Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Value Research Manager

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires a strategic and analytically-driven Value Research Manager to join our dynamic team. In this pivotal role, you will be the organizational expert on what our customers value and how our products deliver that value in a competitive marketplace. You will lead comprehensive research initiatives, blending quantitative rigor with qualitative insights to shape our pricing, product strategy, and go-to-market messaging.

The ideal candidate is a curious and compelling storyteller who can transform complex data from multiple sources into a clear, actionable narrative for executive-level stakeholders. If you are passionate about understanding customer needs, quantifying value, and influencing key business decisions, we want to hear from you. This is a unique opportunity to build and lead a critical function that sits at the intersection of data, strategy, and customer-centricity.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Market Research Analyst
Customer Insights Analyst / Manager
Strategy Consultant
Senior Data Analyst (with a business focus)

Advancement To:

Director of Market Research & Insights
Head of Strategy & Analytics
Director of Product Marketing
Vice President of Customer Intelligence

Lateral Moves:

Senior Product Marketing Manager
Competitive Intelligence Manager
Senior Manager, Corporate Strategy

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Design, execute, and oversee end-to-end quantitative and qualitative research projects to uncover deep customer insights and validate market hypotheses.
Develop and manage a comprehensive research roadmap that aligns with key business priorities across product, marketing, and sales organizations.
Lead advanced pricing and packaging research, utilizing methodologies such as Conjoint Analysis, MaxDiff, and Van Westendorp to optimize revenue and market fit.
Build and maintain sophisticated economic value models (e.g., ROI calculators, Total Cost of Ownership models) to clearly articulate our solution's financial benefits to prospective customers.
Act as the primary owner of our Voice of the Customer (VoC) program, synthesizing feedback from surveys, interviews, and other channels into strategic recommendations.
Conduct continuous and in-depth competitive intelligence analysis, benchmarking our value proposition, pricing, and features against key competitors to identify opportunities and threats.
Translate complex research findings and data into compelling, easy-to-understand narratives and presentations for senior leadership to influence strategic decision-making.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Product Management to inform the product roadmap, ensuring new features and offerings are grounded in validated customer needs and willingness-to-pay.
Partner with the Marketing team to craft data-driven value propositions, messaging, and positioning that resonates with target customer segments.
Manage and mentor a team of research analysts, fostering a culture of high performance, intellectual curiosity, and analytical rigor.
Select, negotiate with, and manage relationships with external research vendors and data providers to ensure high-quality execution and deliverables.
Synthesize disparate data sources—including primary research, secondary market data, internal behavioral data, and financial metrics—into a cohesive and holistic view of the market.
Develop and refine customer segmentation models and personas based on needs, behaviors, and value drivers to enable more effective targeting and messaging.
Lead market sizing and opportunity assessment projects to guide strategic investments, new market entry, and long-term business planning.
Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to customer value perception, competitive positioning, and research impact.
Drive the adoption of new research tools, technologies, and methodologies to continuously elevate the capabilities and impact of the insights function.
Function as a key strategic advisor to leadership, providing an objective, data-driven perspective on critical business questions.
Champion a culture of data-driven decision-making throughout the organization, empowering teams with the insights they need to succeed.
Manage the departmental budget, ensuring optimal allocation of resources to high-priority research initiatives.
Present research findings and strategic recommendations at company-wide meetings, executive briefings, and to the board of directors.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer pressing business questions from stakeholders.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by identifying new data sources and integration opportunities.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for our data warehouse and BI teams.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering and product teams to ensure alignment on data-related projects.
Author internal and external-facing thought leadership content, such as white papers and blog posts, based on research findings.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced Research Methodologies: Deep expertise in a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including survey design, conjoint analysis, MaxDiff, focus groups, and in-depth interviews (IDIs).
Statistical Analysis: Proficiency in statistical software packages (e.g., SPSS, R, Stata) and concepts like regression analysis, segmentation/clustering, and significance testing.
Data Querying & Manipulation: Strong ability to query and manipulate large datasets using SQL. Proficiency with Python or R for data analysis is highly preferred.
Data Visualization: Expertise in creating compelling and clear data visualizations and dashboards using tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Looker.
Survey Platforms: Hands-on experience designing, programming, and deploying complex surveys using enterprise platforms such as Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, or similar.
Financial & Economic Modeling: Proven ability to build financial models, ROI calculators, and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analyses in Excel or Google Sheets.
Project Management: Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex research projects simultaneously, from scoping to final delivery.
Vendor Management: Experience evaluating, selecting, and managing third-party research firms and data providers.
Competitive Intelligence Tools: Familiarity with competitive intelligence platforms and tools for tracking market signals.
Data Synthesis: Ability to synthesize information from a wide array of sources (CRM, web analytics, secondary reports, primary research) into a unified strategic view.

Soft Skills

Data Storytelling: Exceptional ability to translate complex data and analytical results into a clear, concise, and compelling narrative for diverse audiences.
Strategic Thinking: Ability to see the bigger picture, connect research insights to business goals, and provide forward-looking recommendations.
Stakeholder Management: Adept at building relationships and influencing decision-making with cross-functional partners and senior executives.
Communication: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with a talent for presenting to executive-level audiences.
Intellectual Curiosity: A natural desire to ask "why," dig deeper into problems, and explore new ways of understanding the customer and the market.
Leadership & Mentorship: Ability to lead, coach, and develop a team of analysts, fostering their professional growth.
Business Acumen: Strong understanding of business fundamentals, including product strategy, marketing, sales, and finance.
Problem-Solving: A structured and hypothesis-driven approach to solving complex and ambiguous business problems.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in a quantitative or business-oriented field.

Preferred Education:

Master's Degree (e.g., MBA, Master's in Market Research, Statistics, Economics, or Social Sciences).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing or Market Research
Economics or Finance
Statistics or Data Science
Psychology or Sociology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7-10+ years of progressive experience in market research, customer insights, management consulting, or a related analytical role. A minimum of 2-3 years of experience managing direct reports or leading project teams is strongly preferred.

Preferred:

Experience in a B2B SaaS, technology, or consulting environment is highly desirable.
Direct experience leading pricing and packaging research projects.
A proven track record of influencing senior leadership and impacting business strategy with data-driven insights.