Researcher

AItoolnavio; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Outset, the AI-powered research platform, is seeking a Researcher to join the Customer Experience team. You will own research end‑to‑end for the prospects and customers assigned to you, helping them go from a question to a clear answer using our AI platform.

Responsibilities include scoping, recruitment oversight, fieldwork, analysis, and turning qualitative data into actionable findings. You will lead customer meetings and support larger accounts to build strong, ongoing partnerships.

Qualifications

• Must have 3‑5+ years in research, insights, consulting, or strategy roles with hands‑on qualitative experience.
• Able to own a study end‑to‑end and guide customers to a successful project.
• Working knowledge of participant recruitment processes and vendors.

Responsibilities

• Own the research process end‑to‑end for projects and pilots: scoping, guide design, recruitment, fieldwork oversight, and analysis.
• Manage participant recruitment: define audiences, screeners, vendors, incentives, quality control.
• Turn customer research questions into well‑structured studies on our platform.
• Review and optimize studies built by customers; advise through evaluation.
• Manage scoping and recruitment operations requests from Sales and customers.
• Translate qualitative data into clear, actionable findings for customers.

Skills

Qualitative research

Project leadership

Stakeholder communication

Recruitment knowledge

Ambiguity tolerance

Startup experience

Job description

Outset invented a better way to do research: AI-powered user interviews.

Global brands like Hubspot, Microsoft, Uber and Nestle use Outset to achieve deeper, qualitative insights about their users at unprecedented speed and scale.

The research industry is massive (>$140B and growing) and ripe for disruption. Incumbents are outdated, slow, and burdened by high-cost services. That's our opportunity.

Outset is backed by top Silicon Valley investors and raised a $30M Series B in December 2025—less than six months after our Series A—led by Radical Ventures with participation from M12 (Microsoft’s venture arm), 8VC, Y Combinator, and Adverb Ventures.

The raise follows a breakout year, with our business growing 8x as enterprise customers across industries adopt our category, AI‑moderated research, as the new standard for understanding people.

We’re a tight-knit team serving some of the world’s largest enterprises.

We are looking for a Researcher to join the Customer Experience team at Outset! In this role, you'll own research end-to-end for the prospects and customers assigned to you, helping them go from a question to a clear answer using our AI platform.

Responsibilities

• Own the research process end-to-end for your projects and pilots: scoping, guide design, recruitment, fieldwork oversight, and analysis
• Manage participant recruitment for the projects you run: define audiences and screeners, work with recruitment partners and our central Ops team, monitor fill and quality, and troubleshoot projects at risk
• Partner with customers and prospects to clarify their research questions or business objectives and turn them into well-structured studies on our platform
• Review and optimize studies customers build themselves, and advise prospects through their evaluation
• Manage project scoping and recruitment operations requests from Sales and customers
• Turn qualitative data into clear, actionable findings customers can use
• Lead customer meetings and readouts with confidence, navigating challenges and guiding customers with research expertise
• Deliver experiences that build satisfaction and lead to strong, ongoing partnerships, whether that means converting a pilot to paid or earning continued work with an existing customer
• Partner with Research Managers and the Senior Research Manager for review and guidance on scoping and strategic decisions, and support them on larger accounts when needed
• Collaborate with Account Executives, Account Directors, and Customer Success Managers on opportunity strategy and to keep research tied to the customer's broader goals
• Collaborate with contractors on projects where they are assigned
• Flag platform and process improvements based on patterns across your projects

Qualifications

• 3-5+ years in research, insights, consulting, or strategy roles, with strong hands‑on qualitative research experience
• Comfortable owning a study and leading customers to a successful project, including navigating challenges and guiding customers with research expertise
• Working knowledge of participant recruitment (screeners, panels and vendors, incentives, quality control)
• Strong written and verbal communication, able to explain research clearly to technical and non-technical audiences
• A proactive, detail‑oriented approach to juggling multiple projects and timelines at once
• Curious and coachable
• Comfortable with ambiguity in a fast-moving startup environment