Customer Insights Director

We are the UKs leading premium publisher home to iconic and influential media brands including Cosmopolitan Esquire Elle Harpers Bazaar and Country Living. At Hearst UK we dont just create content we shape culture.

Our workplace is built on collaboration creativity and trust. We champion bold ideas embrace innovation and continually evolve to meet the moment all while celebrating the legacy thats brought us here. We believe in each others potential and push boundaries together to make a meaningful impact both in the media landscape and in peoples lives.

Were proud of our heritage but even more excited about making history.

Hearst UK operate a hybrid working model of four days per week in the office and one day working from home. Our office is based atHouse of Hearst 30 Panton Street St Jamess London SW1Y 4AJ where teams collaborate in person and connect across brands and functions.

The Role

As the Customer Insight Director at Hearst UK you will lead insight generation and delivery across marketing editorial product strategy partnerships new business development and commercial/advertising at Hearst. This is an independent hands-on role suited to someone who is comfortable rolling up their sleeves and personally leading the design execution and delivery of high-quality research using advanced methodologies. You will work closely with senior leaders and peers to shape decision-making and unlock growth opportunities across the Hearst portfolio of brands.

Main Duties

• Independently manage in-house research projects end-to-end from briefing and design to execution analysis and debrief (surveys communities qual UX) and augmenting in-house activities with external partners where necessary to deadline and on budget.

• Integrate a broad set of data (behavioral analytics first-party data qualitative trends contextual data) into unified narratives and insights that inform marketing editorial product partnership and commercial/advertising decisions through evidence-based storytelling with concise actionable recommendations.

• Lead debriefs readouts and workshops with senior leaders and peers; codify best practices templates and playbooks for repeatable impact.

• Partner with peers across the Customer team to leverage other data sources and share knowledge for delivering holistic customer understanding and best-in class insight.

• Establish and manage the ongoing insights delivery for our customer satisfaction programme across 15 brands.

• Contribute to the ongoing dissemination of insight to the wider organization through newsletters knowledge sessions surgeries etc.

• Coach and develop junior team members to deliver high-quality reproducible research and insight at pace.

What We Are Looking For

Core Technical Skills

• Expert analytical thinker with strong curiosity; comfortable across qualitative and quantitative data - and any other types of data.

• Deep general market research experience with advanced methodology and project expertise (segmentation market sizing pricing brand tracking conjoint/MaxDiff etc.) including research design (sampling frameworks weighting) and analysis (factor analysis cluster analysis regression etc.). Has practical experience of execution of these.

• Meticulous attention to detail; robust validation and triangulation across sources.

• Experience of working with survey platforms including scripting and QA-ing quantitative studies and running qualitative research at scale.

• Experience of undertaking qualitative work from moderation (IDIs focus groups online communities) to ethnographic and observational research and UX studies. Has practical experience of execution of these.

Communication & Storytelling

• Clear influential communicator to executive and cross-functional teams.

• Storytelling that connects customer evidence to strategy product and partnership choices; strong visual presentation.

• Great at synthesizing complex information gets to impact and action.

Business & Strategic Acumen

• Good understanding of growth levers for media companies.

• Problem-solver who prioritises initiatives with highest enterprise impact.

People & Collaboration Skills

• Builds trusted relationships with senior stakeholders; facilitates alignment and influences decision-making; acts as a trusted advisor.

• Collaborative active listener; adapts approach to audience scope or new data.

Personal Attributes

• Persistent open-minded and committed to continuous learning; elevates team standards.

• Ethical steward of data and customer trust.

• Passionate authentic creative and entrepreneurial.

Benefits

(Your benefits at Hearst UK are more than just extrasthey are tools to help you thrive in every part of life.

Hearst Exclusives - Only for You!

• Get adventurous with Good Housekeeping Taste and Beauty Testing Panels - yes you could be trying the next big thing in beauty food & drink.
• Snag luxe beauty steals at our legendary office sample sales - score big on top brands without breaking the bank!

Inclusion Health & Wellbeing: Feel Your Best

• Stay healthy with Specsavers eye care a company-funded Health Cash Plan and access to mental health support.
• Get active and stress-free with discounted gym memberships and the Cycle to Work scheme.
• Embrace flexibility with a Location Flex and Holiday Exchange to take time when you need it.
• Take time to give back with a Charity Day and access wellbeing resources whenever you need them.
• Join one of our Hearst ERG Groups.

Financial Wellness - Boost Your Budget

• Plan ahead with a generous Workplace Pension Income Protection Life Assurance and Season Ticket Loan for easier commuting.
• Make smarter money moves using Salary Finance tools Financial Wellbeing sessions and Home Tech benefits to spread costs.
• Treat yourself with major discounts across London plus everyday savings via the HAPI at Hearst app

Hearst UK is deeply committed to using our influential brands to reflect the world we want to live in one that respects protects represents and uplifts the voices and opinions of all people. As a business we recognise the significant benefits of creativity collaboration and innovation that comes with diverse teams. Not only is diversifying the voices in our organization the right thing to do but it also helps us to make powerful and exciting content that can be enjoyed by many more people. This is why were working to build a sense of true belonging within our business and foster a culture in which everyone feels heard.