Associate Director

Company Description Mirats Insights is an India-based data insights company that specializes in turning real-world, real-time information from everyday people into actionable outcomes for clients across sectors such as CPG and healthcare. The team of over 50 professionals, spread across three major cities, combines more than 200 years of collective experience in research, technology, and strategy. Using its proprietary Insights platform, Mirats leverages advanced technology, creative thinking, and cloud-based tools to transform complex data into clear, practical solutions. Since 2021, the company has grown quickly while maintaining a collaborative, curiosity-driven culture that values reliability, innovation, and impact. Mirats seeks team members who are excited by big ideas, strong partnerships, and translating insights into measurable results.

Associate Project Director – OperationsOnline Research Division

Company: Mirats Insights Private Limited

Department: Online Research Operations

Employment Type: Full-time

Location: India

Reporting To: Director / Business Head – Research Operations

About Mirats Insights

Mirats Insights is a full-service market research and business intelligence company supporting clients across India and international markets. We deliver quantitative, qualitative, digital research, fieldwork, data collection, analytics, audits, and technology-enabled research solutions.

Our Online Research Division manages end-to-end quantitative and qualitative research projects through digital methodologies, platforms, panels, virtual interviews, online communities, and technology-led research operations.

Role Overview

Mirats Insights is looking for an experienced and result-oriented Associate Project Director – Operations to lead and expand its Online Research Division.

The person will be responsible for the complete operational management of digitally executed quantitative and qualitative research projects. The role involves developing operational strategies, managing high-value and complex projects, improving quality and efficiency, strengthening client relationships, leading project teams, and supporting the growth of the division.

The ideal candidate should have strong experience in online market research operations, project management, client servicing, vendor and panel management, quality control, team leadership, and commercial understanding.

Key Responsibilities1. Online Research Operations

• Lead end-to-end operations for online quantitative and qualitative research projects.
• Manage projects involving online surveys, panel recruitment, digital IDIs, online focus groups, communities, virtual product testing, and other technology-enabled research methodologies.
• Oversee project setup, feasibility, sampling, programming coordination, fieldwork, data collection, quality checks, reporting coordination, and project closure.
• Ensure that all projects are executed according to agreed scope, timelines, budgets, quality standards, and client expectations.
• Develop standard operating procedures and scalable workflows for the Online Research Division.

2. Strategic Growth and Division Development

• Develop and implement strategies to grow the companys online research capabilities and revenue.
• Identify new research methodologies, technologies, platforms, panels, automation opportunities, and operational partnerships.
• Build scalable processes that allow the division to manage a higher volume of projects without compromising quality.
• Support the leadership team in developing annual operating plans, revenue targets, capacity plans, and growth strategies.
• Identify opportunities to convert one-time research assignments into trackers, recurring studies, and long-term client engagements.

3. High-Value and Complex Project Management

• Take ownership of high-value, strategic, sensitive, and operationally complex projects.
• Prepare detailed project plans covering timelines, responsibilities, risks, dependencies, sample requirements, quality checks, and deliverables.
• Proactively identify project risks and implement corrective actions before they affect timelines or quality.
• Coordinate closely with internal teams, clients, panel partners, suppliers, programmers, analysts, moderators, and technology teams.
• Ensure timely completion, accurate documentation, commercial control, and successful client delivery.
• Act as the escalation owner for critical operational and client-related issues.

4. Client Management

• Serve as the senior operational contact for key clients.
• Understand client objectives, project specifications, quality expectations, and reporting requirements.
• Conduct project kick-off meetings, progress reviews, issue-resolution discussions, and final closure meetings.
• Build strong client relationships and contribute to repeat business, account growth, and client retention.
• Support the sales and research teams during proposals, feasibility assessments, costing, methodology discussions, and client presentations.

5. Quality Management

• Establish and continuously improve quality-control processes for online quantitative and qualitative projects.
• Develop systems for respondent validation, fraud detection, duplicate prevention, identity verification, response-quality monitoring, speed checks, open-end validation, and data-integrity reviews.
• Ensure that recruitment and sample collection comply with client requirements, industry standards, privacy policies, and research ethics.
• Conduct project-level quality reviews and root-cause analysis for operational failures or client complaints.
• Track quality trends across suppliers, panels, methodologies, project managers, and markets.
• Implement preventive measures to reduce rework, sample rejection, project delays, and client escalations.

6. Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop project managers, project executives, quality-control teams, recruitment teams, and other operational resources.
• Allocate projects and responsibilities based on skills, workload, timelines, and project complexity.
• Conduct regular project reviews, performance discussions, training sessions, and process-improvement meetings.
• Build a culture of ownership, accountability, accuracy, transparency, and client focus.
• Identify skill gaps and create structured training and development plans for the team.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, goal-setting, performance evaluation, and succession planning within the division.

7. Commercial and Financial Management

• Monitor project budgets, supplier costs, panel costs, respondent incentives, operational expenses, and project profitability.
• Ensure that projects remain within approved budgets and agreed commercial terms.
• Identify opportunities to improve margins through better negotiation, automation, supplier optimisation, and process efficiency.
• Coordinate with finance and commercial teams for purchase orders, supplier invoices, client billing, reconciliation, and project closure.
• Maintain accurate project-level revenue, cost, margin, and billing records.

8. Supplier, Panel and Partner Management

• Develop and maintain a reliable network of online panels, recruitment partners, moderators, translators, programmers, and technology providers.
• Evaluate suppliers based on feasibility, quality, cost, responsiveness, compliance, and delivery performance.
• Negotiate commercial terms and service-level expectations with partners.
• Develop scorecards for panel and supplier performance.
• Reduce dependency on individual suppliers by creating a diversified and scalable partner network.

9. Technology and Process Improvement

• Work closely with the technology team to improve internal project-management, survey, panel, recruitment, quality-control, and reporting systems.
• Identify repetitive operational activities that can be automated.
• Promote the use of data and operational analytics in project planning and decision-making.

10. Governance and Reporting

• Maintain accurate project documentation, trackers, status reports, risk logs, cost sheets, quality reports, and closure reports.
• Prepare weekly and monthly operational dashboards for the management team.
• Track division-level performance against revenue, quality, profitability, productivity, and client-satisfaction targets.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelors or Masters degree in Business Administration, Market Research, Marketing, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Management, or a related field.
• Relevant experience in market research operations, preferably within online quantitative and qualitative research.
• Prior experience managing complex, multi-market, high-value, or high-volume research projects.
• Experience leading project-management and operations teams.
• Strong understanding of online panels, respondent recruitment, survey operations, digital qualitative research, sampling, incidence rates, quotas, and data-quality processes.
• Experience in client servicing, supplier management, commercial management, and project profitability.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Strategic and operational leadership
• End-to-end project management
• Client relationship management
• Online quantitative and qualitative research
• Quality assurance and risk management
• Commercial and financial understanding
• Team leadership and performance management
• Supplier and panel management
• Problem-solving and decision-making
• Process design and operational improvement
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Negotiation and conflict resolution
• Data-driven planning and reporting
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under tight timelines

Why Join Mirats Insights

• Opportunity to lead and expand a growing Online Research Division.
• Ownership of high-value Indian and international research projects.
• Exposure to both quantitative and qualitative digital research methodologies.
• Opportunity to work closely with the companys leadership, technology, research, and client-servicing teams.
• Ability to develop new systems, processes, teams, and research capabilities.
• Fast-paced work environment with significant responsibility and growth opportunities.