Lead Survey Programmer | India | Remote

THE ROLE
The Lead, Survey Programming sits within the Research Operations team and leads the Survey Programming function. This is a production-first role: most of the Lead'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 supervising and developing an additional survey programmer and driving process and platform improvements across the function.
The Lead is the technical authority on survey programming within the function, setting the standard for how surveys are built, tested, and delivered. Central to the role is deep expertise in Decipher as the primary programming environment, maintaining high technical standards across all survey work.
Beyond the team, the Lead works closely with research and project management teams to ensure programming requirements are understood, accurately scoped, and delivered on time.
The Lead stays calm under pressure, takes the initiative to solve problems rather than wait to be asked, and is a dependable, easy colleague to work with.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Survey Programming & Technical Delivery
The Lead 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 most senior technical resource on the account and set the standard for the work.
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 Decipher as the primary platform, developing deep expertise in its setup, configuration, and optimization
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 account.
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.
Sample & Fieldwork Management
Manages the sample vendor once sourced
Supervises the fieldwork phase end to end: survey launch, soft-launch checks, in-field quality monitoring, quota management, and final data delivery sign-off.
Troubleshoots in-field issues (quotas, routing, data quality, respondent experience) and liaises with the vendor to resolve them quickly.
Monitors field progress against timelines and communicates status, feasibility, and risks proactively to research and project management teams.
Maintains a strong working relationship with the sample vendor, ensuring consistent quality and on-time delivery throughout fielding.
Supervision & Production Management
Supervises one additional survey programmer, providing day-to-day direction, support, and technical guidance.
Allocates programming work between themselves and the survey programmer based on complexity and capacity, ensuring balanced workloads and on-time delivery.
Reviews the survey programmer's output for quality, accuracy, and timeliness, intervening early where standards are not being met.
Conducts regular one-on-ones, and development conversations with the survey programmer, setting clear expectations and supporting their growth.
Identifies technical skill gaps and addresses them through hands-on coaching, structured training, and knowledge-sharing.
Steps in to assist with capacity, troubleshoot technical challenges, or review work when workloads require.
Process Improvement & Strategic Contribution
Owns the programming standards, templates, and quality benchmarks for the function in Decipher, keeping them current as the business and tools evolve.
Maintains clear programming standards and conventions so work is handled consistently and efficiently across the function.
Builds and maintains a library of reusable programming templates and components in Decipher, reducing setup time and improving consistency across all projects.
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
Stays current on developments in survey scripting technology, platform capabilities, and industry best practices.
COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK
Five competencies define expected behaviours at the Lead Survey Programmer level and anchor performance review conversations.
1. Technical programming excellence
Consistently delivers complex programming work to a right-first-time standard in Decipher
Is the team's deepest technical resource: the first point of escalation and the benchmark others develop toward
2. Quality and standards ownership
Sets and enforces programming standards, templates, and quality benchmarks across the function; does not allow standards to drift
Treats accuracy and respondent experience as non-negotiable at every stage of scripting, testing, and delivery
3. Team development and capacity building
Gives clear, direct, and timely technical feedback; identifies skill gaps and addresses them through coaching and structured development
Builds the survey programmer's capability so delivery quality does not depend on the Lead's direct involvement in every project
4. Platform expertise and process improvement
Develops and maintains deep Decipher expertise and keeps programming standards and templates current as the business and tools evolve
Proactively identifies workflow inefficiencies and implements improvements without waiting to be asked
5. Stakeholder and cross-functional collaboration
Works effectively with research and project management teams; translates technical constraints into clear, solution-oriented language
Escalates appropriately to the VP: brings scoped issues with a recommended resolution, not open-ended problems
SUCCESS PROFILE
Performance indicators for this role. Quantitative thresholds to be confirmed with the VP.
Quantitative indicators
On-time programming delivery: 95% or more of projects meeting the agreed programming completion date
Right-first-time rate: surveys passing quality assurance without requiring material rework; target to be defined
Decipher utilization: all eligible projects programmed in Decipher as the primary platform
Development plan: the survey programmer has an active development plan reviewed at least quarterly
Qualitative indicators
Technical standards: programming standards and templates current, documented, and consistently applied across the function
Process improvement: structured improvement suggestions provided on a regular basis
Escalation quality: technical issues escalated to the client leader are well-scoped and accompanied by a recommended resolution

Work arrangement
Yes