Founding Director of Survey Research and Public Opinion

The opportunity

The American University of Iraq – Baghdad (AUIB) seeks an accomplished research leader to establish and direct a new survey research hub. The hub will provide credible public opinion research, market and social research, and applied studies for public institutions, businesses, development organizations, and academic partners.

Our ambition is to build a nationally trusted Iraqi institution whose findings support better decisions and informed public discussion. The Founding Director will translate that ambition into a functioning research organization, combining rigorous methods and reliable field operations with a sustainable portfolio of commissioned research and recurring public interest studies.

Role purpose

The Director will lead the hub’s strategy, research standards, operations, partnerships, and financial performance. This is a hands-on founding role requiring both technical authority and the ability to recruit a team, develop clients, deliver studies, and protect the independence and integrity of the research.

Key responsibilities

• Establish the hub. Develop and implement a phased launch

plan covering services, staffing, technology, governance, budgets, and revenue. Build a capable core team and a supervised network of field researchers across Iraq.

• Lead research design. Oversee sampling, questionnaire

development, translation and testing, data collection, weighting, analysis, and reporting. Select appropriate face-to-face, telephone, online, or mixed methods and clearly explain coverage, uncertainty, and limitations.

• Ensure reliable fieldwork. Establish interviewer

training, pilot testing, supervision, back-checks, and data validation. Implement controls to detect fabricated interviews, duplicate responses, and other quality problems, with documented corrective action.

• Protect research integrity. Maintain political

impartiality and methodological independence. Establish clear rules for client influence, conflicts of interest, publication, and disclosure of methods. Resist pressure to alter or selectively present findings.

• Safeguard participants and data. Establish informed

consent, confidentiality, secure data access and retention, and procedures for sensitive research. Coordinate ethics review with
AUIB’s relevant review processes and manage risks to participants and field teams.

• Build a sustainable research business. Develop client

relationships, proposals, project budgets, and contracts. Set realistic delivery commitments, manage costs and resources, and build repeat business while preserving research quality and independence.

• Develop signature research. Create a feasible program of

recurring surveys on issues relevant to Iraq. Build comparable evidence over time and publish accessible findings with transparent methodological documentation.

• Build partnerships and talent. Develop relationships

with respected research organizations and academic institutions.
Engage AUIB faculty and provide supervised research and training opportunities for students and emerging Iraqi researchers.

• Communicate findings. Produce clear reports,

presentations, and public briefings. Serve as a credible spokesperson who distinguishes evidence from interpretation and explains findings without overstating conclusions.

Required qualifications and experience

• A master’s degree or higher in survey methodology, statistics,

quantitative social science, economics, public policy, or a closely related discipline, with substantial applied survey research experience.

• At least 10 years of relevant research experience, including at

least five years leading research teams, major survey programs, or research operations.

• A demonstrated record of delivering large, geographically

dispersed surveys, with direct responsibility for methodological quality and fieldwork performance.

• Strong practical command of sampling, questionnaire design,

weighting, statistical analysis, and interpretation, including proficiency with software such as R, Stata, SPSS, or equivalent tools.

• Experience managing staff, project budgets, proposals, and

client relationships, with evidence of securing and successfully delivering commissioned research.

• Ability to design research that accounts for Iraq’s regional,

linguistic, cultural, and social differences, supported by experience in Iraq or comparable complex environments.

• Demonstrated integrity, sound judgment, political impartiality,

and the ability to defend research standards under pressure.

• Excellent written and spoken English, with the ability to

communicate technical findings to nontechnical audiences.

• Willingness to be based in Baghdad and travel within Iraq as

required, subject to university travel and security arrangements.

Preferred qualifications

• A doctorate in a relevant discipline.
• Leadership experience in a respected polling organization,

survey research institute, or applied research firm, including experience establishing or expanding a research operation.

• Arabic proficiency and direct experience conducting research in

Iraq; Kurdish language capability is an additional advantage.

• Experience developing recurring national surveys, working with

international research partners, and building local research capacity.

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