Associate Director, Research & Insights

Dotdash Meredith; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

People Inc. is seeking an Associate Director of Research & Insights to guide our research strategy across Beauty, Style and Entertainment brands.

You will lead a team, mentor analysts, and develop collateral to translate data into strategic guidance for content and advertising initiatives. You will oversee analytics for RFPs and ad‑hoc requests, using syndicated and first‑party data to surface actionable insights across multiple brands and platforms.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience with minimum 3 years in management.
• Proficiency with 3+ tools (comScore, MRI‑Simmons, Telmar, Looker, Tubular, etc.).
• Experience supporting Ad Sales and Marketing teams.
• Experience mentoring analyst teams of three or more.
• Understanding digital advertising landscapes and trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead team enablement to provide insights and growth opportunities.
• Refine systems, dashboards, trackers, and calendars for efficiency.
• Create and update collateral, category one‑sheets, and GTM materials.
• Support analytics for RFPs and ad‑hoc stakeholder requests using toolkit.

Skills

People management

Analyst mentorship

Ad Sales & Marketing support

Strategic thinking

Excellent communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

comScore

MRI‑Simmons

Telmar

Looker

Tubular

Job description

Job Title

Associate Director, Research & Insights

Job Description

About The Position | Major Goals and Objectives and Location Requirements:

People Inc. is looking for an Associate Director of Research & Insights to lead our research strategy for our Beauty, Style, & Entertainment verticals (Core endemic portfolio: People, Entertainment Weekly, Instyle, Byrdie). Our high-quality content is aimed at helping people make decisions, find inspiration, and take action. And our first‑party data is at the heart of informing everything we do--and not just on our beauty, style, & entertainment sites, but across powerful brands in home, food & beverage, tech, travel, family, and health (including powerhouses like Better Homes and Gardens, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and AllRecipes).

Hybrid 3x a week- (New York)

In‑office Expectations: This position is hybrid in‑office, with the ability to work remotely for up to 2 days per week.

About The Team | The Team and/or Brand:

Across our brands and platforms People Inc.'s content engages, informs and entertains over 175 million U.S. consumers each month. Our team helps Beauty, Style and Entertainment brands understand and connect with these consumers, using data to surface insights that inform content, media and advertising strategies.

About The Position's Contributions:

Weight % Accountabilities, Actions, and Expected Measurable Results

Team Enablement (60%)

Develop and maintain systems that enable our current analysts/category experts to continue to provide best in class service and insights to our stakeholders while also ensuring their growth and professional development. Responsibilities include:

• People Management
  • Advise and mentor analysts in both day‑to‑day work and project management. Requires understanding and knowledge of media sales/strategic advertising process, broader industry landscape (B/S/E categories and media in general), and tools and resources for audience and content positioning (including MRI‑Simmons, comScore, social media measurement tools, 1P resources, Print/Magazine resources, etc.).
  • Personnel administration includes process management, time‑off management, identifying and flagging challenges, escalating development opportunities, etc.
  • Personnel development partner with Senior Director for opportunities for development and career‑path growth within the team and support your team in achieving those goals.
  • Task Management manage analyst workflows, monitor capacity, and ensure deliverables are timely and meet the strategic objectives of our stakeholders.
• Systems and processes refining and maintenance (project trackers, dashboards, report macros, external calendars, etc.)

Individual Contributor (40%)

• Collateral Creation & Curation work with the Senior Director in the development and regular updating of collateral. Examples include category one‑sheets and on‑the‑shelf go‑to‑market (GTM) materials for both B/S/E Sales and Marketing teams and all other corporate divisions (Print, Enterprise, PR, Commerce, Content, etc.).
• Insights & Analytics support and coverage for RFPs and day‑to‑day ad‑hoc requests when analyst bandwidth is stretched and/or PTO coverage. This means direct use of our toolkit (of 1st and 3rd party solutions) to deliver insights and strategic recommendations.
  • Expertise in working with large data sets to synthesize information and draw out key insights.
  • Expertise in using multiple sources of data and information (syndicated, quantitative, qualitative, secondary, etc.) to guide business decisions.

The Role's Minimum Qualifications and Job Requirements:

Education:

College degree required

Specific Knowledge, Skills, Certifications and Abilities:

Must Haves:

• 5+ years of experience, minimum 3 years of management experience
• Proficiency with at least 3 (or more) of our tools or resources as a direct end user (includes comScore, MRI‑Simmons, Telmar, Looker, Tubular, other social tools)
• Experience directly supporting an Ad Sales and Marketing team(s)
• Experience managing and mentoring analyst teams of three or more
• Understand the digital advertising landscape, products, and trends that are important to industry media buyers
• Strong interest in engaging with and understanding key audiences, topics, trends, and events to tie market and world events to audience insights and present a point of view that is appropriate for and in context with these industries
• A true self‑starter who provides proactive ideas, understands organizational goals, and moves initiatives forward – with a proven track record of leading projects from start to finish and delivering business value
• An excellent communicator with outstanding research storytelling skills that allow you to draw out key insights and can tailor compelling and engaging messages for different audiences
• A strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem‑solving skills
• Solid grasp of media math, statistics, digital engagement metrics, and research methodologies

Nice to Have

• Direct Beauty, Style and/or Entertainment category experience
• Passion for Pop Culture

Travel %

5% or less, to support client/business needs

It is the policy of People Inc. to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, the Company will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. Accommodation requests can be made by emailing [e-mail].

The Company participates in the federal E‑Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For further information about the E‑Verify program, please see https://www.e-verify.gov/employees.

Pay Range

New York: $105,000.00 - $125,000.00

The pay range above represents the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position and may change in the future. Actual pay may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to work location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of People Inc.'s total compensation package for employees. Other compensation may include annual bonuses, and short‑ and long‑term incentives.

In addition, People Inc. provides to employees (and their eligible family members) a variety of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, unlimited paid time off (PTO), adoption or surrogate assistance, donation matching, tuition reimbursement, basic life insurance, basic accidental death & dismemberment, supplemental life insurance, supplemental accident insurance, commuter benefits, short term and long term disability, health savings and flexible spending accounts, family care benefits, a generous 401K savings plan with a company match program, 10‑12 paid holidays annually, and generous paid parental leave (birthing and non‑birthing parents).

We also offer voluntary benefits such as pet insurance, accident, critical and hospital indemnity health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance.