Senior Consultant, Intelligence

APCO•Washington, DC

5d•$92,000 - $116,000

About The Position

APCO Intelligence, APCO’s research, analytics and AI-powered insights practice, is seeking a Senior Consultant to join its Integrated Services team. The position may be based in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago or Raleigh. The Intelligence team combines qualitative and quantitative opinion research, data science and digital media analysis to help clients understand their operating environments, audiences and media landscape, and to inform advisory and advocacy strategies. The practice is transforming its work around expert-led, AI-powered opinion research, using APCO’s AI infrastructure—including its proprietary Enterprise AI Stack and Margy platform—while maintaining methodological rigor, respondent integrity and provenance. In this hands-on role, the Senior Consultant will design, execute and analyze primary qualitative and quantitative opinion research using APCO’s AI-powered research infrastructure and partnerships. The role calls for experience applying AI across the opinion research lifecycle and a willingness to experiment with new approaches. Although primarily focused on opinion research, the role also collaborates across secondary research, digital and social media analytics, data science and other AI-enabled solutions to develop holistic, data-informed client strategies.

Requirements

4–7 years of relevant public opinion research, brand insights or market research experience.
Hands-on experience applying AI tools within an opinion research workflow, with the ability to describe specific projects where AI improved research design, speed or quality.
Bachelor’s degree in a related field from an accredited college or university.
Deep understanding of and interest in reputation and general business issues facing communications and public affairs leaders.
Exceptional presentation, writing and analytical skills, including the ability to write strategically under tight deadlines.
Strong attention to detail, deadline orientation and judgment about where AI can accelerate work and where human research judgment must remain in control.
Experience managing project budgets.
Entrepreneurial spirit and a collaborative team inclination.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on tracker study experience.
A master’s degree and/or graduate work in a relevant field, such as survey research, mathematics, statistics, sociology, psychology, political science, public affairs or health policy.
An appetite for continued experimentation, eagerness to learn and help shape platforms like Margy, and comfort working in a research practice where methods, tools and workflows are evolving.

Responsibilities

Design, field and analyze AI-powered survey research studies, particularly reputation, brand and issue programs.
Lead hands-on execution of research projects using APCO’s AI infrastructure and partnerships, including AI-assisted instrument development, sample design, questionnaire programming, data collection management, analysis planning, synthesis and reporting, while upholding methodological rigor, respondent integrity and provenance standards.
Serve as a day-to-day client and colleague contact on assigned accounts, present findings and answer questions from client teams.
Apply working knowledge of AI tools throughout the research process, from questionnaire and discussion guide drafting to analysis, insight generation and reporting, and pilot new AI applications for the opinion research practice.
Partner with colleagues on Margy and other Intelligence and AI solutions, contributing opinion research expertise, sampling logic and survey methodology.
Recommend research approaches suited to research objectives, audiences and resources, drawing on AI-powered opinion research, digital and social listening, and data analytics.
Translate findings into narratives that explain the reasons behind the data and inform client advisory and advocacy strategies.
Mentor and coach early-career team members on research fundamentals and AI-powered ways of working.
Support business development for existing and prospective accounts, including proposals and pitches.
Manage project budgets and timelines on assigned workstreams to help ensure profitable, on-time delivery.