ThaiNGO

Research & Insight Director – Job Description

Job Title: Research & Insight Director

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Hours: Full-time

Start date: ASAP

BACKGROUND:

Love Frankie is a social change research and communication agency that specializes in supporting public and private sector organizations to design and implement social impact projects. We design social and behaviour change campaigns across a broad range of issues including intolerance and hate speech, digital literacy, migration, human trafficking, gender & LGBT rights, environmental protection, access to justice and governance. Our team in Bangkok manages a range of projects across the Asia-Pacific region, in coordination with our local program and research managers in Indonesia, Singapore and Myanmar and partners in Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting directly to Love Frankie co-founders and Directors, the Research Director is responsible for leading a high-performing regional Research & Insight team that informs the evidence-based design of Love Frankie’s communications programs and evaluating their impact.

The Research & Insight team conducts studies both for Love Frankie’s own Programs team and directly for clients developing wider programs and campaigns independently such as Facebook, British Council, USAID, UNDP, Amnesty International and Greenpeace.

The team designs bespoke approaches drawing on a range of methodologies including: large-scale quantitative studies, in-depth interviews and focus groups, online communities, and co-creation workshops. We work in collaboration with a wide network of fieldwork partners to support with data collection specifically, and will most often design and conduct analysis in-house.

The team draws on licenses to Crimson Hexagon, SPSS and Tableau. For our reporting, we use different approaches depending on client requirements but like to experiment with dynamic data visualisation, graphics and video.

We are looking for a dynamic team leader who brings significant qualitative research design and delivery expertise and is willing and passionate about being directly involved in research projects working with diverse communities across the region.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

-          New business relationship development, pitching and proposal writing

Working with the Directors, Head of Finance and the Research team, nurture long-term client relationships, develop new business opportunities, and identify specific briefs that meet the goals of Love Frankie and the expertise of the research team.

Design innovative and high quality research proposals with accurate costings, have confidence pitching as well as finalising robust research contracts.

-          Research design

Develop bespoke research designs to respond to the briefs of internal Programs team members and external clients including the full range of methodologies – quantitative and qualitative.

Design bespoke approaches to recruitment, sampling and interviewing for hard-to-reach audiences and on sensitive topics: including vulnerable adults, ethnic minorities, marginalised groups, etc.

-          Qualitative research

With support from Love Frankie Research team members, consultants and fieldwork partners, lead the delivery of qualitative research projects (and projects that integrate quantitative and qualitative components) including designing discussion guides, recruitment screeners, conducting interviews, moderating focus groups and online communities, facilitating co-design workshops, conducting analysis and writing and designing reports and presentations.

-          Communications strategy development and program design

Work with clients and the Programs team to ensure research designs and study recommendations can inform communications-specific strategies in an online and offline environment i.e. ranging from offline community theatre programs to multi-channel digital campaigns.

-          Research project leadership and client management

Lead client communications on all research projects and/or oversee team members taking on a project specific role. Ensure project scope and budget is clearly defined and understood by the client and this understanding is maintained throughout the project duration.

Work in collaboration with Communications team project leaders and program managers as and when research is included in wider programming.

Ensure project teams have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and perform their tasks to the best of their abilities. Ensure team members feel comfortable and know how to raise any concerns or questions for support as needed.

-          Research quality assurance and risk management

Identify any potential risks at project design stage and ensure these are effectively managed throughout the project duration. Draw on the Research team’s Code of Conduct and quality control procedures to ensure ethical and legal protocols are maintained in relation to safeguarding, respondent confidentiality and data security.

Review key project/ client deliverables and ensure they meet the highest quality in terms of robustness, innovation and clarity.

-          Resourcing and partnership management

Lead the resourcing across all research projects- potential and live, drawing weekly team meetings, project management tools (TeamGantt) and internal communications systems (Slack). Identify and resolve potential workload difficulties, in collaboration with the team and Love Frankie Directors.

Develop and maintain a network of thematic and technical expert consultants who can support on new projects ad hoc throughout the year including on thematic issues such as violent extremism, gender equality, migration and refugee issues and the environment.

Develop and maintain a network of fieldwork and research platform providers who can support in various languages and methodologies throughout the year on a project by project basis.

Ensure teams have the highest possible level of expertise and experience and can leverage this effectively on projects.

• Team development and coaching

Identify and support the needs of Love Frankie Research & Insight team members so that they can thrive and bring the best of their abilities to each project and Love Frankie as whole. Identify and nurture team members’ objectives and support them to achieve their professional goals as well as tackle any challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.

Identify training opportunities and ways in which the team can optimise the quality of their work on an ongoing basis.

-          Knowledge sharing and learning

Identify and develop opportunities to share the knowledge from research conducted with Love Frankie and wider stakeholder audiences. Ensure research deliverables are designed as befits a communications agency and enables sharing and learning.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Essential

• At least 7-10 years work experience in research and insight roles.
• At least 2 years of experience leading a cross-cultural and/or regional team
• Significant experience in designing innovative mixed-methodology research projects
• Expertise and extensive experience in qualitative research techniques in a developing market context
• Passion for achieving positive impact in Asia Pacific and raising the standards of research capacity overall.
• Passion for creativity and communications as an approach to tackling development challenges.
• Commitment to living and working in Bangkok – where Love Frankie is based - with an appetite and ability to travel regularly across the Asia Pacific region
• Strong partner engagement and relationship management skills and levels of professionalism
• Excellent personnel development and coaching skills, particularly in a cross-cultural setting.
• Excellent project and budget management skills with teams and clients working across multiple time-zones and currencies.
• Versatile experience or strong appetite to diversify experience working for clients that span the spectrum of tech, multilateral, foundation and NGO sectors.
• Excellent English-speaking skills - sufficient to communicate complex research insights with sensitivity to English-native clients.

Desirable

• Fluency in another Asia Pacific language including either: Thai, Bahasa, Burmese, Vietnamese or Chinese
• Experience conducting research to inform communications or media-based strategies and/or working in a creative environment
• In-depth knowledge of one of the following thematic areas: gender or sexuality inequality; conflict and/or extremism; ethnic or faith-based discrimination and intolerance; digital literacy; environmental protection; access to justice; or related fields.

If you are interested in joining our dynamic team, please send us your cover letter and CV to jobs@lovefrankie.co with “Research & Insight Director” in the subject line by 8 August 2019. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Seeking to hire as soon as possible.