Research Manager

Departmental Summary: ESPN Research is recognized as the industry leader for providing fast, accurate and insightful sports data and information and delivers information to all U.S. platforms in English. Supporting event broadcasts, studio programming and digital offerings are content priorities; development is a people priority.

Position Summary: The Research Manager serves as a front-line leader of editorial and operational efforts in production, oversees direct reports, coordinates coverage by sport and collaborates with leaders across platforms. The Manager represents and helps cultivate Research’s daily and long-term engagement with other groups across ESPN and advocates for content ideas and executions. The Manager is a daily, consistent link to groups that rely on or support Research's content generation - studio and event production, digital and others – to build strategic relationships that drive support of the best storylines.

Managers lead the daily determination of production priorities and the most efficient means to accomplish them to best serve fans and internal clients. Managers will lead and/or execute various content, personnel, and project initiatives, such as long-term strategic planning, sports content teams, staff hiring and business-related projects.

Research encompasses staff that produce the BottomLine for eight English-language networks in the United States. Research is responsible for providing perspective and context around sporting events and storylines, including historical context and statistical analysis. Managers work closely with an array of leaders in event and studio production on projects, cross-platform integration and overall research coverage across the company.

Growing and developing people is an important aspect of this role.  Managers must be committed to investing the time and care to coach our staff, developing them as successful professionals for one of the world’s largest sports media companies. We believe that consistent support, direct feedback and holding people accountable are foundational to our success.

Ideal candidates will possess the following traits:

• Sports subject-matter expertise, including a good understanding of advanced metrics and their usage in storytelling, for the sports that are most important to ESPN’s U.S. coverage.
• Strong news judgment and the ability to plan, review, and evaluate content generation
• The ability to proactively communicate clear priorities to staffers and partners in a newsroom environment
• Strong people management skills and a demonstrated ability to hold staff accountable to high standards
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• A strategic mindset that balances short- and long-term impact

Responsibilities:

• This position is based in Bristol, Connecticut; is categorized as on site on the ESPN campus and requires full availability – which WILL include day, night, weekend and holiday shifts.
• Work 2-3 shifts per week as the leader of Research production. This includes: Broad content oversight; reacting to breaking news and events, pushing top-notch content to producers, providing instant feedback to Researchers, assigning project work. Production lead shifts also include oversight of all staff on shift in all locations. Adjustments for breaking news and programming changes frequently are required to ensure all shifts are staffed properly.
• Lead and develop our team. Solicit and give timely feedback, meeting biweekly with each report. Write and deliver performance reviews.
• Play an active role in the department’s interviewing, hiring and training process.
• Assign and review project work and previews in general and specific to sports areas of oversight.
• Identify opportunities to integrate Research content with existing and emerging ESPN platforms and coverage areas.
• Oversee the process of translating statistics and information into content and questions for use by on-air talent and commentators. This includes but is not limited to developing full-screen and custom video storytelling concepts that enhance ESPN's reputation as a leader in statistical analysis (often incorporating advanced statistics and analytics).
• Help oversee the development and maintenance of resources such as the schedule, stylebook, pronunciation guides, research tools and databases.
• Work with partners across the company to design new graphics and visualizations to better display the department's information.

Qualifications:

• 6+ years’ experience in business or media
• 3+ years’ experience in a content-focused role
• 1+ years’ experience managing people and/or projects including oversight of direct reports
• Experience leading and/or coaching people.
• Deep and broad sports knowledge. Must have expert-level recall of current and historical sports statistics, news, events, and milestones.
• Demonstrated commitment to achieving our goal of 100 percent accuracy
• A proven record of success in respecting and maintaining appropriate levels of confidentiality
• Full availability for this position, which will include nights, weekends and holidays

Preferred Qualifications:

• 4+ years’ experience working with statistics, covering sports or analyzing sports events, news and issues in a professional setting
• Experience in sports news production
• Experience managing a combination of staff, contract, and/or freelance contributors to form a cohesive unit
• Experience working with technology
• Strong people management skills and a demonstrated ability to hold staff accountable to stringent standards
• A thorough knowledge of television production usage of data in on-air and research applications

Required Education:

High School diploma or equivalent

Preferred Education:

College degree or equivalent

Additional Information: (i.e. physical requirements, holiday, nights, weekend shifts, etc.)

Research at ESPN is 24/7, and the role is On Site (shifts are worked in person on campus). Position shift times include early mornings and late nights – and everything in between – as well as shifts on weekends and holidays. This is a constant throughout one’s career in ESPN Content.

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