Member Experience Research Manager

AAA•Costa Mesa, CA

11d•$145,900 - $194,600

About The Position

The Member Experience Research Manager leads the member experience research team and its existing member satisfaction program across business lines, with the goal of developing an end-to-end view of the member experience. The role owns Voice of Member (VOM) and customer experience satisfaction research and oversees the custom strategic research arm of the market research team. It is accountable for modernizing research capabilities, elevating performance, and establishing the function as a trusted source of insight for senior leaders. The manager leads 9–15 direct and indirect reports and oversees the research vendor and technology budget. The role works across insurance and membership to modernize satisfaction and journey-level feedback, integrate insights across members, products, services, and operational touchpoints, and lead research spanning behavioral science, brand and loyalty, segmentation, community panels, and custom qualitative and quantitative studies. It partners with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to turn research into recommendations and business decisions, establish research priorities and methodology standards, and identify member pain points and opportunities for improvement. The manager also makes timely, independent decisions, monitors employee performance, and anticipates and resolves issues across departments and organizational levels. Occasional travel to off-site business meetings or conferences is required (5%). The starting pay range is $145,900–$194,600. Full-time employees are eligible to participate in an incentive program based on organizational, team, and personal performance.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Marketing.
At least 10 years of market research, consumer/member insights, or customer experience research experience.
At least 7 years of people leadership experience, including managing managers or teams of comparable size and complexity.
Strong executive presence and ability to distill complex research into decision-ready narratives.
Experience modernizing or rebuilding a legacy VOC/VOM/CX program, including its methodology and tooling.
Experience in both people leadership and hands-on research.
Experience selecting and managing research vendors within a defined budget.
Fluency in qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, interviews, journey research, online communities, and satisfaction measurement.
Ability to work with ambiguity and exercise sound judgment about when to escalate issues versus resolve them independently.
Occasional travel to off-site business meetings or conferences (5%).

Nice To Haves

Master's degree.
Market research or customer experience research experience in insurance, membership, or financial services.
Comfort improving or rebuilding a challenged function and building rather than maintaining.

Responsibilities

Modernize Voice of Member programs, including satisfaction and journey-level feedback, across insurance and membership.
Build an end-to-end view of the member experience by integrating feedback across policyholders, members, products, services, and operational touchpoints.
Lead research across behavioral science, brand and loyalty, segmentation, community panels, and custom qualitative and quantitative studies tied to business priorities.
Translate research findings into clear, decision-ready recommendations for senior leadership.
Establish intake and prioritization processes that focus the team on high-value business questions.
Own the research vendor and platform ecosystem, including vendor selection, contract negotiation, and budget management.
Set research methodology standards for rigor, consistency, and clear synthesis across ongoing measurement and custom studies.
Identify and quantify member pain points, unmet needs, and opportunities for improvement.
Partner with product, marketing, claims, digital, and operations teams to incorporate member insight into decision-making.
Develop marketing research plans that meet changing business goals and success metrics, making decisions quickly and independently.
Monitor employee performance and assist or intervene when necessary.
Anticipate, mitigate, and resolve issues by working across departments and organizational levels.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision coverage
401(k) savings plan with company match
Pension
Tuition assistance
Floating holidays
PTO for community volunteer programs
Paid parental leave
Wellness programs
Employee discounts on membership, insurance, travel, entertainment, services, and more
Incentive program for full-time positions based on organizational, team, and personal performance