Associate Director Project Management (7 month fixed term contract) Channel Performance

This role is very important to the success of the Delivery team and the wider UK Channel Performance business. You will support the Head of Delivery as a senior member of the Mystery Shopping PM team - at times you will lead on larger projects but primarily will be supporting the rest of the team and ensuring their success with our clients. Focus will be on ensuring the team deliver high levels of accuracy achieving timelines advising on best practice and ensuring automation is used where possible. Building relationships with our Client Success Operations IT and Commercial Support teams will be key to the success of this role as well as coaching junior team members and building knowledge of capabilities that other teams have that can be utilised within Delivery.

This role is offered on an initial 7 month fixed term contract with hybrid working 3 days working from either Milton Keynes/St Albans/London and the rest from home.

Your Day to Day

These are the types of things you can expect to be doing during your day to day although as Ipsos is a dynamic organisation this may vary as different opportunities arise:

You will be part of an experienced mystery shopping delivery team and will ultimately be responsible for ensuring multiple projects are delivered across various key clients from set up through to fieldwork completion and data checks. Although each client and project is different the overall goal for this role is to ensure clients receive their mystery shopping data accurately within scope efficiently and to budget.

Project Setup & Launch

• Guide & Review Setup: Coach PMs on translating complex client briefs into robust survey forms clear guidelines and accurate platform scoring logic.
• Oversee Launch Preparedness: Review project schedules and brief outlines created by the team to ensure quotas timelines and field briefs are set up for success.

Fieldwork & Operations

• Drive Delivery Performance: Mentor PMs on tracking daily completion rates and proactively managing risks across active locations.
• Escalation Support: Act as the escalation point to help PMs troubleshoot complex field issues complaints and navigate client conversations.

Data Quality & Delivery

• Audit Quality Standards: Guide team members on data validation best practices spot-checking their QA processes (receipts audio photos) to maintain top-tier accuracy.
• Oversight & Sign-Off: Review and sign off on client-facing progress updates and final dashboard/dataset deliverables before formal handoff.

Essential Criteria:

To be successful in this role you will need the following skills and experience:

• Project Delivery: Proven track record in managing multiple research or mystery shopping projects end-to-end (from project setup and fieldwork to data checks and delivery).
• Financial & Budget Management: Demonstrable experience with project financial performance scope management and managing budgets to prevent cost overruns.
• Line & Operational Management: Experience in direct line management (e.g. managing Senior Project Managers Senior Project Execs or Project Execs) and broader team support.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong experience working closely with internal teams like Operations IT and Client Success to deliver complex projects seamlessly.

Desirable Criteria:

These are the skills that would add value to the role but are not critical. If you have them wed love to hear about them:

• Commercial & Pitch Support: Previous experience supporting Client Success teams with pitch decks proposal development or tender responses.
• Process & Tech Optimisation: Experience identifying and implementing automation operational workflow enhancements or systems improvements.
• Feedback Systems: Familiarity with gathering and acting on Client Satisfaction feedback to drive continuous operational improvements.
• Sector Knowledge: Familiarity with mystery shopping methodology or channel performance research.

Behaviours:

A successful candidate will demonstrate the following behaviours:

• Strategic Leadership:Proactively steps up to support the team head contributes to team strategy and provides clear direction in leadership meetings.
• Client-Centric & Trusted Advisory:Relentlessly focused on client satisfaction while confidently holding boundaries and challenging clients when necessary to protect business interests.
• Problem-Solving & Agility: Takes ownership of operational challenges actively identifies practical solutions and ensures effective implementation.
• Supportive & Inclusive Mentorship:Operates with an open door approach fostering growth training and development for junior team members.
• Commercial Drive:Demonstrates commercial awareness in decision-making to balance delivery quality with business profitability.

Benefits

25daysannualleavepensioncontribution income &wellbeingfinancialbenefitsandprofessionaldevelopmentopportunities.

Werealiseyoumayhavecommitmentsoutsideofworkandwillconsiderflexibleworkingapplicationspleasehighlightwhatyouarelookingforwhenyoumakeyourapplication. Wehaveahybridapproachtoworkandaskpeopletobeintheofficeorwithclientsfor3daysperweek.

Wearecommittedtoequalitytreatingpeoplefairlypromotingapositiveandinclusiveworkingenvironmentandensuringwehavediversityofpeopleandviews. Werecognisethatthisisimportantforourbusinesssuccess- morediverseworkforcewillenableustobetterreflectandunderstandtheworldweresearchand 2Disability Confident eitherwayto letyouknowtheoutcome.

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