Research Associate, Marketing & Communications Center

About The Conference Board

Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead. Our agenda is simple: to help leaders navigate the biggest issues facing business and better serve society. We believe in innovative approaches that make you think- and act- differently. And everything we do reflects the input of our members and their real-world challenges. 

We do this by delivering business insights. We connect senior executives across industries and geographies to share ideas, and our experts create fact-based research and consensus-driven policy statements to help leaders address their most important business issues.

Because we are independent, non-partisan, and non-profit our work is trusted. If you learned it at The Conference Board you can count on it.

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What it’s like to work here:

While it’s serious work to operate a global business think tank, it’s also fulfilling — and fun! Our people enjoy what they do and know their ideas matter. 

We encourage everyone to take personal ownership for outcomes: we collaborate, share a purpose and commit to each other and to our Members. It’s all about doing our very best - which means we succeed as our Members succeed - together we improve society.

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The Conference Board invites all interested and qualified candidates to apply for employment opportunities. If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance with our online application system and would like to request a reasonable accommodation,  please email Sarah Baylis at [email protected] or call at 212 339 0347. Please indicate your full name, contact information and the specific accommodation needed.

Position Summary:      

The Research associate works in close collaboration with the Marketing & Communications Center team, the publication and marketing teams, as well as other researchers at The Conference Board. In collaboration, defines, conducts, and manages quantitative and qualitative research of interest to our Members at the Marketing & Communications Center at The Conference Board.

Accountabilities:

• Identifies important topics for research – in collaboration with the Center Leader, Head of Research, and other Conference Board researchers – that serve our members and add value to The Conference Board.
• (Co-)writes short publications on marketing, communications, and/or consumer topics. This includes data-focused short reports, brief research notes for our member newsletters, summaries of roundtable convenings, and council meetings and conferences.
• Presents research findings to senior executives at our member companies in person, as well as at virtual roundtables, on webcasts and podcasts, and at other events.
• Designs research projects in collaboration with the Head of Research, including specifying the methodology, drafting survey questionnaires and interview guides for research with marketing and communications executives as well as questions for consumer surveys, and planning the project timeline with an eye to serving our members’ interests and needs. This might also involve desk-research, online exploration and literature reviews.
• Manages research project logistics, which will include compiling respondent email lists and keeping them updated, entering questionnaires into Qualtrics, organizing data, organizing mailings to survey participants, scheduling research interviews, and keeping our publication plan updated. 
• (Co) conducts research interviews with senior marketing and communications executives.
• Analyzes and interprets data from surveys and other sources such as roundtables and interviews. Extracts key insights, draws conclusions, and highlights implications from the data that are most relevant to audiences of executives.
• Create charts and infographics from Excel data for presentations and publications.
• Writes research reports, Power Point presentations, short notes about research for our newsletters, articles for media outlets, and other types of publications for business audiences.
• Participates in, and writes reports on, roundtables, webcasts, podcasts, panel discussions, and other content creation and sharing events of the Marketing & Communications Center.
• Contributes to the development of program content for marketing and communications executives, including topic descriptions, discussion guides, and poll questions.
• Leverages AI tools thoughtfully to improve research efficiency and quality while ensuring that insights, judgment, and content remain human-led.
• Presents research at events for our member companies, on webcasts and podcasts, at conferences, roundtables, and other events.
• Works with the editorial and publication teams on the creation of research reports and related deliverables.
• Collaborate with the communications department on the marketing and communication plans for research projects.
• Coordinates activities to meet deadlines and ensures that reported research is current and accurate. 
• Other responsibilities as assigned. This could include participating in strategy sessions by the Marketing & Communications Center, calls with members, and working with our council and conference teams.

Qualifications:

• Thorough knowledge of current topics that are most relevant to marketing and communications executives, including but not limited to the evolving roles of CMOs and CCOs and their teams, and the ability to stay abreast of trends and developments.
• Genuine interest in emerging marketing, communications, and consumer topics, curiosity to explore trends, and passion to advance our subject area expertise by contributing research-based insights that executives can leverage. 
• 3-5 years of research experience in marketing, communications, consumer insights, strategy, innovation, or a related field, for example with a market research company, consultancy, investment bank, media company, content agency, executive search firm, and/or in academia.
• Degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related discipline is strongly preferred.
• Close familiarity with Excel, PowerPoint, Qualtrics or other survey platforms.
• Analytical skills to identify patterns, structures, and connections to extract findings from research projects, draw conclusions, and define implications for business executives.
• Experience synthesizing data and insights to write concise, easily absorbed and engaging notes for business audiences to make research accessible/usable for busy executives. (Track record of publications is a plus.)
• Ability to translate data/insights into visuals.
• Ability to use AI tools to enhance research productivity and quality while maintaining independent thinking, human creativity, critical judgment, and human-led content creation.
• Strong oral communication skills to present and discuss research to internal teams as well as to business audiences.
• Strong project management skills.
• Ability to handle multiple projects with tight deadlines at once.
• Customer orientation to address our member companies’ needs.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate in small teams while also having a self-starter mentality to work independently as needed.

 

 

What We Offer

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The Conference Board is proud to embrace best practices in employee wellbeing. We offer a competitive total compensation package. As part of our benefits package, we offer flexibility with hybrid working capabilities, employer-sponsored learning and development, advancement opportunities, on-site health initiatives, a communal and collaborative working environment, and a strong sense of comradery with sports teams, clubs, and employee events.

The Conference Board does not discriminate. We are an equal opportunity employer/M/F/Vet/Disabled.