VP of Research

Job description

**Who we’re looking for** **Role:** VP of Research **Team:** Research **Reports To:** CEO and Co-Founder **Supervisory Responsibility:** This role will directly oversee Knit’s Research leadership team, including the Managing Director of Research and Head of Research Operations, as well as the future Research Excellence function. This executive leadership role will be responsible for overseeing the entire Research organization, including Research Delivery, Research Operations, and Research Excellence. The organization currently consists of 27 team members. **Location:** USA, NYC preferred. **Travel:** If not located in NYC, this role will be expected to travel to NYC approximately once a month. **A little about Us** [**Knit**](https://goknit.com/) is the The Researcher-Driven AI Platform helping researchers run agency-quality quant + qual research at DIY costs & speed. Through Knit, brands like NASCAR, JBL, and Mars automate their consumer research process to get a quicker and more holistic understanding of their audiences. **Role Purpose** Research is at the heart of everything we do at Knit. As an AI-native research company, our ability to deliver exceptional research, innovate how research is conducted, and translate our expertise into differentiated products and customer experiences is fundamental to our success. You will be a core member of our leadership team, reporting directly to the CEO. You will be the ultimate accountable leader for Research across the business, spanning Research Delivery, Research Operations, and our future Research Excellence team. **This is much more than leading a research organization.** You will play a central role in shaping Knit’s company strategy, product roadmap, go-to-market approach, and market positioning. Because research is the foundation of our business, your judgment, expertise, and leadership will influence nearly every major decision we make as a company. This is the perfect role for someone wanting to build a world-class research organization while helping redefine what the future of market research looks like for the AI-native world! **Core outcomes of the role** Research exists at Knit for 3 core jobs to be done. You are responsible for all three outcomes. - Build a world-class product - Deliver excellent outcomes for our customers - Establish market credibility Your success will be measured by your impact on Knit’s revenue growth, operating leverage, product innovation, and competitive differentiation. **Key Responsibilities** As a core member of Knit’s executive leadership team, you are responsible not only for the performance of Research, but for helping shape the strategy and success of the broader company. ### **1. Shape Knit's company strategy, product strategy, and execution** Serve as a core member of the research team responsible for shaping Knit's strategy, priorities, and company-wide performance. Play a central role in determining where Knit invests, what we build, and how we bring our capabilities to market. Partner with the CEO and the rest of the executive team to set Knit's business and product strategy, define company OKRs, and make the strategic decisions that will shape our future. Your research expertise should meaningfully influence our Product roadmap, GTM strategy, Marketing positioning, and long-term competitive differentiation. ### **2. Build and lead a world-class Research organization.** Own the strategy, organizational design, hiring, leadership development, and capacity planning across all Research functions. Build a high-performing leadership team, establish clear accountability and operating cadences, and create a culture of research excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement. Work closely with the CEO and the rest of the executive team to identify bottlenecks, make investment tradeoffs, and ensure Research has the talent, systems, and resources to deliver against Knit's growth ambitions. ### **3. Drive retention and expansion through exceptional research delivery.** Own Research's contribution to GRR and NRR. You will be ultimately accountable for building the teams, processes, and quality standards that consistently deliver exceptional research, build customer trust, deepen strategic relationships, and drive repeat and expanded business. This includes owning the strategy and execution required to deliver consistent quality as the business scales. *Measured through: GRR and NRR.* ### **4. Scale research output faster than headcount through operational excellence and AI adoption.** Own the strategy and execution for how Research scales as Knit grows. Build a team and execute a plan to improve operational efficiency across research workflows, programming, fieldwork, sample economics, and delivery operations. Partner closely with Product and Engineering to shape our automation roadmap, accelerate AI adoption, and continuously reduce human involvement in research workflows without compromising quality. Ensure Research's capacity and productivity scale ahead of revenue growth. *Measured through: Revenue per Delivery FTE, AI Leverage Margin, and time to research task speed.* ### **5. Accelerate revenue and establish Knit as the leader in AI-native research.** Partner with GTM leadership to build and lead a Research Excellence function that turns our research expertise into a commercial and competitive advantage. Own the strategy and execution for how Research helps Knit win sophisticated opportunities, deepen strategic customer relationships, and expand into new research capabilities and markets. Work closely with Marketing and Product to develop differentiated methodologies, proprietary IP, compelling research solutions, and an industry-leading point of view on AI-native research. *Measured through: Contribution to new and expansion revenue.* **Required Skills & Experiences** - - **10+ years of experience in the insights and market research industry**, with significant experience leading research organizations at the executive level. Our ideal candidate has worked in a technology-enabled market research company or agency and has demonstrated success scaling research delivery, operations, and innovation. - **Proven track record of building and leading high-performing, multi-functional research organizations**, including Research Delivery, Research Operations, and research methodology development. Experience developing senior leaders, designing organizational structures, and scaling teams to support significant business growth. - **Strong commercial acumen and business ownership**, with demonstrated experience driving customer retention, revenue expansion, operational efficiency, and profitability through research excellence. Understands how research quality, speed, and innovation translate into measurable business outcomes. - **Deep understanding of AI, automation, and the evolving research technology landscape.** Our ideal candidate has a strong proclivity for innovation and productization, with experience identifying opportunities to automate research workflows, improve productivity, and scale research output faster than headcount. - **Proven ability to shape company and product strategy through research expertise.** Has partnered closely with executive leadership, Product, and Engineering to influence product roadmaps, develop differentiated research capabilities, and translate customer and market needs into scalable solutions. - **Highly effective cross-functional executive leader**, with experience driving strategic initiatives across Research, Product, Engineering, Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing. **We are not looking for a participant in the process.** We are looking for a leader who has owned the strategy, influenced organizational priorities, and successfully built new capabilities from concept through execution. - **Exceptional people and organizational leadership capabilities**, including: - Building, mentoring, and developing senior research leaders and high-performing teams. - Organizational design, capacity planning, talent forecasting, recruiting, hiring, and performance management. - Establishing clear accountability, operating rhythms, KPIs, and performance standards. - Leading organizational transformation, change management, and adoption of new technologies and processes. - Building a culture of research excellence, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. - **Deep expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies**, with a strong understanding of research design, data quality, sampling, fieldwork, and delivery operations. Able to provide strategic direction and make informed tradeoffs across research quality, speed, cost, and scalability. - **Strong market presence and industry credibility**, with the ability to establish thought leadership, develop differentiated research methodologies and proprietary IP, support sophisticated customer engagements, and position Knit as a leader in AI-native research. ### ### **Benefits** Upon joining the Knit team, you will receive a competitive salary, plus stock options, healthcare (medical, dental, and vision), and additional coverage, a company laptop and one-time, onboarding technology stipend, a 401(k) with company match, flexible time-off, hybrid working, catered lunch, and more! ### **Salary** In accordance with New York pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role is $250,000 - 280,000, plus a bonus. Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate’s level, experience, and qualifications upon joining Knit. ### **Our Company Values** **We are the Championship Team. This means we:** - **Are 1% better every day:**We approach situations with a growth mindset and ask, “How can we make the business better?” and “What would it take?” - **Play to win:**We set audacious goals and push ourselves to achieve them with a bias towards action (When we see a need, we take initiative, and hold ourselves accountable to seeing it through). - **Keep the main thing the main thing:** Identify what has the biggest impact and prioritize to focus on it. In accordance with New York pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role is listed below. Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate’s level, experience, and qualifications upon joining Knit. 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