Research Manager - Birmingham, United Kingdom - National Express

National Express

Verified Company

Birmingham, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Join us on the Journey...

We have an exciting opportunity for a Research Manager working hybrid from our Head Office in Birmingham
We are National Express.

You may know us as the largest scheduled coach business in the UK, but we are also the West Midlands' leading bus operator, a major provider of coaches for private and corporate contract hire via our Transport Solutions brand and thepower behind the UK's newest Coach Holiday operator, Touromo.

Headquartered in Birmingham, we are part of the wider National Express Group which employs 41,000 people worldwide across the UK, Continental Europe, North Africa, North America and the Middle East.

Millions of customers already use us in the UK each year, but with our services providing increasingly environmentally friendly and efficient forms of transport through our investment in electric, hydrogen and Euro VI diesel technology, we are on a missionto encourage even more people to ditch their cars and trains and switch to our Buses and Coaches instead.

Our business success is underpinned by a highly committed and well supported workforce providing the safest, most convenient and best value journeys possible.

Our priority is to always make sure that our customers and clients are highly satisfied with theservice that we provide, so we focus on understanding what they need and want, and then make it simple and easy for them to choose us, use us & support us, to ensure that they'll instinctively opt for us the next time and recommend our services to others.

We have a clear roadmap for sustainable growth and we're well set to deliver Group-leading growth, returns and profitability across our UK business divisions in the years ahead.

Marketing is seen as a significant driver of customer demand, retention and revenue, and plays a strong role in motivating stakeholders and influencers to see us as a key strategic partner that they want to engage with and do business with.

The scope of the Marketing team encompasses brand strategy and design, customer research and insight, brand and performance marketing, SEO, social & content, CRM anddata for allUK divisions.

In this role you will be a key member of the CRM, Data & Insight team, leading our research strategy and managing research projects that will encompass brand health and development, consumer trends, usage and behaviour, proposition testing and product and servicedevelopment for our B2C and B2B divisions.

You'll bring demonstrable research expertise to the team and will be able to draw on a strong combination of both qualitative and quantitative techniques and experience.

You'll work with stakeholders from across the business to understand research requirements,knowing how to prioritise, plan and implement projects for the business.

If you're a champion of consumer research and you've got a real passion for understanding people's behaviour and delivering tangible value for businesses, this will be the ideal role for you.

What you'll do...
Develop the UK customer research function, understand key business questions and align effective, impactful research to drive proposition, brand and CRM activity

Manage the relationship with our research panel supplier to build and maintain our permanent Customer Panel, ensuring that it is effectively used by the business.

Working closely with key stakeholders to prioritise and manage the research requirements of the business
Create a mix of standardised and ad-hoc research to positively impact business and customer objectives

Use a variety of research methodologies to ensure all research is accurate, timely and provides the relevant business area actionable insight, as well as working on Competitive and Market analysis.

Pro-actively develop a strategy-led market sizing model across the business, informing the business of potential markets, penetration into these and customer positioning.

Work with the CRM, Data and Insight team, as well as wider marketing team to influence proposition, creative and targeting approach across all business areas
Introduce high levels of statistical rigour to ensure all findings are robust
Effective management of research budget in line with Head of CRM & Insight

Development of marketing strategies to meet individual business/product objectives and to contribute to the strategic development of the overall National Express brand, ensuring that all marketing activity is in line with overall brand strategy.

Work closely with the Commercial Directors, Product Managers, sales, revenue management and retail functions to analyse current sales/market performance and identify, pre-evaluate and recommend campaigns to support commercial objectives through the use of relevantresearch
Establish robust mechanisms and processes for the post evaluation and measurement and reporting of research results.
What You'll need...
Educated to degree level. Market Research professional qualification desirable
Strong research led background both in qualitative and quantitative research, with experience of agency management and management of customer panels
Experience of managing and delivering a portfolio of research projects to tight deadlines
Experience of working with different research methodologies.
Ability to present, explain and interpret data or analysis to non-technical audiences and senior stakeholders
Commercially astute
Ability to collaborate, manage, influence and motivate across organisational boundaries
High levels of problem solving ability
We offer a wide range of benefits such as...
£45,000 per annum
A free National Express West Midlands bus pass for you
Free nationwide National Express coach travel for you and your partner
Company pension
Exclusive benefits and savings from thousands of the UK's largest retailers and service providers
Access to our award winning Health Bus; providing free and accessible health checks
Access to our Employee Assistance Programme which includes free counselling and further support to improve your health and wellbeing
An opportunity to take part in our Cycle to work scheme
Things to note...
At National Express, we are really proud of ou