Behavioral Researcher & Strategist

The Branding Journal; United States; Remote; USD 95,000 - 124,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work location and schedule

178 annual workdays

Paid international travel

Workspace stipend

Professional development stipend

Job summary

Appleseed is seeking senior behavioral researchers and strategists to tackle social challenges through field research and people-centered design. This is a remote role with travel, and you’ll partner with nonprofits and funders to drive real-world impact.

We’re building a team for core roles and flexible freelance leadership, with annual salaries in the six-figure range and travel stipends. Expect cross-time-zone collaboration, rigorous fieldwork, and a culture of learning and impact.

Qualifications

• Senior behavioral specialists with practical field experience and client-facing skills.
• Ability to translate insights into clear, actionable strategies.
• Comfort working across multiple time zones and travel when needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead or support immersive field research in diverse settings.
• Synthesize findings into behavioral diagnoses and strategy.
• Craft clear, persuasive deliverables and client playbooks.
• Design interventions from messaging to organizational change.
• Guide clients as a trusted thought partner to achieve impact.
• Uphold value-driven delivery with teammates and freelancers.
• Contribute to evolving craft, methods, and culture.

Skills

Behavioral frameworks

Field research

Client partnership

Storytelling

Leadership & collaboration

Adaptability

Cross-time-zone work

Narrative craft

Job description

Are you a behavioral marketing or design researcher/strategist, ready to use your expertise to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges? Join Appleseed and create lasting social and environmental impact in communities across the globe.

This is a remote position with travel required. You may be based anywhere.

About the Role

Appleseed is building a team of seasoned behavioral strategists who are also skilled researchers and client partners. This is not an academic or theoretical role: our consultants deliver B2B client services, leading field-driven research and crafting human-centered strategies that stick. We work only with nonprofits and funders fighting poverty and protecting the planet. This role requires behavioral insight, leadership & storytelling ability, and a deep commitment to continuous learning.

We are seeking to fill both full-time core team and freelance project lead roles with significant ownership and influence in shaping Appleseed’s craft and culture. We are excited to meet exceptional candidates who prefer ongoing project-based work, as well as those who would rather join the core team full-time.

Freelance Project Fees: $20,000–$24,000 per project (travel covered separately)

Core Team Salary Range: $95,000–$124,000 (growth potential to >$160,000)

Work Week: 4-day week; Thursdays off

Benefits: Flexible work location and schedule, 178 annual workdays (vs. global average of 225–244), paid international travel, and stipends for workspace and professional development.

Project Briefing

All projects begin with part-time remote prep (onboarding, lit review, stakeholder interviews, research design), followed by 2–3 weeks of full-time in-country fieldwork, then part-time remote work for reporting and strategy. Each project has two consultants: a Lead and a Deputy. For this first engagement, you’d start as Deputy, partnering closely with a Core Team Lead who will manage the project.

Project Details:

• Duration: 10-15 weeks total
• • 4–6 weeks part-time remote → 2–3 weeks in-country → 4–6 weeks part-time remote
• Time zones: Requires cross-time-zone collaboration with teams in Europe and Africa
• Issue areas: We work on a variety of different issues with our clients, including soil health, clean water, restoring eyesight, education, healthcare, early childhood development, and more.

Who We’re Looking For

We want senior behavioral specialists who combine analytical sharpness, strong communication, and field fluency. Specifically, people who can:

• Apply behavioral frameworks to real-world problems in clear, actionable ways
• Lead research in unpredictable, low-resource contexts with composure and agility
• Diagnose root causes and craft strategic recommendations that land
• Turn messy insights into crisp, persuasive narratives clients can rally around
• Manage and build trust with clients as true partners
• Work independently and collaboratively across time zones
• Adapt quickly, lead calmly under stress, and foster team resilience
• Give and receive feedback openly — we treat it as a gift, and so should you

We especially want to hear from those who have played roles like:

• Communications strategist or insights lead in mission-driven organizations
• Narrative strategist or messaging lead in social campaigns
• Behavioral or UX researcher with in-field experience
• Co-founder of a startup that achieved product‑market fit

We are especially eager to meet people with proven strength in field-based research, behavioral diagnosis and strategy, or storytelling — even if your title has never said “design.”

The Role: What You’d Do

As a Behavioral Researcher, Strategist, and Client Partner, you’d be responsible for the following. Note that on your first project with Appleseed, you is most likely to serve as a deputy supporting a project lead from Appleseed’s core team.

Field Research

Leading or supporting in-depth field research in low-resource settings using immersive qualitative methods: contextual interviews, observation, journey mapping, shadowing, and co‑creation sessions.

Synthesis

Synthesizing motivators and barriers into behavioral diagnoses using Appleseed’s methodology, similar to COM‑B, EAST, CBSM, or Fogg.

Deliverables & Storytelling

Crafting clear, persuasive, narrative-driven strategy deliverables — including frameworks, visuals, decision‑making tools, and client playbooks — and telling stories that move clients to act and help them align their teams.

Intervention Design

Designing interventions ranging from messaging to organizational change, habit formation, environment design, and product and service design.

Client Success

Guiding clients through insights, ambiguity, and hard choices as a genuine thought partner. Building long‑term relationships based on trust and candor.

Team & Project Management

Upholding Appleseed’s values and ensuring clear, on‑time, on‑budget, and impactful delivery — with yourself, teammates, and freelancers.

Internal Leadership & Learning

Contributing to Appleseed’s evolving craft, methods, and culture.

About Appleseed

Appleseed is a behavioral agency for global development. We are obsessed with one big problem across the sector: important solutions failing to stick. Our clients are fighting to end poverty or protect the planet. When they struggle to engage people or drive uptake of a service, product, or idea, they put us on the case. Appleseed consultants dive deep — taking an ethnographic approach to investigate the challenge and uncover human insights. Then we help our clients design accordingly and bring about changes required for impact. We envision a day when all impact organizations design purely based on people’s needs and realities. We partner only with nonprofits and funders who seek to preserve human dignity as they go about fostering change within communities.

This Role Won’t Be a Fit If...

• Your behavioral experience is mostly academic or theoretical, rather than practical
• You’re looking for an entry‑level or mid‑level position
• You cannot name several different teams you’d be happy for us to call and ask about how you’ve collaborated and added value
• You’d be very uncomfortable in settings with limited infrastructure or resources during 2–3 research trips per year (e.g. spending a few nights in a village or urban setting without running water, electricity, or a toilet, while dealing with mosquitoes and the risk of stomach bugs)
• You avoid feedback or find open, candid discussion uncomfortable
• You prefer writing reports over shaping persuasive strategy and storytelling
• You take significant pride in being a perfectionist or workaholic
• This section rubs you the wrong way