Manager - Data Research

About the Role:

At ZoomInfo we encourage creativity, value innovation, demand teamwork, expect accountability and cherish results. If you are collaborative, take initiative, and get stuff done we want to talk to you! We have high aspirations for the company and are looking for the right people to help fulfil the dream. We strive to continually improve every aspect of the company and use cutting-edge technologies and processes to delight our customers and rapidly increase revenue. 

The Manager, Data Research will lead a team of research analysts responsible for a variety of data collection, data quality, and model training initiatives. The manager will work closely with cross-functional teams — including Engineering, Data Science, and Product — to drive initiatives that directly impact the quality and integrity of data across the ZoomInfo platform. This position will report directly to the Director, Data Research.

This is a high-visibility role within an exciting area of the business, offering the opportunity to gain deep domain expertise across data research, AI-driven automation, and large language model (LLM) applications in a real-world data environment.

What You'll Do:

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of research analysts focused on company and contact data quality initiatives
• Drive and track efficiency improvements through process optimization, automation, and AI/LLM-powered workflows
• Identify and implement opportunities to leverage AI and large language models (LLMs) to automate research tasks, improve data accuracy, and scale team output
• Collaborate with Data Science and Engineering teams to contribute to model training initiatives, providing high-quality labeled data and structured feedback loops
• Manage project lifecycle from scoping through execution, ensuring timely delivery and measurable outcomes
• Diagnose and report on data quality issues, conducting root cause analyses and driving remediation at scale
• Define, track, and report on team KPIs and efficiency metrics
• Create and maintain technical documentation, process guides, and standard operating procedures
• Partner with analytics and engineering teams to drive process and data improvements
• Assist in evaluating and integrating emerging AI tools and agent-based workflows into day-to-day research operations

What You Bring:

• Minimum 12 + years of overall experience in data research, data operations, or a related field
• 1–2+ years of people management or team leadership experience
• Demonstrated hands-on experience working with AI/LLM use cases — including prompt engineering, AI agent development, LLM-assisted data workflows, or model training data preparation
• Familiarity with tools such as ChatGPT, ZI Chat, or similar AI platforms applied in an operational or research context
• Experience working with large datasets and strong attention to data quality and accuracy
• Proficiency in SQL; experience with Snowflake or BigQuery is a plus
• Experience defining and tracking KPIs and operational metrics
• Strong cross-cultural communication skills and ability to work across distributed, global teams
• Self-motivated, innovative, and comfortable moving between strategy, coaching, and hands-on execution
• Experience researching company and contact data (e.g., employee count, industry, titles, emails, funding, etc.)
• Available to work hours partially overlapping with PST business hours

Nice to Have:

• Experience building or deploying AI agents for operational workflows
• Background in data labeling, annotation, or model feedback for ML/AI systems
• Familiarity with data platforms such as Snowflake, BigQuery, or CERA