Director, Project & Program Management, Management

Job Details

We go beyond the obvious, using intelligence, passion and creativity to inspire new thinking and shape the world we live in.

About the role:

Job Title:

Director - for Kantar Consulting Team

Job Location:

New York City, Boston, or Chicago

Profitably grow the business by managing and delivering high-quality/high-impact brand strategy and consulting solutions in a dynamic, collaborative environment. Hone your client relationship and consulting skills to establish yourself as a trusted and strategic advisor to existing and new clients

• Manage delivery of a variety of consulting projects such as brand strategy, market structures, consumer & demand segmentations, brand valuations, brand portfolio strategy, brand architecture, brand purpose, organizational performance, front end innovation, commerce strategy etc.
• Assist senior team members with design of custom approaches to address client questions; engage with the client to properly understand client context and challenges and ensure we achieve project objectives
• Function as the main point of contact for clients
• Develop overall project workplan to deliver on scope; oversee day-to-day management of all project-related activities and maintain progress against workplan
• Lead development of consulting solution deliverables (e.g., questionnaire, sample design, analytic plan, reporting)
• Responsible for overseeing the team on execution of project tasks; ensuring outputs are meaningful and actionable for clients
• Conduct data analysis, synthesizes data from multiple sources, displays critical and analytical thinking skills
• Take an active role in storytelling by identifying and bringing together compelling insights from the research and translating learnings into "so what" recommendations and next steps for clients
• Package deliverables and presentations to ensure they are clear, relevant and impactful - use vast knowledge of account / industry to logic check deliverables
• Keep project leadership apprised of progress and thoughtfully solicit input to ensure available expertise is fully leveraged
• Lead project related client conversations, facilitate decision making and translate decisions into clear next steps for the team
• Starting to lead client presentations and facilitate client workshops
• Proactively identify and solve project issues as they arise
• Ensure a high level of accuracy in all stages of the project, help the team optimize efficiency of delivery without sacrifice of quality
• Help build successful project teams, mentoring and supporting junior team members
• Responsible for staff utilization and financial management of projects
• Demonstrate a high-level understanding of Kantar data sources, tools, and practice areas, and follow the latest developments.
• Exhibit good critical and analytical thinking skills, actively share ideas and point of view
• Support senior leadership in identifying and securing new client opportunities, development of proposals and winning work
• Work closely with senior partners to design proposals and pitch solutions for client marketing problems. Actively look for opportunities to apply all Kantar solutions in service of our clients.
• Provide feedback across the team (managing up and down) where opportunities to improve exist
• Take ownership of building your own skills through training and asking questions
• Challenge the status quo, look for opportunities to improve, automate, streamline processes - including incorporating the use of AI to improve efficiency and work processes.
• Demonstrate curiosity and a commitment to building an understanding of our capabilities, solutions, data sources and analytic methods.
• Proactively build relationships with consulting colleagues to receive support and feedback
• Understand our culture and how to take an active role on the team (e.g., attending/participating in ERG/Social Community meetings/activities/training)

• 5+ years of professional experience in similar capacity - Management consulting, brand strategy consulting, or custom market research experience preferred with exposure to quantitative methodologies
• Strong academic background:
  Bachelor's degree (preferred major or concentration in marketing / market research, social science, mathematics or other analytic fields), Masters preferred
• Proven experience performing custom research / analytics / consulting for multiple strategic research or consulting projects; experience presenting insights and recommendation to clients
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) with ability to use logical reasoning and problem solving
• Demonstrates ownership, a can-do attitude and experience managing complexity and challenging situations
• Is curious and driven, proactive mindset, takes initiative to work independently and within a team
• Strong project and time management experience, organized while delivering against multiple/competing