Who We Are

Escalent is an award-winning data analytics and advisory firm that helps clients understand human and market behaviors to navigate disruption. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, our strategies guide the world’s leading brands. We accelerate growth by creating a seamless flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data, providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. Based on a profound understanding of what drives human beings and markets, we identify actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences, inspire product innovation and boost business productivity. We listen, learn, question, discover, innovate, and deliver—for each other and our clients—to make the world work better for people.

Role Overview: VP, Qualitative - Health & Life Sciences team (HLS)
This role is designed for a proactive and strategic leader who is ready to evolve from functional management into senior leadership. Reporting directly to the EVP/Managing Director of HLS, the VP, Qualitative will lead the HLS Qualitative team, be responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of the Qualitative offering, while also serving as a hands-on Delivery Lead. Importantly, the role will include leadership-level decision making, requiring the successful candidate to think about how to best optimize delivery, how to position ourselves for growth, and how best to enhance our offerings.

This position will be eligible for the Management Incentive Plan (MIP) variable compensation to incentivize achievement in delivering the financial goals of the entire business. The Management Incentive Plan is based on business unit / market performance as a % of EBITDA. There is a curve applied for under over achievement with payout starting at 85% of EBITDA and no cap on how far we can exceed.

Leaders will have visibility into the P&L for the entire HLS business, including how sales and people costs are driving profitability. This role directly impacts bottom line performance, and the holder will be expected to think like an owner. This means keeping a close eye on project costs, pushing harder on price, scrutinizing investments through the lens of return on investment (ROI), looking for efficiencies and working to improve customer loyalty. At times, this may mean the role will include difficult decision making on business trade-offs and challenging conversations with colleagues.

A solution orientation is critical to this role. The successful candidate will be expected to present recommendations to problems. Recommendations will be expected to balance professional development of colleagues, growth of client relationships, and profitability of the business.

This role will involve 25% - 30% travel. This will mostly be domestic but could include travel over the weekends or internationally.

The Salary Range for this position is $160,000 - $185,000. If this is not the right range for you, please check out our other openings. This position is US-based and can be 100% remote.

Core Responsibilities:

• Lead the entire HLS Qualitative delivery function with a strategic and enterprise-wide mindset.
• Serve as the Delivery Lead, ensuring consistent, high-quality execution across all client engagements.
• Inspire the team to perform in such a way that makes Escalent group attractive to clients, garnering project renewals / expansions and helping us grow our revenue. Serve as an example to team members that ‘everyone plays a role in business development’.
• Ensure team members adapt working styles to quickly evolving scenarios at our clients.
• Develop and mentor team members, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Structure the qualitative team for optimal delivery and efficiency, create efficient solutions to track and execute resourcing / staffing, and maximize billable time of team members through creative staffing arrangements.
• Identify and resolve project and/or team challenges, implementing scalable solutions that drive team/business performance.
• Maintain a strong client presence, dedicating no less than 40% of time to direct client work.
• Create and encourage the team to create new and innovative solutions that differentiate Escalent.
• Partner with the BD team on how to best communicate our team skills and experience to clients.
• Operate with a company-wide lens, balancing functional excellence with strategic priorities and cross-functional collaboration.
• Foster a culture of partnership with other functions (e.g., quantitative, secondary, communities) that provide a seamless experience to clients.
• Collaborate closely with the EVP to align delivery strategies with the sector and overall business objectives such as revenue, profitability, and net revenue targets.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent professional experience.
• Demonstrated success in leading delivery teams and solving complex project challenges.
• Strong client-facing skills with a hands-on approach to service delivery.
• Proven ability to operate at both tactical and strategic levels.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and leadership skills.
• Experience working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with shifting priorities.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience in a senior delivery or strategic leadership role.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership to drive business outcomes.
• Track record of elevating team performance and enhancing client satisfaction.
• Demonstration of solution design/development with an innovation-first mindset to support AI-enabled transformation efforts

Compensation, Benefits, and Culture

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - Large carriers on a national level (domestic partner coverage included)
• 401k with Company Match – No vesting period; bi-weekly contributions
• Flexible PTO - Feel no guilt in taking off a minimum of 3 weeks of “real” vacation time
• Paid Parental Leave
• 12 Paid Company Holidays
• Hybrid/Virtual Work - Virtual-first workforce with employees in most states
• Salary Range for this position is $160,000 - $185,000 plus Management Incentive Plan (MIP)

Explore our Careers and Culture page to learn more about the people behind the brand: https://escalent.co/careers-and-culture/

Equal Opportunity Employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or other legally protected status.

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