Qualitative Sensory Research Manager

Are you open to a new challenge in your sensory career? Looking to grow and develop your sensory skillset? Then this may be the opportunity you are looking for...

We’re searching for an experienced sensory scientist to work as a Qualitative Sensory Research Manager and build their career here at MMR.

MMR is an independent, global consumer and sensory research agency specialising in food, drink, personal and household care research. This means that when you join us, you’ll have the chance to work with well-known brands to help create, shape and develop products and packs.

We are global leaders, guiding innovation for our clients – partnering with over 50% of the top 100 global food and drink brands. Our head office is in a beautiful 18th century barn in Wallingford - a picturesque village in between Oxford and Reading. We also have offices in London, New York, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Durban.

Our team of over 280 highly engaged, multi-disciplined employees are primarily dynamic research professionals, sensory experts and data scientists. We’re a diverse bunch, with backgrounds in R&D, insight, marketing, sensory science, data sciences and psychology.

No two projects are ever the same, often involving exciting innovations, varied methods and international markets. It’s a phenomenal opportunity to challenge and add real value to client decision-making, all while working with our passionate, friendly teams across the globe.

The role:

This role will be based in Shanghai, China as part of our expanding offering in that region, as well as to work on global projects. Working closely with our Qualitative sensory team, you will help enable us to continue to grow, and to evangelize our products, including our innovative and exciting methodologies; RetrEATS and EROS. Both approaches use qualitative collaborative techniques coupled with sensory expertise to help our clients work towards perfect product briefs. This role enables creativity at all stages of the project cycle as well as great client interaction from day 1.

This role is sensory based but with a strong qualitative focus:

• Writing sensory related qualitative proposals
• Working across teams, with all members of staff as required, for a variety of clients
• Moderating consumer groups and facilitating workshops
• Liaising with international agencies and attending international fieldwork as relevant (this method is becoming increasingly popular internationally, so there will be plenty of opportunities to travel)
• Writing screeners, discussion guides, supporting field materials and producing qualitative sensory reports.
• Taking an active part in EROS and RetrEATS debriefs and client facing sensory activities (training, consultancy, etc)
• Analysing sensory quantitative data providing considered reporting, interpretation and recommendations for discussion with the Project Leader

On the job training will be provided but there will also be the opportunity to attend external training courses

Requirements

You will be:

Passionate about sensory research

• Be an exceptional communicator (fluency in written/spoken English is essential)
• Comfortable working with both clients and consumers /panelists alike
• Happy to travel both nationally and internationally on a regular basis- expect lots of opportunities to travel and explore new countries

You will have:

• Excellent sensory moderation skills –be able to elicit detailed sensory vocabulary from trained panelists and transfer these moderation skills to working with clients/untrained consumers
• Sensory acuity – ability to articulate product sensory characteristics themselves and to provide clear argumentation/recommendation on product differences to support a product selection relevant to the project objectives
• A background in Sensory research, either academically or demonstrable in your career to date

Benefits

MMR offers an open, diverse and non-hierarchical environment, where bespoke MMR Academy training is offered at every level. We also offer exciting secondment opportunities at our other global locations, as well as a selection of fantastic employee benefits.

MMR delivers a class leading set of marketing science tools and approaches, many of which are proprietary to MMR. We are endorsed by our global client base for our agility, technical expertise and willingness to adapt research solutions to directly focus on specific client challenges. We’ve built a reputation of providing innovative statistical analysis and techniques, coupled with optimal research design consultancy, that successfully delivers against our clients’ specific business objectives.

MMR is an Equal Opportunity Employer