Director of Research

At The IRONMAN Group, our purpose is clear: to inspire people to unlock their greatest potential through sport, pushing beyond limits to become the fullest expression of human achievement. Through our BE ICONIC vision, we are building the most loved brands, producing the world’s most inspiring events, and fostering deeply engaged communities that change lives. By 2028, we aim to empower over a million athletes to cross a finish line each year and inspire a billion people worldwide through the power of the human spirit. As part of our team, you’ll join a high-performance, caring culture where innovation thrives, communities are uplifted, and every achievement, big or small, is celebrated. You’ll help shape experiences that fill hearts, consume minds, and enrich souls. This is more than a job. It’s a chance to be part of a global movement, to lead from the front, and to leave a legacy. Together, we create moments that last a lifetime. The IRONMAN Group is the world's largest operator of mass participation sports, delivering over 200+ events a year across 55+ countries thanks to a passionate global team. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

The Marketing department of The IRONMAN Group is tasked with building sustaining brands that, through customer relationship management, generate and convert demand for The IRONMAN Group’s portfolio of endurance events, affiliated brands and products. This creates meaningful experiences and value for customers, as well as profitable growth strategies.

Positioned within the Global Marketing Team, the Director of Research is a key strategic leader responsible for growing and strengthening customer relationships by championing learning and insights, identifying gaps and opportunities at the industry, brand, event and customer level, devising tactics to close gaps and exploit opportunities, and informing key strategic direction for The IRONMAN Group’s portfolios of brands.

Positioned within the Global Marketing Team, the Director of Research is a key strategic leader responsible for growing and strengthening customer relationships by championing learning and insights, identifying gaps and opportunities at the industry, brand, event and customer level, devising tactics to close gaps and exploit opportunities, and informing key strategic direction for The IRONMAN Group’s portfolios of brands.

In essence, the Director of Research will be self-driven and business-curious, to understand the workings of our athletes and potential athletes, operations at The IRONMAN Group, and the endurance sports industries. They will build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, using research techniques to delve into business challenges and opportunities, and drive change through the organization.

 Emphasis will be placed on:

• Deriving insights that assist in audience cohort development
• Utilizing research to inform long term strategic direction 
• Problem solving to anticipate and address any cohort regressions
• Athlete-listening and seeking ways to improve athlete experience
• Brand sentiment monitoring
• Business Development support
• Regular feedback loops
• Metrics monitoring and driving accountability
• Internal partnerships that collaboratively address business needs and opportunities
• Keeping pulse on industry and relevant external insights

Reporting to the Vice President of Global Marketing, the Director prioritizes business requests with self-guided exploration to best serve the organization. In addition, they will demonstrate both strategic thought leadership and people leadership, collaboration, initiative, and empowerment. The Director of Research will directly manage other team members, as applicable, in the research department in pursuit of the above goals and will collaborate across the organization to inform proper research disciplines and techniques. 

In line with The IRONMAN Group’s Vision “to inspire and support people across the world to live an active lifestyle, foster a sense of belonging through sports, and strive towards their own finish line” the Director of Research should be committed to finding ways to deliver the transformative benefits of an active lifestyle to customers, everywhere.

Overview

• Champion the consumer perspective to marketing decision making by executing market analysis and research activities to provide insights and recommendations including surveys, focus groups and feedback loops
• Lead analysis of customer segments, competitor analysis, business trends, and market opportunities
• Present analysis and recommendations via presentations and written reports
• Devise actionable strategies from gained industry and customer insights and partner with stakeholders to bring these to implementation
• Inform key business decision making processes by sourcing new insights to supplement known information 
• Lead ideal methodology and provide oversight on the data collection process and analytic work plan to ensure all available information is generated to support business needs
• Supervise a Research Team (2) and set their workload to support the business
• Select, appoint and manage external agencies or suppliers for research projects
• Manage regular brand health studies to maintain a pulse of brand perception and identify areas of focus 
• Assist in execution of Economic Impact reports for events
• Facilitate post-event analysis for The IRONMAN Group’s portfolio of events
• Maintain and expand an accessible research library, enabling team members to self-serve basic insights at customer, brand, and industry level 
• Collaborate with data analysts, business insights and other internal team members to ensure maximum utilization and effectiveness of gathered data 
• Influence leaders to adopt research, insights, and effective research methodology

To address business issues, realize consumer insights and support strategic decision making for the global events business, the Director of Research will be responsible for: designing and delivering quantitative and qualitative analyses, creating surveys and identifying segments, acquiring third party data and research, initiating focus groups and qualitative data sampling opportunities, and reviewing, analyzing and drawing conclusions and recommendations. In addition, the Director will lead the ongoing assessment of research methodology, supporting techniques and tools.

Impact

To be successful, Director must show

• Independent direction and agenda-setting
• Inform strategies to grow athletes in designated cohorts
• Strong and collaborative partnerships with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to present and influence ideas, informed by insights
• Ability to support change management through the organization
• Ability to leverage AI for automation, efficiencies and deeper insights
• Regular reporting and communication to stakeholders 
• Strong people leadership in formal and informal capacity
• Influence key stakeholder decision making by using research and insights

Accountability

• Responsible for the reliability of derived insights and data
• Responsible for the leadership of Research Assistant
• Accountable for the use of insights through the business and in specific problem-solving situations
• Supporter/ Collaborator for the development of programs and solutions that address opportunities or deficits that are informed by insights
• Performance measured against predefined annual objectives

Knowledge & Application

Must demonstrate:

• Ability to work independently
• Data-insight driven, with superior analytical skills
• Undoubtable attention to detail
• Project leadership
• Excellent influencing skill
• Competent presentation skills
• Superior time management and prioritization
• Passion for customer-centric experiences and solutions
• A global mindset

The above declarations are not intended to be an “all inclusive” list of duties and responsibilities of the job described, nor are they intended to be such a listing of the skills and abilities required to do the job. Rather, they are intended only to describe the general nature of the job and are a reasonable representation of its activities.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.