Gray Matter Thinking provides operations consultancy for the Market Research and Insights industry as well as online survey programming and hosting, and data solutions. See my website to learn more about the services on offer or else contact me here for a discussion on how I can assist you and your business.

The Operations Director role at Objective Focus also incorporates a high degree of technical involvement. Responsibilities include:Oversee project process from conception to completion, with an emphasis on technical soundness, automation, and resource efficiency.Oversee daily operations of the company and the work of executives. Line manager to operational staff (Project Managers and Panel Director).Apply architectural and functional specifications to project profiles.Meet with clients to refine and evaluate requirements, and strategy.Research and introduce new technologies for all employees, management, and panel members.Assist in creating in-house standards.Evaluate feasibility and implementation of future potential business lines.Provide the business with technical advice and support.Responsible for all Operational processes and management. Transformed the operational process by transitioning away from a legacy, and failed, platform to a suite of interconnected applications that, together, provides a seamless experience for respondents, internal project managers, and clients. This workflow includes data collection and scripting platform, panel database management, scheduling, automated payment processing, project progress visibility and reporting, Project Management portals, Client update portals, and Moderator/Transcriber management and delivery portals.Within this role I manage the day to day upkeep, maintenance, and improvement of all of our operational and technical systems.I manage the Project Management team and the Panel Manager ensuring successful running and completion of all projects and the updating of the Commercial Sales Director and Managing Director.

For this role my time was equally divided between implementation of workflows and data collection and as part of a select team involved in the newly founded “New Way” global initiative. My role being to lead the project management, and provide my experience, in the area of “Performance Improvement and Optimisation”. This workstream had the widest remit to assess and improve the working processes within Ipsos. It was a highly visible global initiative with expected support of all country leads and sponsorship at the most senior level. I left to pursue other opportunities before implementation of our recommendations, but I believe we demonstrated a clear need for change, and an effective plan for how that would be achieved in many key areas of the business.

Develop and execute implementation plans for Ipsos' global workflow and data collection systems across the EMEA region.Coordinate, train and support cross functional teams from all Ipsos WSBLs to ensure the power of these systems is harnessed to deliver executional excellence for Ipsos' clients and value to our shareholders.

Product management of the Workbench platform, an internal workflow built around the Dimensions data collection platform, incorporating portal and applications to provide efficiencies and automation.• Responsible for ensuring development is aligned with the needs of the organisationo Deep ongoing understanding and analysis of business needso Managing development within time and budget• Responsible for the build quality of the platform by developing and implementingo User groups to ensure ease-of-useo Functional and performance test plans • Collaborating with heads of training and support to ensure developments are understood and able to be trained and supported• Assisting the rollout througho Helping to prove and promote the business benefitso Acting as an SME with key internal and external customers• Remains abreast of new approaches and technical developments in market research operations and makes business cases for their application where appropriate• Plays a key role as a team member of the governance and project management teams

Moving from a UK role to a global operations unit, the primary focus of my position was to provide training to Synovate offices in the uptake of global end-to-end research processes and associated applications, known as Workbench. The role required direct understanding, and training, of all the key project focused roles, spanning both research and operations. Responsibilities included training design as well as delivery and the role required extensive travel. Whilst my main area of geographic responsibility was the EU I also trained within the US, India, Malaysia, China, and Africa.Alongside training various business units, I acted as a key intermediary between the end user and the development team and provided significant input into the design and strategy of Workbench. I was often consulted on best practice for key projects and clients by all areas of the business across an international reach.

This role gave me the opportunity to tackle wider challenges within the parent company, Synovate. This position had a more technical focus than my previous managerial responsibilities and covered a broader span of the business.I supported all levels of the company in terms of advising on technical capabilities and best practice, assessing new technologies, products and updates, and developing smarter working practices. The role was primarily UK based but I also provided global support to wider Synovate operations teams.Key project successes included designing a framework for complex diary studies, creation of client update tools, assessment and deployment of Dimensions CAPI software, and training workshops aimed at project managers.

I started my role at FI Healthcare in October 2004 within a small team of two scriptwriters. As the business grew, the team expanded to accommodate the increasing workload. In October 2005 I was promoted to CAI Manager. My role involved managing a team of 9 based in the UK, USA, and Malaysia. I particularly enjoyed the strategic decision making that was incumbent within the role. The healthcare sector is a challenging environment and we regularly tackled complex client requirements.During this role I was responsible for transitioning our production work from 100% Quancept based to 100% Dimensions based scripting.

My career in market research began with a graduate position as a trainee data processor within one of the UK’s leading Market Research companies. My initial experience was working with quantum before I shifted my focus to scriptwriting using quancept. Within two years I had been promoted to Senior DP Executive and taken on the role of CATI ad-hoc team leader responsible for a small team of 3. A year after this I was again promoted to overall CATI Manager responsible for both the ad-hoc and continuous CATI teams. During my time at BMRB I worked with CATI, CAPI, Web, and paper based methodologies and dealt with both the programming of the scripts and the data processing requirements at the back end.