Manager, Survey Programming

Dig Insights unites strategy, human understanding, and technology to help brands move decisively, in a world that won’t wait. We work with insights and marketing professionals at some of the world’s most well-loved brands, powering their brand and innovation decision-making. Dig One is our agile technology platform, used by our people and our clients, to deliver smarter and faster decisions.  

Our clients span verticals including CPG, QSR, retail, technology, financial services, and telecommunications. Our work is led by a team of over 250 strategists, insights consultants, developers, and data scientists. We work for a global client base out of offices in Toronto, Chicago, London, and Singapore. 

Since we started in 2010, we’ve been focused on setting a new standard for the insights industry – challenging the traditional model and building for what comes next. That means hiring people who are bright, creative, resourceful, and kind. People who succeed at Dig are curious, question established norms and are passionate about helping our clients to move their businesses forward. If you want to join a team that takes themselves just seriously enough to produce great work, we’d love to welcome you. 

As we continue to grow, both geographically and in our expertise, we are looking for people who want to join a high-growth and highly collaborative company. 

Manager, Survey Programming – About this role

The Manager, Survey Programming sits within the Research Operations team and leads the Survey Programming function. This is a production-first role: most of the Manager’s time is spent scripting, testing, and delivering surveys on the most complex and technically demanding work in the portfolio, with the remainder focused on leading and developing a team of programmers and driving process and platform improvements across the function.

The Manager is the technical authority on survey programming at Dig, setting the standard for how surveys are built, tested, and delivered. Central to the role is developing deep expertise in Upsiide, Dig’s proprietary insights platform and primary programming environment, while also leading programming in Decipher for projects where Upsiide is not the right fit. Dig will invest in getting the Manager up to speed on Upsiide; the expectation is the curiosity and drive to make the most of that investment.

Beyond the team, the Manager works closely with research and project management teams to ensure programming requirements are understood, accurately scoped, and delivered on time. They are solutions-oriented, proactive, and easy to work with under pressure.

Your primary responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Survey Programming & Technical Delivery

The Manager personally handles the most complex scripting work in the portfolio, including multi-market studies, advanced logic and routing, custom layouts, and technically demanding questionnaire structures. They are the team’s deepest technical resource and the standard everyone else is developing toward.

• Takes full ownership of end-to-end programming delivery on assigned projects, including:
• Reviewing questionnaire specifications and clarifying requirements with research and project management teams before scripting begins
• Programming complex online questionnaires across all stages of delivery, including survey scripting, language management, and reporting outputs
• Building, testing, and launching surveys in Upsiide as the primary platform, developing deep expertise in its setup, configuration, and optimization
• Programming in Decipher for projects where Upsiide is not the right fit, maintaining high technical standards across both environments
• Applying a right-first-time standard to all output, treating accuracy and attention to detail as non-negotiable at every stage of scripting, testing, and delivery
• Managing multiple concurrent projects, ensuring all deadlines are met and quality standards are upheld throughout
• Managing programming timelines and communicating proactively when deadlines are at risk
• Identifying opportunities to improve survey efficiency, routing logic, and respondent experience across all projects
• Serves as the primary escalation point for technical programming challenges across the team.
• Coordinates with external programming vendors when outsourcing is required, managing scope, timelines, quality standards, and delivery.
• Liaises with internal research and project management teams to ensure programming requirements are clearly defined, feasible, and delivered on schedule.
• Works collaboratively with Project Managers to deliver projects that meet client needs within prescribed timeframes.

Team Leadership & Production Management

• Leads a team of 3 or more survey programmers, providing day-to-day direction, support, and technical guidance.
• Assigns incoming programming work across the team based on complexity, capacity, and individual development goals, ensuring balanced workloads at all times.
• Monitors team output for quality, accuracy, and timeliness, reviewing work and intervening early where standards are not being met.
• Conducts regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and development conversations, setting clear expectations and actively supporting each team member’s growth.
• Identifies technical skill gaps within the team and addresses them through hands-on coaching, structured training, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Actively supports fellow programmers when workloads require, stepping in to assist with capacity, troubleshoot technical challenges, or review work as needed.
• Contributes to technical assessment in the hiring process and supports the onboarding of new programmers.
• Keeps the VP, Business Systems and Operations informed on team capacity, tooling needs, and delivery priorities.

Process Improvement & Strategic Contribution

• Owns the programming standards, templates, and quality benchmarks for the team across both Upsiide and Decipher, keeping them current as the business and platforms evolve.
• Develops and maintains a triage framework for routing projects between Upsiide and Decipher, ensuring the right platform is applied consistently and efficiently across the team.
• Builds and maintains a library of reusable programming templates and components within Upsiide, reducing setup time and improving consistency across all projects.
• Documents functionality gaps and limitations encountered in Upsiide, providing structured feedback that directly informs the platform’s product roadmap and development priorities.
• Proactively identifies and implements workflow improvements, bringing a continuous improvement mindset to every process the team touches.
• Contributes to broader Research Operations improvement initiatives, particularly where survey programming intersects with project management, data processing, or platform development.
• Stays current on developments in survey scripting technology, platform capabilities, and industry best practices.

Experience, Skills and Requirements

• 7 or more years of experience in the market research industry.
• 5 or more years of hands-on Decipher survey programming experience is required.
• 3 or more years of people management experience, with a track record of leading and developing a programming team.
• Experience leading and managing remote or distributed teams effectively is required.
• Solid understanding of quantitative research methodology, questionnaire design principles, and respondent experience best practices.
• Experience programming complex survey designs including advanced routing logic, quotas, conjoint, MaxDiff, and other specialized methodologies.
• Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or Python as applied to survey customization and front-end respondent experience is a strong asset.
• Post-secondary education in a relevant field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong English communication skills, both written and oral, with the ability to translate technical requirements into clear guidance for research and operations teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities across multiple concurrent projects while maintaining accuracy and meeting tight deadlines.
• Comfortable working both independently and collaboratively within a cross-functional team environment.

Work Perks:

• A hybrid-remote work environment, where employees have the flexibility to work remotely or from one of our offices
• Unlimited vacation policy
• Reimbursement for health and wellness classes/memberships and continuous learning
• RRSP / 401K employer matching program
• Offices in Toronto and Chicago, located steps to public transportation in the downtown core
• Regular social events such as charity poker nights, trivia events, team building days, and more!

To find out more about us visit us at www.diginsights.com & www.upsiide.com

Our culture is built on 5 core values: Energy, Excellence, Evolution, Equality and Empathy. We believe that our success is dependent on the diverse talents, skills, and ideas of its staff. We are committed to creating an inclusive work environment and encourage applications from all qualified candidates including those in the BIPOC and LGBTQ communities, and from people with disabilities.

We thank you for your interest in Dig Insights, however, only candidates who are chosen for an interview will be contacted.