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Associate Director of Patron Research & Insights
Overview
The New York Public Library is seeking an Associate Director of Patron Research & Insights to lead institution-wide efforts to capture, amplify, and generate insights directly from our patrons in order to expand our impact and reach our ambitious growth goals.
The New York Public Library is seeking an Associate Director of Patron Research & Insights to lead institution-wide efforts to capture, amplify, and generate insights directly from our patrons in order to expand our impact and reach our ambitious growth goals.
As a key member of the Patron Insights & Analytics team, this role contributes to a core tenet of our 5-Year Strategy: ensuring all of our work – from policies and programs to outreach and marketing – is grounded in a deep understanding of community needs, desires, and behaviors. This role will design and lead an ongoing, collaborative research agenda centered on current and potential patrons, support teams across the organization in conducting their own rigorous, ethical, and actionable studies, and teach the organization how to use this research to improve decision-making. Ultimately, they will work closely with leaders across the Library to turn empathy and understanding of our diverse communities into actions in the service of better serving our patrons and meeting our strategic goals.
This is a high-impact, growth area for the Library. The Associate Director role is perfect for someone energized by the opportunity to apply their mastery of user/consumer insights, strategic thinking, and “data storytelling” in service of the Library’s mission.
We are looking for someone we can count on to:
Own:
- Institution-wide patron research efforts, including surveys, observations, focus groups, interviews, and mixed-method studies from design through synthesis
- Standards and governance for patron research methodology, data quality, and ethical practices across the Library
- A centralized, institution-wide patron research repository to ensure accessibility and usability of insights
Teach:
- Teams how to conduct patron research through tools, frameworks, and guidance
- How to interpret patron research and translate findings into meaningful action
Learn:
- The diverse needs of NYPL’s patron base, from power users to the underserved and potential audiences
- The complexity of the Library as an organization and the breadth of our work
- The nuances of our multi-year strategic goals
Improve:
- The Library’s "research maturity" by enhancing how we collect, store, and act on insights from patron research and data analysis
Some expectations for this role are that within:
1 month, this person will:
- Develop a strong understanding of the Library’s 5 Year Strategy
- Audit past patron research methods, products, and tools
- Build relationships with key stakeholders across the Library
3 months, this person will:
- Draft an initial research plan to advance the 5-Year Strategy in consultation with internal stakeholders
- Propose new tools, processes, and practices to advance patron research
- Develop a framework for coordinating, improving, and aggregating patron research across the Library
6 months and beyond, this person will:
- Lead major research initiatives that inform and influence strategic decisions
- Be recognized as a trusted, go-to resource for patron insights
- Increase consistency, quality, and use of research across the organization
Responsibilities:
- Lead the vision, design, and execution of research, both conducted in-house and in partnership with consultants, that captures institution-wide patron voice, specifically interpreting findings related to the five-year strategy
- Coordinate and set standards for patron research for specific programs, services, and products as well as evaluations related to grants, including research design, tool selection, sampling methodology, deployment, and central data storage
- Translate complex qualitative and quantitative data into actionable insights for a range of staff, including leadership
- Serve as the central lead and strategic advisor for department-level patron research projects to ensure alignment with institutional standards
- Produce artifacts and communicate insights clearly and persuasively to a wide range of internal and external audiences
- Build capacity across the organization for understanding patron data and translating it into insights into action
- Perform other related duties as necessary
Required Education, Experience & Skills
Required Education and Certifications
- Bachelor’s degree -OR- 10+ years of professional experience in user/consumer insights
Required Experience
- 10+ years of professional experience in user/consumer insights
- 5+ years experience managing, mentoring, and developing a team
- Preferred experience in a non-profit, government, or cultural institution setting, translating user/consumer insights into public-facing outcomes and mission-driven strategic decisions
Required Skills
- Strong command of the full range of user research and evaluation tools, techniques, and methods
- Exceptional ability to translate data into stories and insights that support big-picture strategy, including influencing senior leaders
- Ability to design and facilitate workshops that enable cross-disciplinary collaboration
- Strong moderation skills with the ability to remain neutral and build rapport with diverse groups
- Familiarity with core statistical techniques such as significance testing, correlation, regression, distributions, factor and cluster analysis, and basic predictive modeling
- Strong quantitative analytical skills, including familiarity with R (preferred), Python, or other statistical programming language
- Clear, persuasive, and compelling written and oral communication abilities and comfort presenting to an executive-level audience
- Ability to establish productive and trusting relationships within a complex organization, across multiple levels of management and staff
- Ability to mentor and coach colleagues to conduct their own research and/or understand how best to utilize findings
Managerial/Supervisory Responsibilities:
- Patron Insights Researcher, Ethnographic Research
More...
Core Values
All team members are expected and encouraged to embody the NYPL Core Values:
All team members are expected and encouraged to embody the NYPL Core Values:
- Be Helpful to patrons and colleagues
- Be Resourceful in solving problems
- Be Curious in all aspects of your work
- Be Welcoming and Inclusive
Work Environment
- Office Environment
- Hybrid Work Environment; 3 days onsite in NYC required
Physical Duties
- N/A
Pre-Placement Physical Required?
- No
Union/Non Union
- Non-Union
FLSA Status
- Exempt
Schedule
- Monday - Friday; 9-5 (35 hours per week)
- Hybrid Work Environment; required 3 days in office per week
This job description represents the types and levels of responsibilities that will be required of the position and shall not be construed as a declaration of all of the specific duties and responsibilities for the role. Job duties may change if Library priorities change. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description as needed.
The New York Public Library Salary Statement
The New York Public Library Salary Statement
At the Library, we believe that pay transparency and pay equity are important to ensuring we source the best candidates and keep the best employees. When making a determination as to the appropriate salary for a candidate, we consider a variety of factors such, including, but not limited to, the position requirements, the skills, prior experience, and educational background required or preferred for the job, the scope and impact of the role within the organization, internal peer equity, and the candidate's specific training, experience, education level, and skills. No single factor is conclusive; the Library reserves the right to consider any and all relevant factors and make a decision consistent with its policies.
Union Salaries are determined by collective bargaining agreement(s).
About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org.
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