Principal, Research Excellence

Role

• Principal, Research Excellence
• Team: Research
• Reports To: CEO and Co-Founder
• Supervisory Responsibility: Individual contributor

Location: USA, NYC preferred.

Travel: If not located in NYC, this role will be expected to travel to NYC approximately once a month.

Role Purpose

The Principal, Research Excellence will turn Knit's research expertise into a competitive advantage that helps us win new business, expand strategic customer relationships, and bring differentiated research solutions to market. As prospects evaluate Knit and customers look to expand what they do with us, you will help them see what's possible: uncovering their biggest research challenges, shaping ambitious research programs, and building confidence in Knit as their research partner.

Success requires both deep research expertise and commercial instinct: the ability to earn customer trust, uncover opportunities, influence buying decisions, and partner with Sales and Customer Success to build long-term research partnerships.

As a senior research voice internally and externally, you will also help shape Knit's methodologies, proprietary intellectual property, and product capabilities. Working across Product, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Research, you will connect what customers need with what Knit builds, how we sell it, and how we establish ourselves as a leader in AI-native research.

What Success Looks Like

Primary Outcome

• Within the first 12 months, Knit's research expertise helps us win more complex opportunities, expand strategic customer relationships, and stand apart in the market.

Supporting Outcomes

• Research Solutions: Sellers and customer Partners demonstrate materially greater research fluency and confidence in diagnosing and selling sophisticated research solutions. Sales and Customer Success know when and how to bring research expertise into an opportunity. Knit has a repeatable approach to strategic deals, RFPs, and custom research roadmaps without creating unnecessary handoffs.
• Market Presence: Knit is more visible and credible in the insights industry through strong research-led content, proprietary studies, speaking engagements, and a clear perspective on how AI is changing research.
• Research Innovation: Knit has a clear point of view on AI-native research, a prioritized roadmap for new research capabilities, and proprietary assets such as benchmarks, frameworks, datasets, or methodologies in development.

Key Responsibilities

Pillar 1: Research Solutions and GTM Support

• Serve as a senior research expert on strategic sales opportunities, bringing research depth and credibility to conversations with prospects and customers.
• Partner with Sales and Customer Success to diagnose complex research challenges and translate them into compelling, differentiated Knit solutions.
• Develop bespoke research roadmaps and programs for strategic customers, helping expand individual projects into broader, longer-term relationships.
• Play an active role in high-value RFPs and complex proposals, ensuring Knit clearly communicates its research capabilities, methodology, and differentiation.
• Partner with GTM leadership to identify research capability gaps and build the training, frameworks, and tools that enable our teams to confidently diagnose customer needs and sell sophisticated research solutions.
• Build relationships with senior insights leaders and serve as an executive research sponsor for strategically important customers and prospects, proactively identifying opportunities for expansion and new business.
• Partner closely with Research Delivery to ensure proposed solutions are set up for successful execution, including developing operational approaches for new capabilities, aligning on methodology and delivery requirements, and ensuring seamless handoffs from solution design to execution.

Pillar 2: Thought Leadership & Market Presence

• Define and continuously evolve Knit's point of view on AI-native research and the future of the insights industry.
• Serve as a visible external representative of Knit's research expertise through conferences, industry events, webinars, customer forums, and other relevant venues.
• Partner with Marketing to develop differentiated thought leadership, including articles, research reports, proprietary studies, webinars, and social content.
• Help define the topics and conversations Knit should lead in the market, including a differentiated point of view on how AI is changing research and the role Knit can play in that transformation.
• Stay deeply connected to developments across market research, AI, and the broader insights ecosystem, translating emerging trends into relevant perspectives for Knit, our customers, and the market

Pillar 3: Product & Research Innovation

• Translate customer, prospect, researcher, and market needs into product and research innovation opportunities.
• Partner with Product leadership to identify and prioritize research capabilities that materially expand what researchers and customers can accomplish through Knit.
• Identify opportunities to develop proprietary intellectual property-including benchmarks, frameworks, datasets, and methodologies-that create meaningful competitive differentiation.
• Define and evolve the methodologies, standards, and frameworks that underpin how Knit approaches exceptional, AI-native research.
• Pressure-test new product capabilities from a research-methodology perspective, helping define how they should be positioned and used.

Required Skills & Experiences

Required

• 10+ years of experience in the Market Research industry
• Deep expertise across quantitative and qualitative market research, including designing research programs across brand/campaign measurement, tracking, segmentation, concept/product testing, and advanced analytics (e.g., MaxDiff, conjoint, TURF, driver analysis, factor analysis, perceptual mapping, pricing research, etc.), with the credibility to advise senior research and insights leaders on both established and emerging methodologies.
• Demonstrated experience bringing senior research expertise into customer or prospect conversations, shaping sophisticated solutions, and helping win or expand commercial relationships.
• Strong understanding of research methodology and the ability to distinguish between methodological rigor that matters and legacy practices that should be challenged.
• Ability to translate research expertise into commercial solutions and communicate complex methodologies in clear, compelling business language.
• Exceptional executive presence and comfort presenting to senior customers, prospects, industry audiences, and internal teams.
• Strong commercial instincts and genuine interest in how research expertise can drive growth, differentiation, and customer expansion.
• Ability to operate effectively across Research, Product, Sales, Marketing, and customer Success without relying on direct organizational authority.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with a willingness to participate directly in customer conversations, proposals, RFPs, training, and content development.
• Deep curiosity about how AI will reshape research methodologies, researcher workflows, and the broader insights industry.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly and concisely
• Comfort in a fast paced, evolving environment where processes are still being built

Nice to Haves

• Experience developing proprietary research methodologies, benchmarks, frameworks, or intellectual property.
• Experience working closely with enterprise Sales or Solutions Consulting teams.
• Existing presence or relationships within the insights and market-research community.
• Experience speaking at industry events, publishing thought leadership, or building an external professional brand.

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 $180k-$250k OTE and meaningful equity. Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate's level, experience, and qualifications upon joining Knit.