Research Lead Jobs

Research Lead jobs are open across academic institutions, technology, healthcare, market research, and consulting, from senior associate to principal and director level, with specializations in user research, qualitative methods, and data-driven consumer insights. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.

Find Research Lead Jobs

Overview

Open roles203+
Top stateCalifornia
Top employerEmory University
Top citySan Francisco, CA
Work type46% Hybrid
Top industryTechnology

Showing 5 of 203+ Research Lead jobs

Lead Research Specialist
We won't show you this job again
New 4h ago
Lead Research Specialist
University of Rochester
Rochester, New York
Business Operations
Consulting & Professional Services
Healthcare Administration
Quality Assurance & Testing (QA Testing)
$71k - $106k/yr
Master's degree
10,000+

Have you applied for this role?

Lead Design Researcher
We won't show you this job again
New 9h ago
Lead Design Researcher
Humana
Remote
Business Operations
Program Management
Project Management
$126k - $174k/yr
Remote (US)
Master's degree in anthropology
10,000+

Have you applied for this role?

LEAD ENGINEER - SR. RESEARCH ENGINEER - Spaceflight Instrumentation Engineer - Durham, NH
We won't show you this job again
New 11h ago
LEAD ENGINEER - SR. RESEARCH ENGINEER - Spaceflight Instrumentation Engineer - Durham, NH
Southwest Research Institute
Durham, New Hampshire
Electrical Engineering
Engineering (Non-Software)
Specialized Engineering
Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering
1,001-5,000

Have you applied for this role?

Senior Director, Terrain Lead, Research Advisory Services (Higher Ed Advancement & Strategy)
We won't show you this job again
New 14h ago
Senior Director, Terrain Lead, Research Advisory Services (Higher Ed Advancement & Strategy)
EAB
Remote
Business Development
Business Strategy
Growth Marketing
$95k - $140k/yr
Bachelor's degree
1,001-5,000

Have you applied for this role?

Senior Director, NLP & Market Research Data Engineering Lead
We won't show you this job again
New 14h ago
Senior Director, NLP & Market Research Data Engineering Lead
Information Technology Senior Management Forum
Indianapolis, Indiana
Embedded Systems Engineering
Engineering (Non-Software)
Technical Program Management
$159k - $233k/yr
Bachelor's degree
51-200

Have you applied for this role?

See All 203+ Research Lead Jobs

Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.

Find Research Lead Jobs

Research Lead Job Market

Who's Hiring

Emory University8 open roles
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital5 open roles
TikTok4 open roles

Top Industries Hiring

  • Technology & Software
  • Education
  • Science & Research
  • Electronics & Hardware
  • Healthcare & Medical Services

What Employers Look For

The qualifications that appear most often in research lead jobs.

  • 5 or more years of experience conducting and leading qualitative or mixed-methods research
  • Demonstrated ability to design and facilitate usability studies, in-depth interviews, and surveys
  • Experience presenting research findings to product, design, and executive stakeholders
  • Proficiency with research analysis tools and participant recruitment platforms
  • Bachelor's or master's degree in a social science, human-computer interaction, or related field
  • Experience building or scaling a research practice, including documentation and repository management

Tips for Your Research Lead Job Search

Tailor your resume to research methods

Hiring managers for research lead roles scan for specific methodologies, ethnography, survey design, conjoint analysis, usability testing. Name the exact methods you've run, not just generic research experience, and tie each one to a concrete outcome your team acted on.

Show cross-functional influence in your portfolio

Research leads are judged on whether their work changed decisions, not just produced reports. Include two or three case studies that show a stakeholder question, your method choice, and the product or business decision your findings shaped.

Target postings by research operations maturity

A research lead at an early-stage company builds the practice from scratch, while one at a mature org manages a team and a repository. Reading the job description for mentions of ReOps, tooling, or existing panels tells you which situation you're walking into.

Apply early to roles that fit

Migrate Mate lists research lead openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.

Prepare a research critique for interviews

Many research lead interviews include a study critique or live debrief exercise. Practice walking through a published research report and identifying one methodological trade-off and one alternative approach you would have considered given the same constraints.

Negotiate scope alongside compensation

Research leads often have more room to negotiate team size, tooling budget, and participant recruitment resources than base salary alone. Come into final-round conversations with a clear picture of the infrastructure you need to do the work you were hired to do.

Research Lead Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies are hiring the most research leads?

Emory University, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and TikTok are hiring the most research leads right now, with openings concentrated in California, New York, and Massachusetts, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Demand is especially active in technology, healthcare, and market research consulting.

How many research lead jobs are remote?

About 74% of research lead openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the relatively low need for on-site equipment or in-person facilitation. Fully remote arrangements are most common for research leads focused on digital products and remote usability testing, while in-person or hybrid schedules are more typical for roles that involve physical lab sessions or in-context field research.

How do you become a research lead?

Start by building deep competency in at least two research methods, then actively seek projects where you define the research question rather than just execute a plan someone else wrote. Move into coordination by owning a research roadmap, mentoring junior researchers, and presenting findings directly to decision-makers. A portfolio that shows strategic influence rather than just methodology execution is what distinguishes lead candidates from senior individual contributors.

Can you get hired as a research lead without direct leadership experience?

Yes, especially if you can demonstrate informal leadership through your existing work. Hiring managers look for evidence that you've scoped a research program, influenced product decisions, and guided other researchers or cross-functional partners, even without a direct reporting line. Framing contract work, independent projects, or cross-functional collaboration in terms of research direction and stakeholder alignment helps close the gap.

What does the research lead interview process look like?

Most research lead interviews include a recruiter screen, a hiring manager conversation focused on your research philosophy and stakeholder approach, a portfolio review or case study presentation, and a panel interview with product managers, designers, or other research team members. Some employers add a live research critique or a take-home study design exercise to assess how you think through methodological trade-offs under realistic constraints.

Where can I find and apply to research lead jobs?

You can find and apply to research lead jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Search the listings to find roles that fit your experience, background, and preferred location, then apply directly to each one that matches.

See All 203+ Research Lead Jobs

Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.

Find Research Lead Jobs