Senior Manager - Customer Research and Business Operations

Senior Manager, Customer Research and Business Operations

Who are we?

Help us challenge assumptions, uncover bias, and remove barriers—because progress starts with fresh ideas. You’ll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you—because when you feel valued, you’re empowered to do your best work.

Job Summary

Owns and delivers high‑impact market intelligence and primary market research that informs senior leadership decision‑making across commercial, product, and go‑to‑market priorities. Manages senior stakeholder relationships, drives insight‑based influence, monitors impact metrics, and fosters a culture of analytical rigor, collaboration, and evidence‑based decision making as a senior individual contributor.

Responsibilities

Stakeholder Management

• Responsible for driving and influencing senior leadership decision‑making through customer, market, and competitive insights

• Effectively identifies and engages appropriate stakeholders across the organization

• Builds and maintains strong working relationships and partnerships with senior and cross‑functional stakeholders

• Structures ambiguous business questions into clear research objectives and decision frameworks

• Navigates and resolves stakeholder misalignment by grounding discussions in data, customer evidence, and business impact

• Sets and manages stakeholder expectations related to insight scope, timelines, and outcomes

• Ensures transparent, concise, and executive‑ready communication of findings and recommendations

Management Reporting & Decision Support

• Participates in monthly and quarterly business reviews, providing insight‑driven assessments and recommendations

• Defines and executes against operational and impact KPIs for market intelligence and research initiatives

• Reviews performance, identifies gaps or opportunities, and makes data‑backed recommendations to leadership

• Synthesizes insights into clear executive narratives, decision briefs, and implications

Resource and Budget Management

• Manages project‑level research budgets and spend tracking

• Requests approvals for research expenses outside of approved budgets, as needed

• Communicates budget estimates for cross‑functional research initiatives and ensures delivery within approved budgets

• Provides input into annual planning related to research investments, tools, and vendor strategy

Market Intelligence & Primary Research Execution

• Leads end‑to‑end primary market research and market intelligence initiatives aligned to business priorities

• Designs and executes qualitative and quantitative B2B customer research

• Synthesizes insights across multiple sources including customer research, competitive intelligence, industry trends, and internal data

• Translates research findings into clear business implications and recommended actions

• Ensures insights are explicitly tied to measurable business outcomes

Process / Policies / Standards

• Defines and applies best practices, processes, and standards for market intelligence and primary research

• Ensures consistency, quality, and repeatability of insight generation across initiatives

• Measures performance against process and quality goals

• Proactively identifies and drives continuous improvement opportunities in insight workflows and delivery

Roadmap / Planning

• Supports strategic planning by providing customer and market inputs that inform prioritization decisions

• Develops and maintains a roadmap of insight initiatives aligned to business priorities

• Influences sequencing and prioritization by articulating customer impact, trade‑offs, and risks

Review / Approvals / Escalations / Issue Resolution

• Identifies and prioritizes high‑impact or high‑risk insight gaps or execution issues

• Conducts structured analysis and root‑cause assessments where appropriate

• Escalates issues with clear context, implications, and recommended options for leadership

• Supports leadership review cycles with data‑driven inputs and recommendations

Vendor Management

• Manages external research vendors and consulting partners on a project basis

• Understands vendor capabilities and roadmaps; manages relationships, feedback, and escalations

• Reviews and proposes vendor selections aligned to business needs

• Holds vendors accountable for quality, timelines, and deliverables

• Integrates external research outputs into internal insight narratives and decision frameworks

Qualifications

• 10+ years of supplier and client-side experience in tech preferred across B2B market intelligence, primary market research studies

• Proven experience engaging with and influencing senior leadership and executive stakeholders

• Strong ability to structure ambiguous problems and translate data into clear business recommendations

• Experience managing external research vendors or consulting partners

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including executive‑level storytelling

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred

Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability.  If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.

Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law. 

We use artificial intelligence in our hiring process. Learn more here.

This posting is for a backfill position, meaning it is to fill an existing vacancy within our organization.

Experience Level

Senior Level