Mgr, Customer Insight & Market Research, Zoro
Company Summary: In the past seven years, Zoro has grown from a group of 6 people working out of a 2,000 square foot building, offering fewer than 100,000 products to a group of 250+ working out of a 60,000+ square foot building, offering more than 2,000,000 unique products.
Primary Function:
For this position, Zoro is looking for a market research professional who brings substantial experience and “tools” in their market research toolbox from which they’ll be able to draw upon in the role. This person should be experienced and comfortable with conducting research, writing surveys, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and determining opportunities for new research from which to learn.
The Manager, Customer Insights & Market Research will be enhancing, developing, and growing Zoro’s customer insights and market intelligence, enabling Zoro to better understand its customer audiences and deliver against their needs in ways that grow acquisition and retention. The work of this role will influence and impact decision-making within the organization by providing valuable customer insights and feedback.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Interacts with stakeholders at all levels of the organization on a regular basis, understanding the issues business partners are facing in their areas of responsibility, identifying opportunities that can benefit from audience research, and recommending appropriate methodological approaches.
- Works closely with Brand development and Promotions teams on research that incorporates ‘voice of the customer’ into their planning and decision-making.
- Designs and manages primary quantitative research studies that addresses business issues, including identifying proper sample; writing sharp surveys with questions that are succinct, unambiguous, and follow sound research practices; flawless data collection; thorough analyses; and accurate reporting that includes actionable recommendations.
- Designs and manages primary qualitative research that addresses business issues, including drafting screeners and discussion guides; monitoring recruiting; moderating 1-on-1, small group, or traditional focus groups when needed; writing up sessions and documenting learnings after thoroughly reviewing, digesting, and synthesizing what was said; and leading de-brief discussions with teams that capture everyone’s takeaways from the research.
- Conducts relevant secondary research that adds support or extra value to primary research initiatives and/or contributes to business partners’ strategic market intelligence.
- Contributes to building and developing a customer insights repository, accessible company-wide.
- Collaborates with agency and other outside partners as needed.
- Position is an individual contributor and has no direct reports.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in behavioral or social sciences, communications, or market research required; master’s degree a plus
- 5 - 7 years’ experience in a hands-on customer insights/market research role, preferably an in-house customer insights department in which candidate has been a “do-er,” not just someone who manages suppliers
- Experience conducting B2B research ideal; experience working for a market research supplier, especially one that services B2B clients, also valuable
- Experience conducting secondary research, as is knowledge of/familiarity with external data sources with relevance to Zoro’s business (e.g., US census data, D&B, etc.)
- Working knowledge of SPSS, Qualtrics, and SQL required, and willingness to learn other tools as needed
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially PowerPoint
- Strong presentation creation skills, and comfortable presenting to different audiences across the organization
- Exposure to, understanding of, and experience using a variety of analytical techniques with market research data (e.g., data weighting, stat testing, text analytics, KANO modeling, conjoint analysis, ZMET, etc.) and a desire to add additional tools/techniques to market research “toolbox” as needed
- The ideal candidate will be…
- Passionate about the customer and have an insatiable curiosity about Zoro’s business
- Inquisitive; ears always listening and a mind that’s always working to identify incremental opportunities for customer research that would benefit some area of Zoro’s business
- A multi-tasker with sharp planning skills
- Strong analytical skills, and critical thinking skills essential
- Consultative mindset (not an order taker); willing/able to educate users on the value of market research
- Collaborative, with proven relationship-building skills
- Proactive, with a sense of ownership about one’s work, and able to work with limited supervision and deliver spot-on results
- Flexible and able to work in an environment where initiatives might start/stop/start, or pivot; where priorities could change requiring one to shift gears; where one may need to fearlessly forge new paths
- Continuously identifying/exploring new market research approaches that could benefit Zoro
Zoro is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.