning and marketing partners·  Designing, implementing and reporting primary and secondary research for business actionable insights·  Evaluating, and selecting research vendors through project bidding and ongoing evaluation of vendors for cost effective and efficient use of resources·  Managing project budget and work plans against agreed upon business group priorities·  Writing clear reports (n the form of powerpoint decks, and word documents as required by the business) and delivering presentations which deliver insights·  Synthesizing findings across studies for deeper understanding of the customer and the business Cross Research Learning across MCB and E&D (additional focus area ) - 15% of workload·  Leverage other consumer research for the benefit of the businesses and publish thought-leadership perspectives for business partners·  Actively participate as member of Central Market Research team to grow professionally and to contribute this learning to the businesses you support Contacts:This position has contact with Microsoft research managers and directors, research vendors and consultants, Microsoft senior management clients, and occasionally Microsoft customers. Minimum Requirements: Bachelor’s degree required (MBA a plus) and minimum of seven year’s experience in market research or directly related profession. This should include research experience in both primary and secondary research analysis and reporting.  Strong primary research project management experience and quantitative skills required.  Applicant must have a demonstrated ability to apply market research in order to produce fact-based business insights and actionable results, as well as a successful track record of working collaboratively with teams and applying consultative skills to the business. Technology industry experience preferred. The candidate must have a strong theoretical and practical knowledge of research, in particular the ability to answer business questions by taking metrics, synthesizing data and turning it into actionable business insights.  Excellent interpersonal, verbal, analytical, and PowerPoint skills are also required. Demonstrated concise, effective communication both spoken and written.Demonstrated ability to form strong working relationships with all levels of customers and co-workers.Ability to handle a large variety of tasks simultaneously.Ability to handle ambiguity, high workload, and extreme amounts of detail. Microsoft offers an excellent benefits package to full-time employees including medical, dental, vacation, employee stock purchase plan, and 401k, plus some great extras including: our 24-hour nurse line, stay fit program, product discounts, and paid infant care leave. All part of our commitment to our most important asset: our employees. For more information about life at Microsoft, please visit our careers website. Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) and strongly supports diversity in the workforce. ;