Account Director, Data Operations (Opinion Research)

Panterra Global Ltd•San Francisco, CA

7d•Remote

About The Position

Panterra is a global strategic advisory firm with 25 years of experience, advising governments, corporations, and individuals on complex policy and communications issues, often at the nexus of politics, business, and media. Their mission is to positively impact global debates, guided by values of honesty, integrity, ambition, and accountability. Panterra Research, formerly ClearPath Strategies, is a division focused on research-driven strategy, promoting progressive forces. They conduct opinion research projects like surveys, focus groups, and expert interviews across over 150 countries for political campaigns, multinational corporations, NGOs, and advocacy groups, including diverse technology clients, non-profit advocacy groups, and international political leaders. The opportunity is for a Data Analyst to join Panterra Research as they bring data processing in-house. This role involves end-to-end processing of survey data for quantitative research projects, including public opinion polling, brand tracking, political campaigns, and corporate perception studies globally. The ideal candidate is proficient in Displayr and has a strong understanding of survey data methodologies, serving as the engine for crosstab production, data weighting, quality assurance, and statistical analysis, and contributing to improving and accelerating the conversion of raw survey data into client-ready insights.

Requirements

Proficiency in Displayr, including crosstab building, variable creation, data cleaning, and reporting outputs.
Strong working knowledge of SPSS (or equivalent: Q Research Software, R) for survey data processing, weighting, and statistical analysis.
Solid understanding of core survey research methodologies: sampling, weighting, margin of error, confidence intervals, and significance testing.
Experience processing data from common survey platforms and working with SPSS .sav, Excel, and CSV file formats.
Familiarity with crosstab and tabulation standards used in public opinion and market research.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel for data manipulation, formatting, and QA checks.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy – errors in data processing have direct consequences for client strategy.
Ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines in a fast-paced, remote environment.
Clear written and verbal communication skills; ability to flag issues and communicate progress to non-technical colleagues.
Self-starter who can work independently and proactively identify where processes can be improved.
Comfortable collaborating across time zones with US-based and international team members.
Undergraduate degree in statistics, quantitative social science, political science, data science, market research, mathematics, or a related field.
1–3 years of experience in survey data processing, market research, or public opinion research.
Must be legally authorised to work in the United States and comfortable working remotely.
Candidates must reside in any of the following states: San Francisco Bay Area, CA; New York, NY or New Jersey (within commuting distance of New York City); Washington, DC or Virginia (within commuting distance of Washington, DC); Portland, OR.

Nice To Haves

Displayr certification preferred.
Experience with R or Python for data processing, automation, or scripting repetitive tasks.
Familiarity with advanced analytical techniques: key driver analysis, MaxDiff, segmentation/clustering, TURF analysis, or conjoint analysis.
Experience with verbatim coding and/or AI text analysis tools.
Experience building interactive dashboards or reusable reporting templates in Displayr (or similar tools such as Power BI or Tableau), enabling self-serve data exploration for research and client teams.
Knowledge of rim/raking weighting methodology and tools.
Familiarity with data quality assurance tools or respondent fraud detection approaches.
Relevant academic project experience will be considered.
Interest or experience in politics, public affairs, tech, or environment sectors is a plus.

Responsibilities

Receive, ingest, and process raw survey data from vendors in a variety of formats (SPSS .sav, Excel, CSV, and others).
Conduct thorough logic checking and data cleaning: verifying skip logic compliance, identifying missing or erroneous responses, flagging and resolving inconsistencies.
Identify and escalate anomalies, outliers, and quality issues in survey datasets before analysis begins.
Recode, rebase, and transform variables as required, including creating derived variables such as Top-2-Box scores, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and net agreement measures.
Code and categorise open-ended verbatim responses into manageable themes, leveraging AI-assisted text analysis tools where appropriate.
Build and maintain crosstab specifications in Displayr, producing efficient and accurate cross-tabulations across demographic, geographic, and attitudinal subgroups.
Develop templated, reusable Displayr setups to accelerate crosstab generation across recurring and tracking studies.
Generate toplines, frequency distributions, and banner tables to research specifications.
Ensure statistical significance testing (confidence levels, margin of error, p-values, chi-square) is applied correctly and clearly communicated in outputs.
Apply and validate survey weights to ensure data is representative of target populations.
Work with senior researchers to understand weighting schemes (e.g., rim/raking weighting) and implement them accurately across domestic and international datasets.
Document weighting decisions and methodology for each project.
Conduct descriptive and inferential statistical analysis including regression, segmentation, driver/key driver analysis, and cluster analysis.
Identify opportunities to streamline and automate data processing workflows within Displayr and adjacent tools (e.g., R, Python scripts).
Help develop internal standards, templates, and documentation for data processing best practices across the research team.
Contribute to reducing reliance on external data processing vendors by building capacity in-house.
Stay current with Displayr platform updates, new features, and AI-powered automation capabilities that could benefit team productivity.
Work closely with Research Consultants, Senior Consultants, and Account Directors to understand project specifications and deliver data to agreed timelines.
Prepare clean, well-labelled data files and crosstab outputs ready for analysis and reporting.
Communicate clearly about data issues, project status, and delivery timelines.
Support multiple projects simultaneously, managing competing deadlines with strong organisational discipline.

Benefits

Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
Flexible/unlimited vacation policy.
17 paid holidays plus 8 additional “Lucky Fridays” off per year.
Several choices of healthcare plans.
401(k).
Profit Sharing Program.
Yearly in-person all-staff retreats and regular regional in-person meetups.
A strong, supportive, and positive team culture.
Flexible working environment.
High degree of autonomy and responsibility early on in their careers, accelerating their progression to the benefit of both the individual and the company.