Senior Manager, Strategic Account Management - Market Research
About The Position
Walmart Data Ventures is seeking an experienced consumer research professional and people leader to join its Research Services team. The Senior Research Manager will lead the Pantry portfolio within the Food business, responsible for client delivery, research excellence, team capacity, and associate development. This is a hands-on leadership role combining people and portfolio management with direct ownership of full-service research engagements. The role involves balancing individual delivery responsibilities with people leadership and broader portfolio responsibilities. The Senior Research Manager will also ensure clients are connected to the appropriate level of research support within Scintilla, from DIY capabilities to flexible and full-service Research Services, building client awareness and confidence, supporting DIY adoption, and identifying opportunities for expert Research Services. Reporting to the Research Director for Food, this role will act as a trusted research and business partner, providing clarity, anticipating and resolving risks, developing talent, and helping clients unlock greater value through Scintilla’s research capabilities. The role also involves fostering a one-team culture, sharing knowledge, supporting broader priorities, and contributing beyond their immediate portfolio in a fast-growing organization.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
- 10+ years of market research experience, including significant experience in a client-facing role.
- 3+ years of people management experience, including coaching, performance management, and associate development.
- Demonstrated experience leading full-service quantitative and/or qualitative research engagements from business question through final insights and delivery.
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
- Knowledge of SPSS and/or other quantitative analysis and reporting tools.
Nice To Haves
- Experience managing a client portfolio, business area, or complex book of research work in addition to formal people-management responsibilities.
- Experience working within a research technology, insights platform, data, or analytics environment.
- Experience partnering with commercial or account management teams to identify client needs and support account growth.
Responsibilities
- Lead the Pantry portfolio within Food, balancing client demand, business priorities, team capacity, research quality, and sustainable delivery.
- Personally lead and execute full-service quantitative and/or qualitative research engagements, including research design, questionnaire development, programming and fieldwork oversight, analysis, storytelling, and client delivery.
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of research professionals, setting clear expectations, providing timely and actionable feedback, and creating meaningful opportunities for associate growth and development.
- Lead the coordination and prioritization of work across the Pantry team, thoughtfully balancing client engagements, team capacity, project complexity, business priorities, and development opportunities.
- Set and uphold a high bar for research excellence and client experience, providing strategic guidance, quality oversight, and hands-on support for complex, high-priority, or at-risk engagements.
- Serve as a trusted research consultant, helping clients translate business questions into fit-for-purpose approaches and connecting them to the right Scintilla research model, from DIY capabilities to flexible and bespoke full-service support.
- Build strong partnerships with Account Management and other cross-functional stakeholders to understand client priorities, identify opportunities, and support greater client value, awareness, utilization, and growth across Scintilla’s research capabilities.
- Anticipate challenges, make sound decisions, and bring solutions forward, resolving issues at the appropriate level, and elevating risks with clear context and recommendations when broader alignment is needed.
- Develop a strong understanding of the Pantry business and client landscape, identifying patterns, emerging needs, and opportunities, and bringing those perspectives forward to the Research Director for Food and broader team.
- Champion Scintilla and Research Services, building awareness and confidence in research capabilities while sharing relevant client feedback, use cases, and market learnings across teams to strengthen collective capabilities, ways of working, and client impact.
Benefits
- Competitive pay
- Performance-based bonus awards
- Medical coverage
- Vision coverage
- Dental coverage
- 401(k)
- Stock purchase
- Company-paid life insurance
- PTO (including sick leave)
- Parental leave
- Family care leave
- Bereavement leave
- Jury duty leave
- Voting leave
- Short-term disability
- Long-term disability
- Company discounts
- Military Leave Pay
- Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement
- PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes
- Walmart-paid education benefit program (Live Better U) for full-time and part-time associates, covering tuition, books, and fees for programs ranging from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
