Director, Student, Customer & Market Insights

Risepoint assists primarily regional universities in increasing their access and impact by making their academic programs available to students online. Founded in 2007, Risepoint's mission is to expand access to high-quality, affordable, and workforce-relevant education, especially for working and adult students. Risepoint brings single-minded dedication to student success, an integrated set of services, and data-driven performance to our collaboration with university partners.

Reporting to the VP/Head of Student, Customer, and Market Insights within the Corporate Strategy team, the Director of Student, Customer, and Market Insights will be a motivated and impact-oriented leader and a key cross-functional collaborator and thought partner for Risepoint’s functional leaders. The Director of Student, Customer, and Market Insights will serve as the go-to resource for market intelligence and voice-of-the-student insights by creating and sharing insights across the organization. Their purview includes primary and secondary research and the resulting analysis to develop actionable insights.

The role will help progress and accelerate our evolution from a team of market researchers and analysts who fulfill requests from cross-functional partners, to a Center of Excellence that pro-actively identifies high impact research opportunities leveraging a multi-faceted understanding of marketing and competitive dynamics as well as strategic priorities. They will partner with the VP and other Director of Student, Customer, and Marketing Insights to identify, prioritize, execute, and ensure impact of the research project pipeline. In addition, the Director will collaborate with key stakeholders across the organization to build a community to provide a forum to share best practices, identify gaps and opportunities, and continually evolve how we leverage insights to drive the business.

The ideal candidate will have an understanding of the higher education industry, a passion for research and data analysis, and the ability to translate complex analysis into succinct and insightful written outputs. They will have experience scoping and leading projects from initial ideation to insight development and operationalization. They will manage a small team and be equally effective at the tactical level, rolling up sleeves and getting things done as a “player coach”, and at the strategic level, orchestrating cross-functional projects with Executive Leadership and demonstrating an impact-orientation that requires engaging beyond the purview of market research.

A Day in the Life

The essential functions of this role are as follows:

• Along with VP of Research & Insights, lead, manage, and coach analysts to deliver high-quality market intelligence and primary research insights to support business growth and decision-making

• Develop and execute the market research roadmap to ensure that the team is gathering and analyzing relevant data on market trends, competitive activity, and other key insights to provide insights to address the short-term needs of cross-functional partners while laying the groundwork for medium- and long-term impact that operational teams have not yet envisaged

• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of the higher education industry, including emerging trends, regulatory changes, and competitive landscape

• Develop a cadence of conducting research projects, synthesizing and packaging for relevant insights, and disseminating those insights across the organization to inform business decisions including product development, customer segmentation and prioritization, and white space opportunities

• Create a research agenda that reinforces Risepoint’s expertise in the higher education space for internal and external audiences

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to understand business objectives and needs and ensure that market research and insights are aligned with these goals while also being able to adapt and change priorities as business needs change.

• Support high priority “internal consulting” projects on behalf of Risepoint executives; projects could comprise a wide range of topics from product/portfolio strategy to go-to-market strategy to assessing the state of a specific market

• Build a thorough understanding of Risepoint’s offerings, ecosystem and unique value proposition, and associated market dynamics to be able to scope and launch relevant research initiatives

• Create a community of practice to regularly share best practices and learning across key users of data across the organization

• Evaluate third-party data resources as needed to support and/or amplify research capabilities and accuracy

• Support operational decision-making and business needs across the organization with relevant research, data, and insights

What You’ll Need for Success

You must meet the following requirements to be considered for employment:

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA preferred

• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in analytics and insights gathering or related field, ideally leading high-impact research or strategy teams

• Proven track record of successfully scoping and delivering projects, building and leveraging appropriate processes and tools.

• Exceptional analytical skills – able to evaluate opportunities from strategic, financial, operational and technical perspectives

• Management consulting experience preferred, with a heavy emphasis on high-velocity, project- based initiatives

• Experience in the Higher Education sector preferred

• Ability to be intellectually curious, strategically minded but operationally oriented, and highly collaborative.

• Ability to handle high pressure situations in a professional and balanced manner and will serve as a mentor, leader, and partner across the organization in a dynamic environment.

• A well-rounded experienced leader with the ability to lead strategic analyses as well as drive forward tactical execution and implementation.

• An effective manager with ability to hold people accountable; create clear plans to meet and exceed goals; offer clear, timely, actionable feedback to direct reports and collaborators.

• Humility / willingness to question one’s own assumptions / desire to constantly improve

• Executive presence, capable of establishing trust and confidence

• Strong and effective communicator (written, verbal)

• Pro-active and fast paced / Bias towards immediate action and results

• Accessible, approachable, and collaborative

• Adaptable and agile / able and willing to pivot and re-prioritize as business needs shift

Risepoint is an equal opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce.