Global Director of Cultural Insights

The role

Our Cultural Insights practice is dedicated to identifying the shifts and forces shaping the way audiences think, feel and behave online. We leverage this understanding to help brands create authentic meaning and impact in a crowded digital space, working closely with our Strategy, Editorial and Creative teams to produce ongoing publishing strategies and large-scale, social-first campaigns.

The Global Director of Cultural Insights is responsible for ensuring that Cultural Insights globally is growing and innovating, delivering against the department’s ambition “to be the smartest social behaviour and digital culture experts in the world to drive innovation, creativity and effectiveness in ideas.”

You will be required to inspire clients and agency teams with your expertise and insights into digital culture and how the landscape is evolving at the speed of social. You will be joining an ambitious and supportive team, and an award-winning agency whose output has recently been recognised by Cannes Lions, Webbys, Lovies, Creative Circle, and many more.

Key areas of responsibility are:

Agency profile & thought leadership

• Maintaining, building upon and adapting our existing thought leadership outputs (including Think Forward and The Feed) to ensure we remain on the cutting edge of digital culture and marketing innovation in social and digital
• Responding to shifts in the cultural and digital landscape to create timely and unique ad hoc thought leadership outputs
• Working with our communications teams and PR agency to promote the work of We Are Social with clients and the wider industry and build We Are Social’s public profile

Client relationships & product development

• Collaborating with social listening and data experts in the wider research and insight team to create holistic research solutions informed by both qualitative and quantitative data inputs
• Running end-to-end cultural insights projects – from design through to debrief – for clients and internal stakeholders as part of larger projects shaping new brand strategies and creative campaigns
• Forming long-term partnerships with global clients to generate leads for new opportunities to sell in Cultural Insights products

Global collaboration & leadership

• Leading cross-market teams across the We Are Social network to deliver brilliant cultural insights arrived at through various qualitative research methods including depth interviews, digital ethnography, desk research and trends analysis
• Training and up-skilling Cultural Insights teams in local market to maintain the quality of our outputs as the team grows
• Building upon our existing growth strategy to maximise the potential of Cultural Insights at We Are Social and ensure it remains on the cutting edge of commercial insight generation

Requirements

• Extensive experience in the field of qualitative research, whether trends, futures, cultural insight, human insight or strategy, relating to social media and/or digital behaviour
• Proven ability to design and lead global qualitative research projects to a high standard, with demonstrable impact on client outcomes
• Proven experience of running global work streams with multiple stakeholders
• Working knowledge of a range of primary and secondary qualitative methodologies to generate cultural and consumer insight, including familiarity with semiotics, ethnography and/or trends research – with a specialist knowledge within at least one field
• An instinct for detecting patterns in cultural data; spotting where small signals of change might suggested larger shifts, and the ability to articulate these shifts clearly
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A compelling and impactful presenting style, and an ability to make insights memorable
• Experience as an inspiring, supportive and ambitious manager

Benefits

• 25 days holiday, increasing by 1 day for each year of service (capped at 30 days)
• Hybrid office and home working (minimum of 2 days a week in the London office)
• Private Medical Insurance
• Company Pension scheme
• Group Income Protection
• Optional Dental Insurance
• Comprehensive internal and external staff training programme
• Cycle-to-work scheme and season ticket loan scheme
• Optional sabbaticals after 3 & 5 years
• Employee Long Service Awards at 5 & 10 years
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Social clubs and regular agency events
• Free office breakfast and snacks