Principal Strategic Researcher

Zillow

1d•$173,000 - $290,900•Remote

About The Position

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. This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

Requirements

Extensive experience (10+ years) executing research in a product-focused environment.
Developed a comprehensive mixed-methods research toolkit and consistently choose 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 your work has changed.
Demonstrated success influencing senior leaders and executives through clear storytelling, strong points of view, and trusted relationships built over time.
Thrive 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.
Have an ownership mindset; you act as a strategic operator, not just a researcher.
Hands-on experience experimenting with AI tools in your research workflow and curiosity to push what’s possible.

Nice To Haves

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.

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 your strategic research into durable, reusable knowledge.
Raise the bar for research craft and customer judgment alongside your Zillow Customer Research colleagues.
Use AI tools to amplify your strengths and flex your creativity in how you land your learnings and influence partners.