Senior Research Lead (Thought Leadership), Customer Insights

Research Lead

Join Salesforce's Customer Insights team, a core function within the marketing organization responsible for delivering objective, actionable insights that shape our marketing strategy and external narrative.

As Research Lead you will own research across two of the team's most visible programs:
Buyer Insights, which informs how Salesforce goes to market, and Thought Leadership, which shapes our external narrative through major public-facing reports. You bring both research rigor and editorial instinct: you know how to design a credible study and how to make the findings land.

This is a hands-on role for someone with strong research instincts, a curiosity about buyers and the broader market landscape, and the drive to turn findings into stories that influence real decisions. Experience using AI to accelerate and enhance research work is a must.

• Lead and Execute Primary Research.
• Synthesize Across Programs. Connect dots across buyer insights, thought leadership findings, and other team research to surface integrated conclusions.
• Drive Stakeholder Alignment and Research Strategy. Scope studies with a clear point of view on what they'll answer and why it's worth the investment. Build the case compellingly when budget needs to comes from stakeholders — connecting the research to decisions they already care about. Proactively engage stakeholders to ensure research is scoped, prioritized, and positioned to drive real decisions.
• Data Visualization & Storytelling. Translate quantitative findings into clear, compelling visuals that communicate a "so what" to any audience. Strong data storytelling — choosing the right chart, framing the right narrative, and building slides that drive decisions — is as critical in this role as strong writing.
• Bring a Storyteller's Instinct. Understand how findings connect to the market's broader narrative, what resonates with media and business audiences, and how to position insights for external impact — not only accuracy, but also value and influence.
• Leverage AI to Scale Your Impact. Use AI tools across the research lifecycle, from study design and analysis to synthesis and storytelling. Bring a curious, experimental mindset to finding where AI accelerates your work, and share what you learn with the broader team.
• Manage Suppliers and Research Partners. Own day-to-day relationships with external research agencies and vendors, holding them to high standards of quality and keeping projects on track.

• Genuine Curiosity — About buyers, business, technology, and the world. The best researchers bring outside context in, not just the data they collected.
• Research Experience — A strong foundation in primary research, quant crucial, qual a plus. You know how to design a credible study, interpret the results honestly, and know the limits of what the data can tell you.
• AI Fluency — You've built workflows around AI tools and have a point of view on what works. You'd never let AI distort a finding in the name of a cleaner story.
• Comfort with Ambiguity — You know how to make progress when things are unclear, and when to escalate rather than push through alone.
• Strong Editorial Instincts — You write and edit well. You know the difference between a finding and a story, and you can close that gap. You've worked in or alongside communications, content, or PR — or you've just always written like it mattered.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you'll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we'll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what's possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.

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Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all…