Market Research Manager

Job Responsibilities:

This role will primarily lead the development, design, fielding, and analysis of our Morningstar Investor Perspectives market research program by engaging internal stakeholders and our vendor partners to complete the research around our specific segments (Retail Investors, Advisors, Asset Managers, and Asset Owners) in the markets that are most meaningful to Morningstar. The Perspectives program leverages both quantitative and qualitative methods to develop instruments that will give us a broad understanding of these different audiences and how they interact, and also an opportunity to really dial in on topics where we want and need to go deeper.

A key secondary consideration for this program will be the longer-term development of the research, how it fits within client conversations and other market research we conduct, and how it can be most impactfully and efficiently distributed throughout the key stakeholder groups within Morningstar. As this position sits within Central Marketing, the marketing and sales teams will be our primary internal audiences, along with product development and product marketing teams, as appropriate.

The Market Research team has made great strides and is looking to grow the team, which will help us further our ability to have internal and external conversations about the results and expand the scope of the program overall. We plan to remain on a path of growth as demand for market research and insights continues to increase across Morningstar.

Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid Policy 4 days onsite)

Specific responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinate and manage research project roadmaps by collaborating with internal stakeholders and external research vendors.
• Understand business questions/objectives that need to be addressed and recommend research methodologies that could be applied outside of what is already established.
• Work with business units to ensure their understanding of their target segments.
• Work with external research vendors to ensure methods and deliverables are in line with our expectations
• Analyze data, synthesize findings, and develop actionable insights.
• Work with internal design and research amplification teams to create deliverables that are meaningful and leverageable with our internal and external audiences.
• Continually focus on answering the question “how do we apply the research results to the business unit’s and Morningstar’s strategy?”
• Coach internal stakeholders and teams on the different aspects and value of market research to enhance and become more efficient on future projects.
• Work with the rest of the Audience Strategy & Insights team on opportunities to share research results externally, where appropriate.

Qualifications:

• Strong knowledge of our key segments. Specific financial services and B2B/B2C audiences are a plus.
• Have a great understanding of the market research process.
• Be familiar with many quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches and when to apply each.
• Ability to manage multiple projects across different audiences at once.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience with Excel, SPSS, and/or other data analysis packages is desirable.