Research Manager

About the Role

The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism is a cabinet agency responsible for operating and managing South Carolina's state parks, marketing the state as a preferred vacation destination, and assisting communities in developing recreation assets.

Responsibilities

• Execute the agency's economic impact analyses related to parks, recreation, and tourism.
• Conduct the agency's marketing research program to promote South Carolina as a tourism destination.
• Plan and design ad hoc data analyses and research projects.
• Present research findings and respond to public requests for tourism-research-related information.
• Participate in agency teams as needed and provide tourism-related data and technical support to agency staff, government officials, industry partners, and the general public.
• Perform special duties as requested by the Agency Director, Chief of Staff, or Director of Recreation, Grants & Policy.
• Produce macro-economic analyses benchmarking and measuring tourism-related economic performance at state and local levels.
• Develop marketing research studies to guide SCPRT’s advertising/marketing programs and evaluate their effectiveness.
• Recommend, coordinate, and execute research activities supporting agency strategic planning, goals, and objectives.
• Promote teamwork within the program area, throughout the agency, and with external stakeholders.
• Represent the Section as an active member on agency teams assigned throughout the year.
• Supervise the Research Coordinator position.

Requirements

• Master's degree in economics, statistics, or a related field with at least four (4) years of experience in applied research related to economic development or marketing research.
• Alternatively, a bachelor's degree in economics, statistics, or a related field with at least six (6) years of experience in economic development or marketing research.
• Ability to plan and manage projects and meet deadlines.
• Ability to plan, assign, direct, and review the work of others.
• Ability to understand and carry out complex oral and written instructions.
• Ability to coordinate multiple activities simultaneously while exercising exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others.
• Ability to exercise discretion.
• Working knowledge of agency mission, policy, and procedure.

Skills

• Extensive knowledge of and experience with macro-economic modeling, preferably related to tourism.
• Considerable knowledge of inferential statistics and consumer research methods, preferably related to marketing research.
• Ability to design complex research studies.
• Knowledge of sampling and other data collection methods.
• Experience with data handling and creating complex analyses.
• Extensive experience presenting findings in written and oral formats.
• Extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
• Extensive knowledge of and experience with economic and statistical analysis software (e.g., IMPLAN, REMI, SAS, SPSS, R).
• Some experience using LLMs to conduct research.

Schedule

This position is Monday-Friday, onsite (not remote).

Actual job location: Recreational Grants & Policy.