ABOUT OUTWARD INTELLIGENCE
Outward Intelligence is a quantitative research company and platform built to help organizations run agile, high-quality surveys faster - without sacrificing rigor. We combine automation and AI with experienced researchers to deliver clean data and actionable insights quickly, and make results accessible through our dashboard and workflows.
THE ROLE
We’re hiring a Research Operations Manager to own the operational backbone of our quantitative studies - from survey programming and proofing, to fieldwork execution and vendor coordination, to data processing and availability on our proprietary platform.
This role is hands-on and detail-driven. You’ll be the person who ensures:
- the survey works perfectly before launch
- fieldwork stays on track (and stays clean) in real time
- the final dataset is validated, weighted when needed, and correctly delivered to the platform
You’ll partner closely with Research, Client/Account teams, and our Product/Engineering team to keep studies fast, reliable, and scalable.
This is a highly autonomous role. You’ll be trusted to run survey operations end-to-end with minimal oversight, proactively spot risks before they impact fieldwork, and drive issues to resolution across vendors and internal teams.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
- Survey programming & QA
- Program and/or QA quantitative surveys end-to-end (including complex logic, piping, randomization, and routing)
- Proofread and test surveys thoroughly: question-to-question logic, response options, display conditions, termination paths, mobile rendering, and edge cases
- Manage translations: coordinate vendors, maintain translation files, implement translated versions, and QA each language build
- Build and test audience quotas (including nested quotas where needed) and establish fielding rules for balancing
- Prepare weighting plans (when required): conduct desk research, define targets, and set-up audience definitions
- Run soft-launches / pilot tests, document issues, and resolve
- Fielding operations (live study management)
- Own vendor management for sampling/data collection partners:
- Onboarding, setting expectations, communicating specs, timelines, and quality thresholds
- Launching with vendors, updating quotas, sending IDs for completes, and answering day-to-day field questions
- Monitor fieldwork in real time: pace, quota health, incidence, LOI, device mix, geo distribution, and key segment stability.
- Perform real-time quality checks and data validation:
- identify and address fraud, duplicates, inattentive respondents, contradictions, speeding/straight-lining, and other quality risks
- coordinate replacements/terminations with vendors, and document corrective actions
- Troubleshoot issues fast (logic bugs, quota stalls, sample quality flags, translation errors, dashboard/data feed issues) and keep stakeholders informed
- Data processing & platform readiness (post-field → platform)
- Validate and process raw survey data into clean, analysis-ready datasets (e.g., creating recoded variables, developing code books, providing documentation where necessary)
- Ensure data is correctly mapped, and delivered into the Outward Intelligence platform (including metadata needed for dashboards, banners, and exports)
- Partner with Engineering/Product to resolve pipeline issues and improve reliability/automation
- Maintain clear “run books” and checklists so process and results are consistent across waves/studies
- Build scalable operations (make the machine better)
- Create and maintain SOPs, QA checklists, vendor playbooks, and operational documentation
- Track operational performance (cycle time, fielding speed, quality rates, recontact/replacement rates, vendor performance)
- Identify bottlenecks and propose improvements (automation, templates, tooling, vendor strategy, training)
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR (REQUIRED)
- Experience in quantitative market research operations / survey operations (agency, platform, or research supplier environment)
- Demonstrated hands-on ownership of:
- survey programming QA
- quota management / fieldwork management with panel/sample vendors
- data processing steps that lead to clean deliverables
- Strong understanding of online survey best practices, quality controls, and common failure modes
- High attention to detail; you catch issues before they become client-impacting problems.
- Excellent project management and communication skills — you can run multiple studies, keep vendors moving, and keep internal teams aligned
- Comfort working with datasets (Excel required; ability to inspect CSVs, run QA checks, and troubleshoot oddities)
TOOLS / TECH (REQUIRED OR STRONGLY PREFERRED)
- Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills (filters, pivots, QA checks, quota tracking, data matching)
- Familiarity working with sample vendor portals, quota dashboards, and fieldwork reporting
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience with weighting (e.g., raking/post-stratification) and validating weighted vs. unweighted outputs.
- Experience managing multi-country studies and localization workflows.
- Working knowledge of SQL for data pulls and analysis
- Experience establishing vendor scorecards / SLAs and improving supplier performance over time
SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE LOOKS LIKE
- Surveys launch quickly and cleanly - minimal “hot fixes” after launch.
- Fieldwork hits quotas on time with high data quality
- Our ops process gets measurably better over time (faster time to launch, fewer issues, faster data collection)
