Head of Research DACH (mfd)

Your mission as a Head of Research DACH
As our Head of Research DACH you will lead and develop our Research Excellence department in the region ensuring top-notch research quality strong client impact and efficient scalable processes. You will empower team leads drive strategic initiatives and represent Appinio as a thought leader - internally and externally - shaping the future of agile AI-powered market research.

What youll be doing

• Strategic Leadership:
  • Define and drive the DACH research roadmap aligning with global objectives
  • Launch initiatives to improve efficiency quality and scalability
  • Translate senior leadership strategy into clear direction for the team
• People Leadership:
  • Lead and develop Research Team Leads ensuring consistent standards
  • Oversee workforce planning hiring and team engagement
  • Foster a high-performance inclusive and resilient team culture
• Research & Process Excellence:
  • Ensure high-quality research output and methodology adoption
  • Lead upskilling initiatives and enforce process compliance
  • Act as escalation point for complex client or data issues
• Commercial & Cross-Functional Impact:
  • Collaborate with Account Management and Customer Success to optimize delivery key accounts and client satisfaction
  • Support high-stakes pitches and strategic initiatives while maintaining a NPS target of 80
• Thought Leadership:
  • Represent Appinio externally at events conferences and shape the narrative around agile AI-powered market research

You will thrive in this role if

• You have 6 years of experience in quantitative market research with strong end-to-end expertise
• You bring proven senior leadership experience successfully managing a research department with multiple teams and team leads
• You excel at process ownership prioritization and strategic execution in fast-paced scaling environments
• You have a strong commercial mindset with experience supporting sales pitching and key account growth
• You are a confident senior stakeholder manager and trusted sparring partner for C-level and executive clients
• You are an established or aspiring thought leader comfortable speaking at events and representing your organization externally
• You communicate fluently in English and are fully proficient in German (C2 level)
• You combine analytical rigor with empathy pragmatism and a hands-on leadership style

Whats in it for you

• Flexibility Policy - Our flexibility policy means there is no hard cap on the number of vacation days you can take
• Temporary work from abroad - If youre based in the EU you can work outside your country of residence for up to 180 days per year
• All the hardware you need andyour own MacBook
• If you are located in Hamburg or Berlin youll get aDeutschland ticket or access to a mobility budget with theNAVIT app to get you to and from the office space
• Subsidised Urban Sports Club or ClassPass membership based on location.
• In case youre located in one of the cities where most of our fellow Appinioneers are (Hamburg Berlin Munich London Madrid Barcelona or New York) you can get access to ourCo-working spaces

Our interview process

• Screening Call with Talent Acquisition Lead
• Case Study Interview with our VP Research and Director Research
• Stakeholder Interview with our Head of Sales DACH
• Leadership Interview with our Director People & Senior People Operations Partner
• Reference Calls
• Executive Interview with our COO