Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
Browse all 229 roles Brief us on a seatFlat 15% of first-year base · shortlist in 10 working days
A market research analyst tells leadership where demand is and how large it is: market sizing, segment analysis, survey design and the secondary research behind a plan. Polished decks are easy to show, so we screen for numbers they sized and later saw confirmed, how they handle a weak sample, and whether a decision changed because of their work.
Research earns its place when a plan, a board paper or an expansion decision rests on its numbers. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
The plan, the segments and the decisions coming up, plus what leadership already believes about demand. Lists which of those beliefs have never been checked.
On track looks like a short list of open questions ranked by the decision each one affects.
How we test for it before you meet them
A scoping exercise in our screen: a described expansion question. We score the questions they ask, the sources they would use and how they would size it.
Weeks 3 to 6
A size for the market or segment built from total market figures and from buyers upward, with every assumption written down and the gap between the two explained.
On track looks like two estimates that agree within a range the team can use, and a list of what would change them.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a market size they produced and what later turned out to be right or wrong. A former manager confirms the outcome.
Weeks 7 to 10
A survey or a set of buyer interviews designed with a clear sample, a screener and questions that do not lead, and a plain statement of what the sample can and cannot say.
On track looks like a completed study with a defensible sample and a readout leaders trust.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they handled a weak sample or a surprising result. Analysts who never found one have rarely run a study.
Weeks 11 to 13
Findings written as a recommendation: what the evidence says, how sure it is, what to do and what to watch, short enough for an executive to read.
On track looks like a decision, such as a segment, a price or a launch date, changed because of the research.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call with a leader who used their work: what they decided, and how the analyst handled a result nobody wanted.
After day 90
Strong analysts set up a steady cadence of tracking and ad hoc requests, with a shared library so earlier work is found and reused.
On track looks like a research calendar and a library that other teams use before they ask for new work.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask which question they would research first at your company and why. A specific answer tied to a decision predicts the analyst who gets listened to.
Five responsibilities. If the seat is mainly competitor tracking, it is a competitive intelligence analyst; if it is mainly customer interviews, it is a buyer insights seat.
How large a market or segment is, built two ways, with every assumption written down.
Which buyers are worth pursuing, where demand is growing and where it is not.
Samples, screeners and questions designed so the result can be trusted.
Industry reports, public data and filings read critically and summarized for a decision.
Findings as a recommendation, with the confidence and the limits stated.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a research hire ends up building dashboards or tracking competitors all week.
That seat ownsTracking competitors: positioning, pricing, launches and win and loss patterns against named rivals.
Hire it instead whenwin rate is falling against a named rival and nobody tracks what changed.
That seat ownsInterviews and research with buyers about why they choose, switch or stay.
Hire it instead whenthe question is why customers decide, rather than how large a market is.
That seat ownsPredictive models, forecasts and experiments built on your own data.
Hire it instead whenthe need is prediction from first-party data, not external market evidence.
The title stays the same; the questions do not. Pick the one that matches your decisions.
Sizes markets and segments for planning, expansion and investment decisions.
Designs and runs surveys and studies with buyers, customers and non-customers.
The first dedicated researcher, who answers whatever leadership asks and builds the library.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers that held up | Figures quoted from a single source, with no method. | Sizes built two ways, with assumptions stated and later outcomes checked. |
| Study design | Convenient samples presented as representative. | Samples, screeners and questions designed well, with limits stated. |
| Honesty about confidence | Confident conclusions from thin evidence. | Plain statements of how sure the evidence is and what would change it. |
| Decisions changed | Deliverables with no decision attached. | A decision that changed because of their work, confirmed by the leader. |
| Fit with your questions | Consumer research for a B2B question, or the reverse. | Has researched markets like yours: your buyers, your segments, your deal size. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Salary.com’s market research analyst band is narrow, and Built In’s self-reported average total of $91,292 sits well above it. The BLS band is wider because one occupation covers research analysts and marketing specialists in every industry. Analysts who own sizing and primary research sit toward the manager figures as they gain scope.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Average total pay, base plus variable
Market Research Analyst
Salary.com base, Built In total
$69,232 to $75,036 base$91,292 average total
Competitive Intelligence Analyst
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$105,634 to $127,789 base
Market Research Manager
Salary.com base benchmark, the next seat
$113,329 to $137,174 base
Market research analysts and marketing specialists
BLS, all industries
$58,350 to $108,310
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Market Research Analyst ring: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 12, 2026. Market research analysts and marketing specialists: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 13-1161), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A market research analyst finds out where demand is and how large it is. They size markets and segments, design surveys and buyer studies, read industry and public data critically, and write findings as recommendations. In a go-to-market team the work feeds planning, expansion, pricing and positioning decisions. Good analysts also say how confident each finding is.
Salary.com puts a market research analyst at $69,232 to $75,036 base, with a median of $73,064 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures show a $69,797 median base and $91,292 average total pay. The BLS band for research analysts and marketing specialists runs from $58,350 to $108,310. Seniority and scope move the number.
A market research analyst studies the outside world: market size, segments, buyers and competitors, often with surveys and secondary sources. A data analyst works on your own data: funnels, campaigns and customers. Some roles blend both. If the question is how large a market is or why buyers choose, hire research.
An agency suits a large one-off study with a fixed scope, such as a survey of a thousand buyers. An in-house analyst pays off when decisions need research every month: sizing, segment checks, pricing and positioning. They learn your market, reuse earlier work and answer quickly. We recruit the in-house seat.
Market sizing, survey and interview design, basic statistics, critical reading of secondary sources, and writing a clear recommendation. Tool lists matter less than evidence of numbers they sized that held up and a decision that changed because of their work. Ask to see a study end to end, with the sample and the limits stated, and how a leader used the result.
Describe an expansion question and ask how they would size the market, which sources they would use and what they would ask you first. An hour is enough. It shows judgment and honesty about uncertainty, which polished decks hide. Avoid long unpaid studies: strong candidates decline them. A short, paid trial project is fairer if you need more.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated analysts, each with our scoping exercise scored and past work checked with a former manager. Interview speed decides the rest: good analysts rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within a week of the first interview keeps them.
Tell us the decisions research has to inform and what you know about the market today. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for research roles, or send your CV and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The market research analyst is one of five seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.