Director, Market Research

Director, Market Research

Working for Equity Residential (EQR), a leading multi-family real estate investment trust (REIT), means being part of a community and striving to provide the best in apartment living, speaking boldly about new ideas for innovation, and inspiring creativity in the ways we work together. Our portfolio of high-quality properties in urban growth markets – New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles – provides homes where people most want to live, work and play. We've got the best people in the business, and our experience shows in our dedication to our residents and in how much we value each other as colleagues. That’s why our employees say they are proud to work at Equity, a company that gives our residents a place where they can Live Remarkably, and offers a culture where our employees have the opportunity to make their mark.

As a Director of Market Research, you will be responsible for providing thought leadership to support the needs of Equity’s senior executives, investments group, and other stakeholders as appropriate. Your responsibilities will include the oversight of the production and reporting of supply and demand data, performing primary research and synthesizing secondary research sources on topics including global and local economic, demographic and customer trends. Additionally, you will perform site analysis and visit Equity markets to understand both the underlying fundamentals in each market and gauge research needs and opportunities. The Director of Market Research will be called upon to deliver a market research perspective on Equity’s markets at both internal meetings and industry conferences. Each day will be unique, requiring an ability to think strategically and on your feet, be creative, take initiative, and employ a diverse set of skills. 

WHO YOU ARE

• Knowledgeable and Analytical. Without a doubt, you’ve got strong quantitative skills and are comfortable analyzing large data sets, spotting trends and patterns, and synthesizing relevant observations. You use a hypothesis-driven approach to engage in analysis that will deliver on your client questions. You like thinking outside the box to come up with innovative points of view on new challenges, relying on your previous analytic work and experience to help guide you along the way.  

• Results and Solution-Oriented. You demonstrate an inherent sense of urgency to drive great results, while being precise in executing your work. You are facile with creating and communicating a clear project plan, tracking progress, and keeping your business partners in the loop along the way. You like thinking outside the box to come up with innovative points of view on new challenges, relying on your previous analytic work and experience to help guide you along the way. 

• Intellectually Curious. You're inherently interested in the "why" so that you can identify opportunities that represent unconventional solutions to the problems you are trying to solve.

• A Strong Communicator. Your writing and speaking skills are concise, articulate, and effective, providing an ability to interact with all levels/various teams across the organization, be understood, and develop trust and rapport within the organization.

• Technologically Savvy. Microsoft Excel is a basic tool to you that you know like the back of your hand.  You also have a strong skill set in analytic software such as Essbase, SQL, and Oracle BI or SPSS.

• A Trusted Team Player. You enjoy partnering with others and build constructive working relationships that foster the collaboration necessary to deliver great results. You are accountable to your teammates and follow through on commitments.

• Organized and Confident. You are flexible, composed, and able to prioritize multiple tasks and deadlines simultaneously, while confidently interacting with a variety of individuals, across all levels of the organization. You handle pressure well and do so with confidence. 

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Proactively understand and respond to the specific research and data needs of Equity stakeholders utilizing a variety of research tools and skills. Sources include internal data, internal research, as well as external research products. Ability to utilize as well as create GIS and other location based data is essential.

• Directly supervise, lead, and manage an analytical resource as well as collaborate with other internal analytical resources.

• Lead the management of the quarterly supply and demand data for Equity’s core markets, which is collected from local Equity teams as well as third party data sources. 

• Engage in customer research to help understand trends, underlying needs and preferences of existing and potential residents. Utilize a hypothesis driven approach and both quantitative and qualitative primary research methods to develop soundly reasoned conclusions. Tolerance for ambiguity will be required.

• Form opinions when faced with ambiguity and work collaboratively with team members when making investment decisions.

• Critically evaluate research questions, formulating hypotheses and workplans (data sources, timing, resources, collaborators, output etc).

• Undertake a variety of research projects, including market/submarket economic analysis, real estate supply and demand analysis, international market research, industry research and competitive intelligence.

• Prepare narratives, briefs and more formal reports that concisely communicate most relevant findings and conclusions in a timely manner, while providing transparency into the methods used. Perform critical self reviews of work with exceptional attention to detail (content, logic and presentation/communication quality) before delivering completed research. Fully accountable for effectively managing workflow and produces intended (and agreed upon) results on time and on budget. 

• Maintain regular, responsive and timely communications with internal clients, listening carefully to needs, probing with relevant and creative questions, and demonstrating the ability to provide an intellectual counterparty in a constructive manner. 

• Strive for excellent performance and seek performance feedback frequently and openly with all stakeholders.

• Present material in a structured, high candor and transparent manner with limited jargon.

• Maintain online/intranet research library to support ongoing needs of teams.

• Maintain relationships with appropriate third party market research firms, constantly evaluating quality of third party research providers and recommending changes where appropriate.

• Prepare and manage annual budget for third party market research expenses and travel.

• Quickly learn and integrate new tools and data sources as needed.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS

• A Bachelor's degree is required for this position, with a Masters degree preferred. 

• At least 7 years of research experience / strong analytical background is necessary. 

• 1+ years prior management experience is required.

• GIS experience is a must, experience with Esri is a significant plus, but not required. 

• Ability to source, clean and manipulate large data sets in analytic and GIS software such as Excel, Essbase, SQL, Oracle BI or Esri ArcGIS. Ability to quickly learn to source data from EQR systems such as MRI, LRO, BI, Oracle BI, Essbase, etc.

• Industry experience in real estate, retail, transportation is a plus, as well as geospatial analytics and/or consulting. Solid understanding of economic, financial, and general business concepts and terminology is required.

• Strong people skills with both a client and team-orientation.

• Demonstrated strong communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as listening.  Must have experience probing for needs, providing an intellectual counterparty in a constructive manner, and communicating technical content in a concise and easy to understand way. Must be articulate and have experience in presenting information and findings.

• Excellent problem-solving and quantitative skills, including the ability to disaggregate issues, identify root causes, and recommend plausible solutions.

• Ability to utilize, create, and analyze GIS and other location-based data and analysis, a plus.

• Tolerance for ambiguity required.

• Must be available for overnight travel (approximately 10%) to any of Equity’s major core markets, as required.

REWARDS

We recognize that everyone has different needs outside of work. That’s why, in addition to a competitive benefits package (medical, dental, vision and paid time off), we offer many unique benefits options to employees, like pet insurance and paid time off for community service projects. To learn more, view our Total Wellbeing page .