Title: Insights Strategist
Location: West Los Angeles, CA (in office)
Comp: ~$85–100k base + bonus + equity
Contact: Lindsey Bartlett – lbartlett@smithhanley.com
Let’s be real… this is not your typical research role.
If you like running one study at a time, handing off a deck, and moving on… this isn’t it.
If you want to be in the middle of high-volume, AI-powered research, partnering directly with brands, shaping how research actually gets done and influencing the product behind it…
keep reading.
OK So what is it?
Our client is a fast-growing, AI-native research platform that’s completely rethinking how qualitative research gets done.
Think:
- AI-moderated interviews
- Automated recruitment + fielding
- Real-time synthesis
- Multiple studies running at once
Their clients?
Major consumer brands across tech, social, CPG, healthcare… the ones pushing things forward.
The Role
You’re the bridge between:
- the client
- the research
- and the product
You’re:
- advising clients on research methodology
- helping them build a learning agenda (not just one-off projects)
- pressure-testing outputs
- making sure what comes out of the platform is actually… good
In some cases, you’ll roll up your sleeves and run pieces of the research yourself.
In others, you’re guiding, refining, and elevating.
What You’ll Actually Do
- Act as a true thought partner to clients
- Guide study design, discussion guides, and research approach
- Evaluate outputs (interviews, synthesis, insights) and refine where needed
- Help clients understand what “good” looks like on the platform
- Build research roadmaps vs. one-off projects
- Work closely with Product + Engineering to improve how research is built into the platform
- Identify patterns across clients and turn them into scalable best practices
Who This Is Perfect For
Someone who:
- has 2–4ish years in research (agency or brand)
- has actually run qual (and ideally some quant)
- is comfortable being both hands-on and client-facing
- likes moving fast and figuring things out
- wants to get closer to how research tools are built, not just used
A Few Things to Know
- Preference for being in-office in West LA
- Team is high ownership, low ego, very scrappy
- Hours are flexible adults treated like adults
- Equity is part of the package (and yes, they’ll explain it if it’s new to you)
Why People Make This Move
Because they’re:
- bored of slow timelines
- tired of rinse-and-repeat research
- curious about AI but want something real (not buzzwords)
- looking to have actual impact on how research evolves
