How to Get Senior Research & Insights Leadership Roles

(Head of Research, Head of Insights, Director of Insights, VP Insights, Chief Insights Officer)

This guide is written for experienced research and insights professionals targeting senior leadership roles — Head of Research, Head of Insights, Director of Insights, VP Insights, or Chief Insights Officer — particularly if traditional applications, recruiters, or job boards no longer seem to work.

At senior level, research and insights hiring operates very differently from junior or mid-level recruitment. Roles are rarely advertised in the same way, decisions are often made informally, and credibility matters more than volume. Many highly capable leaders struggle not because they lack expertise, but because they are using channels designed for a completely different hiring problem.

This page explains how senior research and insights roles are actually filled, why common job-search tactics break down at leadership level, and what approaches consistently work when you want access to the real decision-makers.

How Senior Research & Insights Leadership Roles Are Actually Filled

Most senior research and insights leadership roles are filled long before they ever appear on a job board — if they appear at all.

At leadership level, hiring is rarely a simple vacancy-replacement exercise. It is usually triggered by one of the following:

• A strategic shift (new growth phase, transformation, M&A, restructuring)
• A growing gap between data and decision-making
• Pressure from the board or executive team to become more insight-led
• A failed internal promotion or underpowered function
• A quiet exit, reorganisation, or change in operating model

In these situations, organisations prioritise certainty and judgment over speed. Rather than broadcasting a role publicly, they first explore trusted options:

• Internal succession or interim-to-permanent appointments
• Referrals from executives, board members, or trusted operators
• Direct approaches to known research or insights leaders
• Private recruiter shortlists built before any public listing exists

By the time a senior insights role is advertised publicly, the organisation often already has:

• a preferred profile in mind
• one or two informal front-runners
• a clear sense of what “good” looks like in their context

Public advertising becomes a compliance step — not a discovery process.

This is why many senior research and insights candidates experience the same frustration: they only ever see roles when the real decisions have already been shaped.

Why Job Boards Stop Working at Senior Level

Job boards are designed for scale, not judgment.

They work well when requirements are clear, skills are easily comparable, volume is useful, and risk is low. Senior research and insights hiring is the opposite.

• Most CVs look strong on paper
• Methodologies and domains are hard to compare directly
• Impact is contextual, not standardised
• The real differentiator is judgment, influence, and trust

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) flatten complex careers into simplified signals: job titles, tools, years, keywords.

The issue isn’t that your experience isn’t strong.
It’s that the channel cannot recognise why it’s strong.

Where Recruiters Help — and Where They Don’t

Recruiters can be valuable when a role is clearly defined, funded, and urgent.

However, recruiters are paid by employers — not candidates. Their focus is necessarily reactive and limited to active briefs.

If you rely solely on recruiters, you are restricted to the small number of roles that:

• already exist
• are already approved
• are already being actively searched for

Many senior insights roles never reach this stage.

Differences by Seniority

What Actually Works at Senior Level

Successful senior research and insights searches are rarely about applying more. They are about positioning, timing, and access.

• Clear leadership positioning and narrative
• Targeted market mapping
• Proactive, credible outreach
• Direct exposure to decision-makers
• Consistency over time

This is the context in which a representative or managed approach — often referred to as reverse recruitment — sits.

Clear Leadership Positioning and Narrative

Senior research roles are narrative-led, not CV-led.

Decision-makers are not asking:

“Can this person run research?”

They are asking:

• What decisions does this person improve?
• How do they influence senior stakeholders?
• Have they navigated ambiguity, pressure, and politics before?
• Can we trust their judgment when insight is uncomfortable?

A strong senior narrative connects your experience to specific organisational challenges — growth, transformation, customer trust, innovation, risk, or change.

Without this narrative, even outstanding research careers blur together.

Consistency across CV, LinkedIn, and conversations builds confidence. Inconsistency creates doubt.

Targeted Market Mapping

Senior insights roles usually emerge from inflection points, not job ads.

Leadership hiring is triggered when:

• insight is not landing with decision-makers
• data volume increases but clarity decreases
• strategic decisions feel under-informed
• trust in customer understanding erodes

Effective senior searches therefore start by identifying:

• organisations likely to face these moments
• businesses entering new phases
• leadership teams that may need stronger insight capability

This shifts the search from reacting to vacancies to anticipating demand.

Proactive, Credible Outreach

At senior level, how you reach out matters more than how often.

Proactive outreach works when it is:

• targeted
• discreet
• relevant to the organisation’s situation

The goal is not to ask for a job.

The goal is to be known, credible, and understood before a hiring decision crystallises.

Direct Exposure to Decision-Makers

Senior insights roles are rarely decided by HR alone.

While HR may manage process, real influence typically sits with:

• CEOs
• founders
• board members
• executive leaders responsible for strategy, growth, or transformation

Visibility with these stakeholders changes outcomes. It increases trust, shortens cycles, and raises the likelihood that a role is shaped around you rather than advertised generically.

Consistency Over Time

Senior moves take longer — and that’s normal.

Momentum compounds when:

• outreach is sustained
• positioning is consistent
• conversations build over time

Short bursts followed by silence rarely work.

Why Senior Research & Insights Searches Stall

Many senior searches stall not because candidates lack ability, but because their approach does not match how hiring actually works at this level.

Common causes include:

• Over-reliance on inbound applications
• Waiting for recruiters to “call when something comes up”
• Being visible only at late stages
• Underestimating how informal senior hiring really is

None of this reflects poorly on the candidate.
It reflects the reality of senior hiring dynamics.

Realistic Timeframes for Senior Research & Insights Moves

A lack of immediate progress is often misinterpreted as failure — when it is simply normal.

Typical timeframes:

• 3–6 months for Head of Research or Head of Insights roles
• 6–12 months for Director, VP, or Chief-level roles
• Longer timelines where roles involve transformation or board alignment

Early conversations rarely translate into immediate offers. They build familiarity and position you ahead of time.

Typical UK compensation ranges (directional)

Indicative ranges. Actual compensation varies by scope, sector, reporting line, and mandate.

What We’re Seeing in the Senior Research & Insights Market Right Now

Fewer advertised roles, more latent demand

We are seeing fewer openly advertised senior research and insights roles, but more unacknowledged demand inside organisations. In many cases, leadership knows insight is not landing — but the role has not yet been formalised.

This is why many senior opportunities never appear publicly — and why anticipating demand is more effective than reacting to vacancies.

Insight roles are being pulled closer to strategy

Titles matter less than where insight sits. What is commanding stronger compensation right now:

• insight leaders reporting into CEO, Chief Strategy, or GM roles
• mandates tied to growth, transformation, pricing, or risk
• leaders trusted to challenge decisions, not just inform them

What is stalling:

• pure research-delivery leadership
• roles buried under marketing operations or analytics
• insight functions positioned as support rather than leverage

Salary compression and scope expansion

We are also seeing modest salary growth alongside significantly broader remits — with expanded responsibility without immediate pay correction. This creates tension: strong candidates feel underpaid, while boards hesitate to re-level compensation without confidence.

In practice, compensation often follows demonstrated influence, not initial scope — which again rewards early positioning, visibility, and mandate clarity.

Permanent vs Interim: How Senior Insight Leaders Are Being Engaged

Alongside permanent hiring, interim and fractional insight leadership is quietly increasing — particularly in financial services, insurance, PE-backed businesses, and transformation-heavy environments. Many senior insight roles are now being tested via interim, shaped through advisory, and converted to permanent only after trust is established.

How Senior Research & Insights Leaders Typically Work With Us

Senior insights leaders who work with us are not outsourcing responsibility — they are adding structure and leverage.

We run a parallel, proactive track alongside networking, referrals, and recruiter relationships.

Typically, this involves:

• clarifying leadership positioning and narrative
• identifying the right organisations before roles exist
• mapping relevant decision-makers
• conducting discreet, credible outreach
• maintaining momentum while the candidate remains employed

This approach is about control and visibility — not shortcuts.

If This Reflects Your Situation

This approach is not right for everyone.

It works best for experienced research and insights leaders who:

• have a strong track record
• know the environments they thrive in
• want to be intentional rather than reactive