Posted July 22, 2025

Qualitative Insights Know-It-All

Smarty Pants  | US

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This is a client-facing, doer-leader role dedicated to the execution and management of in-person and remote primary qualitative research projects and mentorship of junior colleagues who support those initiatives.

Research Project-Based

• Lead small- to mid-scale custom research projects with a high degree of autonomy:
  • Design research plans based on client needs
  • Oversee creation of project workflow plans, timelines, research assets, etc.
  • Draft project pricing estimates and monitor to ensure project profitability
  • Develop (or ensure the development of) various project documents (screeners, respondent grids, discussion guides, etc.)
  • Personally moderate in-person and virtual focus groups, communities, ethnographies, IDI’s, etc., across different age segments, including kids and parents
  • Supervise junior colleagues in project support and logistics tasks
  • Oversee third-party vendors (e.g. recruiters, facilities, platform providers etc.)
  • Serve as a key quality control person throughout project lifecycle
  • Analyze qualitative data to pull key themes, insights and develop storylines for learnings
  • Author and/or finalize high-quality, story-driven outlines, reports and deliverables
  • Add value/implications/opportunities to others' deliverables
• Work on larger, more strategic projects in partnership with senior leaders
• Work on mixed-method projects in partnership with other managers or senior leaders

  Research Client-Based

• Support new business development by scoping and contributing to the proposal process
• Lead the daily communications with clients related to project process/status, etc.
• Serve as executional and strategic “face person” for Smarty Pants during in-person research
• Confidently lead project briefings and debriefings with clients – in person and remote
• Confidently present research findings and deliverables to clients - in person or remotely

Organizational

• Lead, train and mentor junior colleagues - review and provide constructive feedback on draft deliverables
• Shephard project team members to work in unison to successfully complete initiatives
• Provide additional guidance across the organization, sharing broadly, in 1:1 and small group settings
• Serve on a value-add committee that helps grow/develop the organization

• Must hold a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (advanced degree preferred)
• Must have a minimum of 5 years of custom qualitative research experience   
• Must have 2+ years experience moderating in-person research with youth and parents
• Must have experience working across industries (tech, gaming, children’s media, toy & game preferred)
• Must have a passion for market research and a strong understanding of qual and/or hybrid methods and how to execute them
• Must be a tech-forward, expansive thinker capable of leveraging AI where appropriate
• Must be a strong relationship builder (with colleagues and clients) 
• Must have strong attention to detail, possess strong time management and organizational skills
• Must proactively plan and ensure completion of full research projects while effectively balancing project needs with accuracy and speed and effectively balancing personal and team members’ time, efficiency and well-being
• Must be able to independently manage processes and logistics of smaller scale custom research projects and consistently produce research documents that are thorough, polished and close to client-ready
• Must be able to lead clients in service of successful project planning and execution
• Must be a strong analytic thinker and writer evidenced by personally producing deliverables featuring strong insights, implications and opportunities
• Must be able to effectively create visually compelling, well-written documents in Word, PPT, Excel and be Teams and Google Suite savvy
• Must be an adept, proactive communicator across audiences who is confident in sharing ideas and recommendations – internally and externally, verbally and in writing
• Must be a polished and confident presenter 
• Must be able to successfully supervise others who support primary research processes and deliverables and effectively mentor more junior colleagues
• Must be “plugged in” to pop culture, brands, trends, social media and current events
• Must be proactive, have a strong drive to consistently exceed expectations, be open to mentorship, and be solutions-focused
• Must have a positive, generous disposition, be a collaborative, supportive colleague and be open-minded, patient, tolerant and empathetic 

• Must be able to spend up to 100% of workday at a desk, working on a computer; speaking on the phone; communicating with others via video; reading, writing, studying, analyzing and entering data; and working within industry-specific software
• Must possess the physical and social abilities to independently travel via plane – domestically and internationally
• Must be able to quickly shift gears and reprioritize tasks and workloads as needed to support the needs of various employees and clients
• Must be able to cognitively process business information, analyze situations and goals, and effectively collaborate with others without creating additional stress or undue work (emotional or physical) for others
• Must work from a dedicated, distraction-free, at-home (or pre-approved private) workspace
• Must work from 9am-5pm EST or 7am-3pm PST Monday-Friday (excluding company closures, PTO, leave)
• Must be able to work outside standard hours when required based on client and/or company needs
• Must travel to in-person research and client/company meetings up to 25%. Travel may include:
  • Personal (or rented) automobiles
  • Public transportation – rideshare, train, bus or airplane
  • International trips (that necessitates a passport)

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