Marketing Research Lead

The New Jersey State Office of Innovation’s Communication and Engagement (C+E) Lab is looking for a Marketing Research Lead to research, design, and implement marketing research initiatives that better connect residents with State government benefits, programs, services, and products. You will create impact by understanding what motivates residents and transforming findings into insights and approaches that move people to action. You will be part of an innovative, dedicated, and high-performing team driven to change how the government communicates and create better outcomes for residents. You’ll have the unique opportunity to work at the intersection of public service and modern marketing best practices and shape the direction of this work as you go along.

About the Office of Innovation

The New Jersey State Office of Innovation improves the lives of New Jerseyans by solving public problems differently. Our work spans numerous issue and policy areas, and is focused on making an impact in the lives of the New Jerseyans that we serve. Our work has decreased the amount of time it takes to apply for Unemployment Insurance, made it easier to start, operate, and grow a business in the Garden State, and connected millions of New Jerseyans to government programs, services, and benefits. Our team members wear many hats, contributing to both the execution of core projects and the evolution of the Office of Innovation. We use data and modern research, design, and development methods to inform our decision making, and we collaborate with stakeholders within and outside of government to understand and solve challenges. This role is part of the C+E Lab - an initiative of the Office of Innovation to better connect residents with State government benefits, programs, services, and products. The C+E Lab uses consumer marketing techniques to change how government communicates to focus on what residents care about most. The C+E Lab’s work is informed by three core tenets:

• Improving the quality of the State’s marketing execution
• Building capacity in the State to market to residents
• Improving the ability of State stakeholders to effectively market to residents To learn more about the New Jersey Office of Innovation, visit our About Us page. If you have any questions, please contact us at team@innovation.nj.gov.

Responsibilities

As a part of the team, your responsibilities may include:

Conduct research to understand residents’ motivations

• Design, coordinate and execute audience research initiatives ranging from user and audience identification and insight gathering, to creative concept validation
• Conduct research using both qualitative (one-on-one interviews, focus groups) and quantitative (surveys, questionnaires) methods, including through the use of digital platforms
• Help develop methodologies and mechanisms that create insight into if our marketing strategies and tactics are equitable in their reach, appeal and impact
• Manage all project tasks – research design, research brief development, questionnaire design, fieldwork coordination, and interpretation and analysis of the data through reporting
• Prepare and present research findings, implications, and recommendations with actionable, data-driven insights
• Develop audience journey maps to document how audiences interact with channels, messages and other touchpoints
• Track competitive activity to identify trends and opportunities for marketing efforts

Help develop, build, launch, and monitor campaigns that move residents to action

• Gather and analyze digital platforms and tools for their research, media, or marketing capabilities
• Set up campaigns and marketing efforts across channels, such as paid search or social media
• Analyze and interpret marketing data to evaluate campaign and message effectiveness
• Bring data and research findings to life through graphical representations
• Implement solutions to support marketing integrations and reporting needs
• Connect and organize data to support surfacing of key data points and calculated metrics

Experiment with tools and systems to enhance our work

• Identify and analyze opportunities to enhance the impact of the C+E Lab’s projects, in areas including, incorporating equity initiatives into our marketing efforts, exploring the use of generative AI, and improving meeting facilitation using digital platforms
• Design and experiment with new ways of using analytics platforms to uncover impact intelligence insights

Do what’s needed for the team

• Execute additional duties and responsibilities to advance the Office of Innovation’s mission and work

Your role will take day-to-day direction from the C+E Lab’s Director.

Preferred Technical Experience, Skills and Abilities

A successful Marketing Research Lead is someone who is curious and interested in learning about people, their motivations and behaviors, and how to drive them to action. You care about the impact your work has on the world. You are seeking a high performance and high impact career.

You have 2+ years experience related to the following expertise, skills, and abilities:

• Conducting qualitative and/or quantitative research
• Connecting organizations or brands to audiences
• Willingness to experiment and explore new platforms or ways of doing research and marketing
• Desire to do impact driven work
• Familiarity with digital marketing platforms such as paid search or paid social advertising, social media, email, or search engine optimization
• Familiarity with data analysis, data visualization, and related tools such as Google Data Studio

We welcome applications that don’t meet 100% of our requirements. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.

Compensation: Up to approximately $100,000 + Full benefits

The New Jersey Office of Innovation is proud to be an equal opportunity employer

We are deeply committed to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusiveness and seek to create a pluralistic community for all.

We strongly encourage people of color, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, women, LGBTQI+ people, those with disabilities, and Veterans to apply. We are committed to building a team that is reflective of New Jersey’s incredible diversity.

We do not discriminate against any candidate because of color, race, age, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, membership in an employee organization, pregnancy, marital status, status as a parent, ancestry, national origin, disability (physical or mental), family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service, retaliation, or other non-merit based factors.

Eligibility

You must be authorized to work in the United States. Candidates may be required to pass a background check and complete additional steps as part of the application and onboarding process. You will be considered an “at-will” employee, meaning both employer and employee have the right to terminate employment with or without cause or notice.