Principal Strategic Researcher

Zillow focuses its strategic researchers on high-risk opportunities that are ambiguous, moldable, and ripe for de-risking. As Principal Strategic Researcher, you'll bring structure, creativity, and foresight to these areas through deep partnership with product, design, engineering, and business leaders. You'll go where the business needs this capability most, and that focus will shift as Zillow's priorities evolve.

Responsibilities

Identify the customer-focused questions that matter the most in ambiguous spaces; Design and execute mixed-methods research approaches to answer those questions, choosing the rigor and speed needed to influence decision-making; Shape product strategy through close partnership with senior product, design, engineering, and business leaders; Build and refresh Zillow's foundational customer understanding by turning strategic research into durable, reusable knowledge; Raise the bar for research craft and customer judgment alongside Zillow Customer Research colleagues; Use AI tools to amplify strengths and flex creativity in how learnings are landed and partners are influenced

Requirements

Extensive experience (10+ years) executing research in a product-focused environment; Developed a comprehensive mixed-methods research toolkit and consistently chooses the right approach for the problem, the risk, and the decision at hand; Led strategic research that shaped product or business direction, and can point to decisions the work has changed; Demonstrated success influencing senior leaders and executives through clear storytelling, strong points of view, and trusted relationships built over time; Thrives in ambiguity and can define a path forward when the problem, the audience, and the approach are still taking shape; Created frameworks and models to codify, communicate, and land findings with partners; Has an ownership mindset and acts as a strategic operator, not just a researcher; Hands-on experience experimenting with AI tools in the research workflow and curiosity to push what's possible

Nice to have

Experience drawing on behavioral science, psychology, or decision science frameworks to explain customer behavior or frame problems; Partnered with data science or product teams to design or interpret experiments, and combined attitudinal and behavioral evidence

Benefits

Competitive base salary; Eligibility for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location; Cloud HQ distributed work model allowing flexibility to work from wherever most productive