Who we’re looking for… 

Role: Senior Research Director

Team: Research

Reports To: Head of Research

Location: Remote or Hybrid, USA

We have a remote working policy, so we are looking for teammates anywhere in the US! However, we do have pods in NYC, Austin, Chicago, and D.C., where we would love for you to work any time you’d like. Our standard operating hours are Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm EST.

Supervisory Responsibility: This role will have 3-4 direct reports and oversee the team of Research Directors and Research Managers, which is currently ~7 total employees and contractors.

Travel: This role will occasionally be expected to travel for ad hoc in-person customer requests, in-person internal working sessions, and our once per year US All Team Summit. 

A little about us… 

Knit is the The Researcher-Driven AI Platform helping researchers run agency-quality quant + qual research at DIY costs & speed. Through Knit, brands like NASCAR, JBL, and Mars automate their consumer research process to get a quicker and more holistic understanding of their audiences.

Overview

The purpose of the Senior Research Director role is to lead the research team to ensure Knit customers successfully achieve their desired research outcomes through their partnerships with Knit. By overseeing the team that owns customer relationships, the Senior Research Director is responsible for ensuring that the team gets deeply engrained in customer research needs, and drives high-quality project deliverables. The Senior Research Director’s impact is ultimately measured by high customer retention and strong expansion. The Senior Research Director will retain individual responsibility for a small number of high-profile accounts. 

Business Impact | What you will own… 

The research function is a primary contributor to Knit’s shared business objectives of customer retention and expansion, ultimately measured by Net Revenue Retention (NRR) in addition to supporting successful Pilot to Subscription Conversions for acquiring new business.

The levers the Research Director role owns to influence these key business objectives are: 

• Research Team Management → shaping and organizing the research and operating processes to get the best out of the team. Effectively managing performance, motivating the team, and leading by example with hands-on exemplary client servicing.    
• Research Success → Ensuring Knit Customers successfully achieve their desired research outcomes through their projects with Knit, measured by successfully achieving Research Objectives and delivering on Knit’s Quality & Speed service-level agreements (SLA’s)

Primary responsibilities of this role:

• Serving as the person ultimately accountable for research project success across the entire team, and for select accounts being the dedicated research lead for customers’ projects 
• Successful & effective people management of the research team, ensuring they are successfully fulfilling their role’s responsibilities and growing in impact (People Management at Knit includes driving performance, driving clarity and accountability, hiring, onboarding, upskilling competencies, performance management, conflict resolution, and morale building.)
• Driving Knit’s in-depth project scoping process to uncover a deep understanding of research objectives and project context to set up project success 
• Being a strategic problem solver and research subject matter expert for the team in moments of escalation
• Driving as a solutions architect for our highest potential prospects and customers, working with Sales to educate them on Knit’s research capabilities, consulting with them to adjust for fringe requirements, and proposing solutions to maximize project success 
• Participating in continuous innovation on Knit’s AI product to minimize the delta between Knit’s AI output and a human researcher output

Required Skills & Experiences

• Must have 10+ years of market research experience, including at least 5 years of team management experience, with the majority of the time spent on the supplier side in a market research agency environment. 
• Must have experience leading discovery and scoping calls, writing and editing quant and qual questionnaires from scratch, drafting analysis plans, and creating and presenting stakeholder-ready insights topline & reports. 
• Ability to drive initiatives and outcomes in ambiguous environments, both for navigating complex customer needs and Knit internal business changes. Proven track record successfully operating in an early stage startup (<50 employees) is a plus. 
• Proven track record of owning client relationships with customers at Enterprise, Fortune 500 US-based companies, specifically working with insights professionals to scope and achieve desired research outcomes, resulting in customer retention and growth.
• Ability to drive initiatives and outcomes successfully in environments with competing priorities, multiple research projects on at a given time, and simultaneous internal business demands.
• Effective People Manager both cross-functionally and at the team level - specifically in driving clarity and accountability, hiring, onboarding, performance management, conflict resolution, and morale building.

Benefits

Upon joining the Knit team, you will receive a competitive salary, Equity Options, Healthcare (medical, dental, and vision), and Additional Coverage, a company laptop and one-time, onboarding Technology Stipend, a 401(k) with company match, flexible time-off, hybrid working, and more!