Research Director

Quantitative Research Director | Creative Data-led Agency

Location: New York, 10013

Competitive salary between: $130,000 - $150,000 (depending on experience)

Hybrid: Office based 3 days per week

About the client

We’re working with a data-led organisation who has no shortage of information — dashboards, signals, segments, metrics in abundance. But like many modern businesses, they’re grappling with a bigger challenge: how to ensure that all that data connects back to real human lives. As the world accelerates, it’s easy for people to become abstractions. Decisions get made at speed. Complexity increases. And somewhere along the way, meaning can thin out.

Their role is to help bring Human Meaning back into focus — to reconnect data with the values, identities and lived realities that shape how people actually experience the world. When meaning is clear, decisions become braver, creativity gains force, and organisations move with conviction.

We’re looking for people who want to work at that intersection — where rigour meets empathy, where intelligence meets imagination, and where impact is measured not just in numbers, but in resonance.

If you want your work to feel alive — grounded in humanity, sharp in ambition, and powerful in its effect — we’d love you to apply below.

The role

We’re hiring a Quantitative Research Director in the New York office—owning client relationships, shaping proposals, and delivering rigorous, insight-rich studies that connect numbers to the human story. You’ll be senior, hands-on, and collaborative: equally comfortable architecting methodologies as you are presenting to exec teams.

What you’ll do

• Lead quantitative vision and delivery across brand, communications, product, and culture-led work—translating business questions into smart research designs and clear recommendations.
• Own and execute end-to-end studies: scoping, proposal writing, sampling/fieldwork oversight, questionnaire design, data review, analysis, storytelling, and debriefs.
• Build and deepen client partnerships, acting as a trusted advisor.
• Bring “human-first” quant thinking to every engagement—connecting attitudes and behaviors to underlying values and emotions, not just tracking metrics.
• Develop productized and repeatable frameworks (e.g., segmentation, values mapping, brand vibes / emotional bonds) that can scale across markets.
• Partner tightly with qual and strategy to create mixed-methods approaches and ensure our work is creative, inventive, and genuinely useful inside client organizations.
• Mentor and elevate talent (analysts, researchers, and associates), building capability and quality standards.
• Contribute to growth through thought leadership, POVs, and (where relevant) conference/industry moments.

What we’re looking for

• 7+ years in quantitative market research / insights / consultancy, with leadership experience.
• Deep expertise in survey design, sampling, and quantitative methods (e.g., segmentation, MaxDiff, conjoint, drivers, brand equity, tracking; plus comfort with new/experimental approaches).
• Strong analysis literacy (SPSS/R/Python/Excel or equivalent). You don’t have to code daily, but you must be fluent in interpreting results and spotting issues fast.
• Proven ability to tell compelling stories with data—clear logic, great writing, great decks, confident facilitation.
• Commercial strength: pricing, scoping, negotiation, and account growth.
• A point of view on human insight—values, emotion, culture, and behavior—and how to quantify it without losing what makes it human.

Nice to have (But not essential)

• Mixed-methods leadership (quant + qual integration).
• Experience building tools/programs (dashboards, trackers, norms, ongoing measurement systems).
• AI research experience or perspective

Benefits

• Competitive salary between $130,000 - $150,000 depending on experience
• 25 vacation days (plus public holidays) and Summer Fridays from Memorial to Labor Day
• End-of-year bonus based on individual and team performance
• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental, reimbursement for Vision)
• IRA savings program available
• Quarterly “Values Fridays” where we take the day off and live our values in creative and diverse ways

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law.