Qualitative Insight Director

MERGE; St. Louis (MO); Hybrid; USD 114,000 - 168,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

Life Insurance

401K

Lifestyle Spending Account

Flexible Time off

Job summary

MERGE is seeking a Qualitative Insight Director in the St. Louis area to lead strategy, research design, and stakeholder alignment across health-focused marketing and technology projects.

You will translate findings into actionable strategy, guide research tooling, and mentor teams to produce compelling client deliverables. The role requires 5+ years in market research or agency settings, a strong moderation background, travel flexibility, and strict adherence to industry regulations and ethics.

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience moderating and delivering excellent client deliverables in a market research or agency setting
• Aligns with, Models, and Coaches our values: People, Commitment, Aspiration, Trustworthiness & Impact
• Willingness to travel and be flexible in scheduling to accommodate project needs
• Compliance in time-tracking
• Adhere with all Merge and client required training and guidelines for market research and healthcare industry regulations and laws. Specifically (but not limited to) Pharmacovigilance (PV) and Healthcare Providers (HCPs) processes and reporting, Ethics, Confidentiality, Data Privacy / Security and Harassment

Responsibilities

• Accountable for ensuring all aspects of the project are delivered on time and against client objectives.
• Consistently thinks proactively throughout the project to anticipate and quickly address changes to approach, design, objectives, etc.
• Effectively designs studies and writes proposals.
• Thoughtfully crafts questionnaires / discussion guides with appropriate techniques and activities, and structures of questions that better address objectives and fit with participant type.
• Effectively moderates 1:1 and group interviews and online engagements (Communities, Remesh, etc.), spending typically 20% of their time doing live moderation.
• Able to facilitate discussion on any topic, with any target, and have the know-how to go off-guide, where appropriate.
• Creatively and quickly connect the dots, identifying emerging themes and how they connect to the bigger story.
• Consistently incorporates strategic elements into the report including the story flow, emerging implications (so-what), and recommendations (now-what).
• Appropriately adds visual elements to communicate the story.
• Begins to leverage client / industry knowledge and external frameworks to elevate the strategy.
• Writes succinctly, to the audience, with clarity, conviction, and tension as well as polish and professionalism.
• Client relationships: Commands a confident, captivating, respectful, agile, consultative presence when engaging with the client.
• Develops rapport and builds empathy for and with the client, leading to long-term relationships.
• Develops and continually deepens understanding of the client's business and the individual client to ask the right questions, anticipate needs.
• Proactively addresses issues or opportunities in their business, including further research or strategy work.
• Stays calm and collected even with difficult clients, and helps the team do the same.
• Insight department leadership: Supports department specific initiatives.
• Provides guidance and mentorship to team members assigned to their projects.
• Is an outstanding strategic thinker, writer, and presenter.
• Their work should always produce results — be it positive client feedback, referrals, repeat business or case studies.
• Develops positive relationships with clients and other Merge teams.

Skills

Research design

Qualitative research

Moderation

Strategic thinking

Communication

Stakeholder management

Tools

Remesh

Communities

Job description

At MERGE, we are Built Different. We are a marketing and technology agency purpose-built for the intersection of health and wellness—where human impact matters most. By weaving storytelling through technology, we move beyond traditional engagement to Whole Human Marketing. This approach recognizes that humans are multidimensional and complex, and uses AI to ensure every brand interaction feels natural, contextual, and relevant.
This commitment to human-first innovation is what brings us together and propels us forward. We are united by our North Star: to unite people and brands to empower healthier, happier lives.

Emerge to the Top of Your Career

At MERGE, we strive to create a superior work experience where talented and ambitious people grow. An experience that encourages people to think higher and feel deeper. An experience where people engage their minds and hearts to do the best work of their careers.

Our Strategists are the achievers of insight and facilitators of alignment. Creatively-trained problem solvers, strategic writers, creative thinkers — Strategists are responsible for research design, execution, analysis and deliverables for all projects. They develop and optimize research processes, identify and curate research tools and always seek ways to enhance our offerings. With both clients and participants, Strategists approach every element of their work with empathy and energy.

As our Qualitative Insight Director, you will…

Consistently and effectively executing projects and has begun to take on more account management and coaching roles. They are able to make 99% of decisions related to design, execution, analysis and deliverables on their projects. They have developed expertise in translating research findings into strategy, both as mining for the insight and providing clear ways to activate against it. They are developing a repertoire of frameworks, constructs, tools, and approaches to deepen their strategic expertise.

What You’ll Do

• Accountable for ensuring all aspects of the project are delivered on time and against client objectives.
• Consistently thinks proactively throughout the project to anticipate and quickly address changes to approach, design, objectives, etc.
• Effectively designs studies and writes proposals.
• Thoughtfully crafts questionnaires / discussion guides with appropriate techniques and activities, and structures of questions that better address objectives and fit with participant type.
• Effectively moderates 1:1 and group interviews and online engagements (Communities, Remesh, etc.), spending typically 20% of their time doing live moderation. highly
• Able to facilitate discussion on any topic, with any target, and have the know-how to go off-guide, where appropriate.
• Creatively and quickly connect the dots, identifying emerging themes and how they connect to the bigger story.
• Consistently incorporates strategic elements into the report including the story flow, emerging implications (so-what), and recommendations (now-what).
• Appropriately adds visual elements to communicate the story.
• Begins to leverage client / industry knowledge and external frameworks (e.g., Michael Porter's Five Forces, The Habit Loop), anecdotes (i.e., metaphor and story), constructs, macro and micro-trends, psychological understanding, etc., to elevate the strategy.
• Writes succinctly, to the audience, with clarity, conviction, and tension as well as polish and professionalism.

Client Relationships

• Commands a confident, captivating, respectful, agile, consultative presence when engaging with the client.
• Develops rapport and builds empathy for and with the client, leading to long-term relationships.
• Develops and continually deepens understanding of the client's business and the individual client to ask the right questions, anticipate needs.
• Proactively addresses issues or opportunities in their business, including further research or strategy work.
• Stays calm and collected even with difficult clients, and helps the team do the same.

Insight Department Leadership

• Supports department specific initiatives.
• Provides guidance and mentorship to team members assigned to their projects.
• Is an outstanding strategic thinker, writer, and presenter.
• Their work should always produce results — be it positive client feedback, referrals, repeat business or case studies.
• Develops positive relationships with clients and other Merge teams.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years experience moderating and delivering excellent client deliverables in a market research or agency setting
• Aligns with, Models, and Coaches our values: People, Commitment, Aspiration, Trustworthiness & Impact
• Willingness to travel and be flexible in scheduling to accommodate project needs
• Compliance in time-tracking
• Adhere with all Merge and client required training and guidelines for market research and healthcare industry regulations and laws. Specifically (but not limited to) Pharmacovigilance (PV) and Healthcare Providers (HCPs) processes and reporting, Ethics, Confidentiality, Data Privacy / Security and Harassment

Hybrid Philosophy

For this role, we prioritize hybrid candidates in St. Louis, MO, but may consider candidates near other MERGE hubs based on the role and team’s needs. If fully remote is listed as an option, we are also open to U.S.-based candidates who would work remotely.
Hybrid work is our default approach. We value time together for collaboration, relationship building, and key moments. Managers and team leaders determine in-person expectations based on what best supports their team, clients, and business needs. Some teams and roles require more regular in-person presence than others.
MERGE has hubs in Chicago, New York City, Boston, Kansas City, Raleigh, Denver, Atlanta, and St. Louis. Regardless of work arrangement, team members may be required to travel to a MERGE hub for meetings, team gatherings, events, or other business needs.

Total Rewards

At MERGE, we’re committed to fostering an environment where our team members can thrive in both their careers and personal lives, ensuring they feel supported and empowered to succeed.
MERGE believes in transparency and equity. In accordance with state regulations, we’re proud to include salary ranges in our job postings to ensure fair compensation practices.
The salary range for this role is $114,400 - $167,800, based on the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.
MERGE is proud to invest in benefits that includemeaningful Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401K, Lifestyle Spending Account, Employer Paid Life & Disability Insurance, Flexible Time off & Holidays plus many other benefits and rewards.
Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.

And here’s how we live our values at MERGE

• Ability. Mastering our craft
• Agility. Delivering with a growth mindset
• Humility. Collaborating for shared success

MERGE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

MERGE welcomes and celebrates diversity regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status or people with abilities. We believe that the more diverse we are, the more creative our work will be!