VP, Panel Strategy & Engagement - #453205

Dr. Angus Reid is Canada’s best-known and longest-practicing pollster. He’s spent more than four decades asking people what they think and feel about top social, governance and economic issues.

The Vice President, Panel Strategy & Engagement is responsible for the strategic oversight, operational excellence, and long-term health of our proprietary market research panels. This includes leadership of panel composition and distribution, recruitment, member engagement and support, incentive strategies, and the underlying technology infrastructure—most critically, the migration to and ongoing optimization of the Rival platform.

This role ensures that our panels remain a strategic asset for the business—diverse, engaged, responsive, and aligned with the needs of researchers and clients. The VP will serve as a cross-functional leader and internal advocate for panel members, balancing operational efficiency with a strong focus on member experience and retention.

We're open to Vancouver or Toronto based applicants.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the long-term vision for panel growth, segmentation, and member lifecycle management.
• Act as a senior leader across the business, ensuring panel strategy aligns with research, product, and commercial goals.
• Serve as the internal owner and decision-maker for panel-related processes, investments, and KPIs.

Panel Health & Distribution

• Oversee the health and representativeness of the panel, ensuring demographic balance and high-quality participation.
• Monitor and manage key performance indicators including response rate, churn, and audience reach.
• Optimize panel composition and member distribution to support emerging client and project needs.

Recruitment

• Lead innovative, data-informed recruitment strategies to expand and diversify the panel, ensuring all acquisition efforts align with panel composition and client needs.
• Define panel recruitment priorities and audience targets based on evolving client needs and strategic growth opportunities.
• Ensure the recruitment, sign-up and welcome experience aligns with panel objectives and sets the foundation for long-term member engagement.

Member Engagement & Support

• Develop and evolve the member engagement strategy, with an emphasis on sustained participation, loyalty, and advocacy.
• Supervise the team responsible for panelist communications and support, ensuring service-level consistency and brand alignment.
• Champion a member-first approach throughout all touchpoints—survey invites, incentives, feedback loops, and help channels.

Technology & Platform Oversight

• Lead the successful transition of panel operations to the Rival platform, working closely with product, engineering, and operations teams.
• Own panel platform configuration and roadmap from a business perspective, ensuring usability, scalability, and data integrity.
• Evaluate and adopt tools and technologies that enhance panel experience and operational efficiency.

Incentives & Value Exchange

• Define the incentive strategy to maximize member motivation while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
• Oversee execution of rewards programs, including vendor relationships, fulfillment logistics, and reporting.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy, taxation, and reward policy regulations in all operating regions.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead a high-performing team across panel operations, recruitment, member support, incentives, and engagement strategy.
• Foster collaboration with marketing, research, product, and data teams to drive integrated initiatives.
• Develop and coach talent, setting clear goals and building capabilities aligned with the evolving panel strategy.

Success Measures:

• Healthy and responsive panels across core and growth markets
• Effective recruitment strategies driving panel growth
• Consistent engagement and retention of high-quality panelists
• Smooth and effective migration to Rival platform with minimal disruption
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and alignment on panel priorities
• Clear visibility and reporting on panel KPIs for executive stakeholders

Qualifications:

• University or College degree
• 10+ years of experience in market research panel management or operations
• Proven leadership in panel growth strategies, including recruitment, engagement, and retention
• Strong understanding of panel health metrics and member experience design to drive sustained participation and long-term panel value
• Skilled in analyzing KPIs and optimizing processes to support business goals
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally with research, marketing, and tech teams
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and team leadership abilities
• Demonstrated success managing, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams
• Strong Microsoft Office skills (Excel and PowerPoint) and quick to learn new tools and software