Sr. Manager, Qualitative Operations

Senior Manager
- Qualitative Field Management

This role is to be based near one of our offices in Los Angeles or New York City. (Hybrid)

We drive intelligent growth for ambitious businesses and leading brands. Customer understanding is more potent and drives greater value when insights go to work directly within marketing and experience priorities. To give our clients that advantage, we put an insights-driven operating system at the core of our design, go-to-market, and digital experience solutions. Material clients make smarter growth choices because they can see clearly how and when to take the shots that count.

Together, we connect consumer intelligence with customer demand generation to build lasting, profitable relationships.

As a Senior Manager
- Qualitative Field Management, you will be responsible for ensuring successful execution of recruitment for client projects: you will ensure the correct audience is recruited to participate in our research, and you will ensure accurate costing, budgeting, scheduling and timely execution for all recruitment and fieldwork-related elements of a client project. This role requires a strong understanding of qualitative research methodologies, exceptional organizational and communication skills, and the ability to effectively manage fieldwork operations for multiple complex domestic and international projects simultaneously.

• Own end-to-end recruitment management of both Qualitative and UX research studies, including vendor management, scheduling, and detailed communications — ensuring timelines and quality standards are met even under shifting priorities.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for recruitment topics throughout project engagements, proactively communicating study progress, flagging risks early, and managing client expectations with confidence and clarity.
• Translate complex client requirements into actionable field plans, coordinating across internal teams, vendors, and research participants to keep studies on track.
• Manage multiple complex domestic and international projects simultaneously with increasing independence.
• Collaborate with clients across global markets and multiple time zones, with flexibility to adjust working hours as needed to support project needs and client availability.
• Confirm and communicate all project fieldwork schedules, logistics, and details in writing to project teams.
• Solicit and evaluate vendor bids; ensure thorough briefing on project specs and client needs.
• Draft and review recruitment screening questionnaires based on client and team input.
• Track fieldwork project budgets and monitor/approve vendor invoices.
• Identify fieldwork problems and implement solutions; communicate action plans to teams and vendors.
• Enforce standard operating procedures to drive consistency and efficiency.
• Identify opportunities to enhance fieldwork quality and client experience.

• Bachelor's degree in Market Research, Social Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, or related field.
• Certification in Project Management is a bonus!
• Proven experience of a minimum of 2 years in project managing qualitative research methodologies, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic studies both domestically and internationally.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with participants, clients, and internal teams.
• Detail-oriented mindset with a commitment to maintaining data accuracy and quality.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing project requirements.
• Ability to think “outside the box” and recognize when a creative solution may be required for a particular problem; willingness…