Research & Insights Director (Social Intelligence)

We Are Social; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Pension scheme

Life assurance

WAS Passport

Work From Anywhere

Job summary

We Are Social in London is seeking a Research & Insights Director to lead major client workstreams across social listening, performance analysis, measurement frameworks, reporting, audience intelligence, and campaign effectiveness. You will translate large data volumes into clear, commercially useful insights working with Strategy, Cultural Insights, Creative, Influencer, Paid Media, and Client Services.

You will lead and develop the R&I team, evolve AI and automation usage, and drive scalable,

Qualifications

• Experience leading multi-market social intelligence programmes.
• Ability to turn complex datasets into clear, actionable commercial insights.
• Proven track record of partnering with Strategy, Creative, and Client Services to drive outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end social intelligence and effectiveness programmes across markets.
• Develop measurement frameworks connecting social activity to brand and business objectives.
• Manage and develop the Research & Insights team and evolve use of AI and automation.
• Design and run social listening programmes across platforms and languages.

Skills

Social listening

Strategic storytelling

Team leadership

Platform expertise

Data-driven insights

Tools

Brandwatch

Talkwalker

Meltwater

Pulsar

GWI

Job description

Who We Are

We are the largest global socially-led creative agency, with unrivalled social media and influencer marketing expertise. With over 1,200 people in four continents, we deliver a global perspective to our clients in a time when social media is shaping culture.

We're proud to be a multi award-winning agency, with Cannes Lions, One Show, Webby and Shorty Awards, to name but a few. Our most recent work has seen us help Amazon Music, Lucozade and Adidas deliver some of their biggest and most innovative campaigns to date.

As well as creating for clients, we help educate the wider industry. Our Instagram publication The Feed tracks culture at the speed of social. 6,500 people registered or tuned into our events last year, and our reports garnered more than 20 million views.

The Opportunity

Are you a senior social intelligence and effectiveness leader passionate about connecting social data to brand and business strategy?

Do you excel at leading multi-market social intelligence programmes and turning complex datasets into clear, actionable commercial insight?

Do you want to lead and develop a talented team at a fast-growing, multi award-winning global creative agency?

We are looking for a Research & Insights Director to join our team in London following a number of exciting new client wins, particularly across FMCG. In this role, you will lead major client workstreams spanning social listening, performance analysis, measurement frameworks, reporting, audience intelligence, and campaign effectiveness—turning large volumes of data into clear, commercially useful insight that explains what happened, why it happened, and what to do next. You'll work closely with Strategy, Cultural Insights, Creative, Influencer, Paid Media, and Client Services, while leading and developing members of the R&I team and helping evolve our use of AI and automation.

What You’ll Have Delivered Elsewhere

• Building measurement frameworks, KPIs, and benchmarks that connect social activity to brand and business objectives.
• Leading end-to-end social intelligence and effectiveness programmes, ensuring reporting outputs move beyond performance descriptions into genuine strategic learning.
• Designing and running social listening programmes across markets, categories, and languages using platforms such as Brandwatch, Talkwalker, Meltwater, Pulsar, and GWI.
• Developing audience profiling, segmentation, behavioral research, and competitor/cultural landscape analysis using social and survey data.
• Turning complex organic, paid, and earned social datasets into simple, compelling stories and actionable recommendations for senior clients.
• Partnering with Strategy and Creative teams to build test-and-learn programmes that refine work over time and unlock new creative opportunities.
• Leading research proposals, scopes, and new business responses, identifying opportunities to grow existing client relationships through new insight products.
• Helping evolve the agency's use of AI and automation across social intelligence, reporting, and creative effectiveness.
• Leading, coaching, and developing researchers across different levels while setting high standards for quality, storytelling, and strategic thinking.

What Else Are We Looking For?

• Social-first & Effectiveness-minded: Deeply familiar with platform and audience evolution, focused on proving true commercial impact.
• Strategic Storyteller: Ability to connect data to broader business challenges and turn complexity into simple, engaging narratives for senior clients.
• Collaborative Leader: Generous with knowledge, experienced in guiding and managing team workloads, and comfortable partnering across Strategy, Creative, Paid, and Client Services.
• Platform & Methodology Expertise: Expert knowledge of social listening, measurement, and benchmarking platforms.
• Commercial & Decisive: Comfortable understanding scope, resource allocation, and making clear recommendations from imperfect data.
• Proactive & Curious: Excited by emerging methodologies, AI, new platforms, and changing consumer behavior.

Our Culture and the Nice Stuff

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion runs in the water here at We Are Social. We are transparent about the changes that are needed, we are focused on making real strides, both internally and within the industry and we strive to truly be a workplace that represents, supports and advocates for ALL. Our Charter for Change in the UK can be found here which details our focus areas across People, Work and Culture in 2026.

Inclusion at every level is crucial to creative innovation and success, and we want to create a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. We welcome and encourage talent from ALL backgrounds and are committedto creating a representative team that can deliver creative excellence. If you require any support, adjustments or accommodations for any reason whatsoever during the recruitment process, please let us know via [e-mail]

So let’s get to the good stuff, we offer all those things you would naturally expect; 25 days holiday, pension scheme & life assurance. But what we love most is connection, so we have our WAS Passport and Work From Anywhere schemes which allow you to truly connect to colleagues all over the world!

But what’s life around here really like day-to-day? Well, we ask our people regularly what they think about us/their role and here are some of the most common things they say:

• I value my manager we have a good relationship
• We love to ‘get social’ with the people I work with
• Trusted to get on with the job, without ‘micro-management’!