Director, Media Research

Agility PR Solutions; Ottawa; Remote; CAD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote work environment

RRSP matching

Life Insurance

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Career development & progression

Job summary

Agility PR Solutions is seeking a Head of Research to lead its global Media Database team, ensuring accuracy, depth, and timely updates for journalist profiles, outlets, and pitching preferences. You will set research standards, oversee verification, and guide data quality initiatives.

As a former journalist, you will apply newsroom insight to shape processes, collaborate across product, success, sales enablement, and marketing, and drive AI-enhanced research while maintaining human oversight.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of journalism experience in roles such as reporter/editor/producer/assignment editor.
• Strong leadership experience with 3+ years managing a team.
• Deep understanding of how newsrooms operate, editorial structures, beats, deadlines, and pitch evaluation.
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools and workflow automation for research tasks.
• Exceptional research and verification skills with a high accuracy standard.

Responsibilities

• Lead, hire, train, and develop the research team with clear goals and quality expectations.
• Own the accuracy, completeness, and freshness of the Media Database including contacts, outlets, roles, beats, and pitching preferences.
• Set and enforce research standards, verification methods, and update cycles for journalist and outlet records.
• Track newsroom changes: moves, layoffs, closures, mergers, launches.
• Develop a consistent categorization system for beats, topics, industries, outlet types, geography, and audience.
• Identify emerging beats/formats like newsletters, podcasts, independent creators, and map to the database.
• Enrich profiles with outreach intelligence: contact methods, deadlines, content interests, do's/don'ts.
• Define and report data quality metrics: bounce rates, accuracy, update frequency, gaps.
• Champion AI-forward research while preserving human oversight for data quality.
• Collaborate with Success and Enablement to resolve data issues and gaps.
• Partner with Marketing on client education and best-practice content.
• Manage journalist requests to update or remove information in compliance with privacy laws.

Skills

Journalism experience

Team leadership

Newsroom operations

AI tools familiarity

Research & verification

Data-driven decisions

Communication skills

Self-starter

Tools

AI tools (LLMs)

Databases

PR software

Job description

Agility PR Solutions is a global leader in media intelligence and PR technology. Founded in 2003, we help communications teams around the world drive awareness, make smarter decisions, and protect their reputation when it matters most. Our enterprise-grade platform unifies media relations, media monitoring, social listening, AI visibility, and media intelligence into a single seamless system—turning overwhelming streams of coverage and conversation into decision-ready intelligence. Recognized for ease of use, results, and customer support, Agility is one of the most trusted names in media intelligence. Our mission is to empower the voices that shape the world's narratives, and we're looking for people who want to help us do it.

About the Role

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Head of Research leads the team responsible for Agility's Media Database, the directory of journalists, editors, producers, creators, and publications our clients rely on to find and reach the right people with the right story. You will own the accuracy, depth, and organization of the database, ensuring every journalist profile is current, categorized by beat, and rich with the insight our clients need to pitch effectively.

As a former journalist, you understand how newsrooms work from the inside: how stories get pitched, assigned, and published, and what makes a journalist open an email or hit delete. You will turn that knowledge into research standards, processes, and data that make our Media Database the most trusted in the industry. You will lead and develop the research team and work collaboratively with Product Development, Customer Success, Sales Enablement, Marketing, and our leadership team to deliver data that helps our clients succeed and strengthens our reputation with the journalist community.

What you’ll do

• Lead, hire, train, and develop the research team, setting clear goals, workflows, and quality expectations.
• Own the accuracy, completeness, and freshness of the Media Database, including contact details, outlets, roles, beats, and pitching preferences.
• Set and enforce research standards, verification methods, and update cycles for journalist and outlet records.
• Track and respond quickly to newsroom changes, including job moves, layoffs, outlet closures, mergers, and new launches.
• Build and maintain a consistent categorization system for news beats, topics, industries, outlet types, geography, and audience.
• Identify emerging beats and media formats, such as newsletters, podcasts, and independent creators, and determine how they are represented in the database.
• Enrich journalist profiles with outreach intelligence: preferred contact methods, deadlines, content interests, and pitching do's and don'ts.
• Define and report on data quality metrics such as bounce rates, record accuracy, update frequency, and coverage gaps.
• Champion an AI-forward research operation, partnering with Product Development to build AI-powered automation tools that scale research capacity while keeping expert human oversight at the center of data quality
• Work with Customer Success and Sales Enablement to resolve data issues and identify coverage gaps based on client needs.
• Collaborate with Marketing on client education, including pitching guides, webinars, and best-practice content.
• Manage journalist requests to update, correct, or remove their information, and ensure data practices comply with privacy and anti-spam legislation such as GDPR and CASL.

What You'll Bring

• 7+ years of experience in journalism as a reporter, editor, producer, or assignment editor.
• 3+ years of experience leading or managing a team.
• A deep understanding of how newsrooms operate, including editorial structures, beats, deadlines, and how journalists evaluate pitches.
• A strong sense of what journalists value in a pitch and what frustrates them, and the ability to turn that insight into practical guidance.
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools (such as large language models and workflows automation platforms), and an eagerness to use them to automate research tasks
• Exceptional research and verification skills, with a high standard for accuracy.
• Comfort working with databases and a systems-minded approach to data quality.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly to both internal teams and clients.
• You are data driven and use metrics to guide decisions and measure results.
• You're curious, organized, and a self-starter who can build processes from the ground up.
• Experience in media research, media intelligence, PR software, or the newswire industry is an asset.
• An established network within the journalism community is an asset.

Why You'll Love It Here

• Fully remote work environment
• Collaborative culture – and key tools enabling it
• Competitive compensation package
• RRSP matching
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Career Development & Progression opportunities
• Paid Vacation, Personal Days and Sick days
• Week off between Christmas and New Years'
• No Internal Meetings Fridays

Compensation for this role is expected to fall within the range of $120,000-$150,000CAD annually. The final offer will reflect each candidate's experience, skills, and internal equity.
This is for a new position.

AI Usage

We use technology to make hiring smarter, faster, and more personal, never less human. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools help us manage applications efficiently and highlight qualifications that align with each role, allowing our recruiters to focus more on meaningful conversations with candidates.

AI does not make hiring decisions at Agility. Every decision is made by people, our hiring managers and recruitment professionals, who are trained to apply sound judgment and equitable practices at every stage.

We believe technology exists to amplify human insight, not replace it. That belief shapes how we build relationships, tell stories, and grow our teams.