Head of Survey Research Center of Excellence

Role purpose

Own the strategic direction, quality, and commercial value of Everest Group’s survey-based research – across 100+ surveys a year spanning internally executed studies, outsourced enterprise research, sponsored studies, and standing/tracker programs. This is an expert advisory individual contributor leadership role: the CoE Lead sets methodology and design standards, shapes what is asked and why, and represents Everest Group’s research rigor to clients – while utilizing the survey support team for programming and fielding and coordinating vendors for outsourced work.

The CoE Lead is the firm’s internal authority on “what’s the right way to answer this question with data” – advising analysts on methodology and sample design the way a principal researcher would.

Key accountabilities

1. Methodological leadership and AI-enabled survey design

- Advise analysts and research leaders on research design: which methodology fits a given business question, and how to structure hypotheses before a survey is built
- Advise on sample size and sampling requirements needed to reliably answer the research question at hand, balancing statistical rigor against cost and timeline
- Champion and evaluate generative AI tools and methods to accelerate and improve survey drafting, question design, and instrument refinement – building this into how the firm develops surveys at scale, not just approving individual instruments
- Set the quality bar for questionnaire design and respondent experience firmwide, including reviewing and coaching analysts finalizing surveys to ensure adherence to best practice before launch





2. Vendor and research-partner strategy

- Own the relationships with market research and panel vendors, negotiating for quality, coverage, and cost efficiency across a large volume of engagements
- Continuously evaluate vendor performance and steer volume toward partners who deliver the most value

3. A standing research asset, not just one-off projects

- Build and own an annual plan of repeated/tracker surveys that forms an independent research backbone for the firm – a proprietary data asset that compounds year over year, distinct from ad hoc project-driven survey work
- Drive cross-utilization of survey data and insights across studies – actively identify where one survey’s data can inform, benchmark, or extend another, rather than letting each survey live in isolation
- Build the centralized inventory (question banks, templates, historical results) as infrastructure for that reuse, not as an end in itself

4. Client-facing expertise and deliverables

- Join client calls as the firm’s survey and market-research expert, credentialing Everest Group’s methodology and rigor directly to clients and ensuring it’s represented well in how findings are presented




- Represent survey methodology in proposals and client discussions where research design is being scrutinized or sold
- Design new formats for survey-based client deliverables – not just raw data exports, but packaged, interactive ways for clients to explore the data as a leave-behind (e.g., a lightweight interactive viewer alongside the underlying dataset)

Required experience

- 12-15+ years in market research, survey methodology, or research strategy, including experience leading a function or practice, not just executing research personally
- Deep expertise in questionnaire design, sampling methodology, and research design – able to advise credibly, not just execute
- Track record managing vendor/panel relationships at scale and negotiating for value
- Experience presenting research methodology directly to clients or senior stakeholders
- Familiarity with applying AI/automation to research workflows
- Tools fluency (Qualtrics, Alchemer, or similar) is a plus for credibility with the survey support team, but hands-on survey coding is not the job

Role profile

This is a leadership role with some hands-on work, not an individual-contributor execution role. The CoE Lead operates through influence and standards-setting – utilizing the survey support team and external vendors for execution – while acting as the firm’s external face for survey research quality.

Success looks like: a well-run, cost-productive survey engine running in the background, a distinctive proprietary tracker-survey asset building year over year, and client relationships where this person is seen as a credentialed expert, not a project coordinator.

📌 Director (Bengaluru)
🏢 Everest Group
📍 Bengaluru