Sports Research Manager

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

This position reports to the Vice President of Sports & Entertainment Research and will play a key role in gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data from various platforms (e.g., TV, streaming, social media, podcasts) to provide actionable insights that drive business decisions and enhance content strategies across our Sports businesses. The ideal candidate for this role is someone who loves tackling tough questions, pays close attention to emerging industry trends, and embraces new challenges.

Our team is responsible for building connections between Versant and its diverse audiences across all platforms, using our expertise in how generational and life-stage segments engage with sports media. We focus on research, insights, data analysis, and performance metrics that help internal clients better understand target audiences, engagement patterns, consumer behavior, and cultural trends.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Lead efforts in analysis of cross-platform interactions between linear TV, streaming, and social media to assess their impact on potential outcomes for Versant’s cable network brands
• Assist in all aspects of quantitative analysis across Versant’s Sports portfolio, including USA Sports, CNBC Sport & Fandango
• Leverage various data sources (i.e., Nielsen, Comscore, Adobe) and collaborate with various teams to generate cross-platform insights for content across linear and streaming
• Produce impactful cross platform reports around key sports properties in Versants growing Sports Portfolio
• Deliver strategic insights and actionable recommendations through written memos, PowerPoint presentations, dashboards, and automated reporting solutions for recurring and ad hoc requests across the portfolio.
• Track and measure content performance (viewership, reach, engagement, conversions, etc.) across different platforms, generating key metrics and reports to evaluate content effectiveness.
• Present findings and recommendations to senior leadership and key stakeholders, ensuring data-driven decisions are made to optimize content and brand strategy.
• Provide support in forecasting Sports programming viewership during key estimate cycles across linear and streaming platforms
• Use tools like Tableau to automate reports and communicate KPIs to stakeholders.
• Stay up to date on media and research industry news, trends and best practices

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of Media research experience at a broadcast or cable network, streaming service, agency, or vendor
• 4-year bachelor’s degree or higher
• Experience utilizing and understanding Digital Platform data & tools (i.e., Adobe Analytics, Comscore, Looker, Sprout Social)
• Expertise working with Nielsen Tools (i.e., tracking, Reach & Frequency, Duplication, Segmentation)
• Experience working with large data sets and visualization tools a plus (i.e., Tableau, Domo)
• Proficiency in analytics tools and programming languages (e.g., SQL, Python, R) for data analysis and reporting
• Strong quantitative skills, including both analytical abilities as well as math proficiency
• Ability to identify, distill, and articulate clear and actionable brand stories, insights and recommendations from a variety of data points and sources
• Passion for the sports & entertainment media business and deep knowledge of the competitive media landscape
• Must be well versed in Microsoft Office applications with significant experience working with Excel and PowerPoint

Other desirable skills:

• Ability to handle multiple assignments and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Attention to detail, accuracy, and strong problem-solving abilities are crucial
• Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written
• Proficiency in SQL for data analysis and reporting and expertise in data visualization tools such as Tableau to create interactive dashboards and reports.
• Willingness to learn new and emerging measurement sources (i.e., iSpot, TVision, VideoAmp)

Additional Information:

• Hybrid: This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from the office a minimum of three days per week. Subject to change based on business need. This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks.
• Salary information: $110,000 - $130,000 (bonus eligible)

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.