Senior Qualitative Consumer Researcher

At Bose Corporation, we believe sound is the most powerful force on earth — and for over 60 years, we have been a company built on innovation, excellence, and independence. Privately owned, fiercely customer-focused, and driven by our values, we continue to lead industries and transform lives through sound. 

  

Today, Bose Corporation is entering an exciting new era. Across multiple global Business Units and Global Functions, we are shaping the future of audio technology, automotive, luxury, and premium experiences. We invite you to join us in this transformation. 

Job Description

About Consumer Research & Insights

CRI is Bose's internal strategic research consultancy. We partner with product, marketing, brand, and executive teams to build deep understanding of consumers: who they are, what they need, how they decide, and where the opportunities are.

Our work spans the full value chain. Positioning and communications research sharpens how Bose shows up in market. Shopper research informs how and where consumers encounter and choose our products. Foundational research shapes product vision and category strategy. We cover a lot of ground with a small team, and we do it well.

The role

This role sits at the intersection of Product, Marketing, and Brand. You'll shape how consumer understanding informs product strategy, positioning, and go-to-market decisions. The work goes beyond study execution: you'll define learning agendas, frame ambiguous problems, and translate deep qualitative insight into clear strategic direction for cross-functional partners.

Most of your work will live in the marketing and brand space: understanding how consumers relate to Bose's products and categories, shaping product positioning and messaging, and building the foundational consumer understanding that informs how the brand communicates.

You'll occasionally contribute to product-side research as well, applying the same generative methods to upstream product questions when the business needs it. But the primary home for this role is marketing, brand, and communications.

You'll work across business units and product categories, embedded with cross-functional teams. As much as the research itself, this role is about the work before the work and the work after: helping stakeholders figure out the right question before a study begins, and making sure insights are activated and used after the research is delivered.

What you'll do

• Partner with marketing, brand, and product stakeholders to identify the most important consumer questions, scope research that addresses real business decisions, and align teams on what we need to learn before fieldwork begins.
• Lead foundational and generative qualitative research in the marketing and brand space: product positioning, messaging strategy, brand relevance, communications development, and consumer segmentation. This work shapes what Bose says, how it says it, and who it says it to.
• Partner with marketing and product teams to evaluate and refine positioning, claims, and narratives, ensuring consumer insights directly inform strategic choices.
• Design and execute qualitative research that spans early-stage concept development through go-to-market and in-market optimization, including communications and experience evaluation.
• Apply a range of qualitative methods across brand, marketing, and product questions: ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews, focus groups, contextual inquiry, diary studies, and exploration of unmet consumer needs. These methods are core to the role regardless of whether the work is marketing-focused, product-focused, or both.
• Define and lead qualitative learning agendas that address complex, ambiguous business questions, ensuring research efforts are focused on the decisions that matter most.
• Serve as a thought partner to stakeholders by framing the right questions, advising on research approaches, and synthesizing insights into clear implications and recommendations.
• Drive insight activation after research is delivered: ensuring findings reach the right stakeholders, are translated into actionable next steps, and are integrated into ongoing strategy and decision-making.
• Influence cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders through clear synthesis, compelling storytelling, and sound strategic judgment. You'll present to directors, VPs, and C-suite executives.
• Navigate ambiguity with confidence, advising teams on when research is needed, when it isn't, and how to balance speed, rigor, and impact.
• Partner closely with quantitative researchers so that qualitative findings and quantitative data inform each other. We treat qual and quant as complementary, not separate.
• Manage vendor and agency partnerships when projects call for external support, including oversight of international research. Maintain quality and rigor regardless of whether work is executed internally or through partners.
• Contribute to CRI's evolving research infrastructure, including adoption of emerging tools and AI-assisted research methods.

Who you are

You're a qualitative researcher with range who is equally comfortable doing generative, foundational work and more structured concept or communications research. You've probably worked in an in-house insights team, a consultancy, or an agency where you applied deep qualitative methods to marketing, brand, and positioning questions. You care about why people do what they do, and you're good at translating that into language that moves stakeholders.
 

You may come from a background in marketing research, consumer insights, design research, or a human sciences field like anthropology, sociology, or psychology. What matters most is that you have real depth in qualitative methods, can work generatively on strategic marketing questions, and know how to partner with stakeholders before, during, and after a project.
 

You thrive in this role if you have:

• Strong experience leading generative and foundational qualitative research on marketing and brand questions: product positioning, messaging strategy, communications development, brand relevance, and consumer segmentation.
• Deep expertise in qualitative methodologies, including in-depth interviews, generative research, ethnography, and concept exploration. You know when to use what and why.
• Strong capabilities in synthesis, pattern recognition, and narrative development. You turn complex inputs into clear insight frameworks that stakeholders can act on.
• A consultative approach to working with stakeholders. You know how to help teams figure out the right question before research begins, and you follow through to make sure insights are used after the work is delivered.
• Experience facilitating workshops and collaborative working sessions to align teams around insights and implications.
• Confidence engaging senior stakeholders. You're comfortable presenting to executives and know how to frame work that drives decisions.
• The ability to be self-directed. You can take a loosely defined business question and turn it into a well-scoped research plan without needing heavy guidance.
• Experience working with or alongside quantitative researchers. You don't need to run a regression, but you understand how qual and quant inform each other.
• Intellectual curiosity about the categories you research. Audio, consumer electronics, and the way people relate to technology in their lives should genuinely interest you.
• Familiarity with modern research tools and platforms (e.g., dScout, UserTesting, Dovetail, or similar), and curiosity about how AI is reshaping the research craft.
   

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience conducting qualitative consumer research, with demonstrated experience applying generative and foundational methods to marketing, brand, and positioning questions. Some quantitative experience is a plus.
• Bachelor's degree required. Master's or advanced degree in marketing, consumer behavior, anthropology, sociology, psychology, human factors, or a related field strongly preferred.
• Experience in consumer electronics, audio, or adjacent technology categories is a strong plus but not required. We'll prioritize research craft and versatility over category-specific experience.
• Occasional travel (10–25%) for fieldwork.

#LI-SS1

At Bose, you're inspired to be and do your best and are rewarded for your unique talents! Our compensation is thoughtfully tailored to your skills, experience, education, and location, and goes beyond base salary. The hiring range for this position in the primary work location of Framingham, Massachusetts is: $109,000-$149,950.The hiring range for other Bose work locations may vary. In addition to competitive base pay we offer rewards including bonus programs, comprehensive health and welfare benefits, a 401(k) plan, plus exclusive perks designed to support your wellbeing, and a generous employee discount where you can immerse yourself in our products and experiences. We are a proudly independent company—driven by purpose, guided by our values, and united by a belief in the power of sound. As the world leader in audio experiences, we’re creating what’s next—pushing boundaries and delivering transformative sound experiences for people everywhere. Join us and make your next career move a mic-drop. Let’s Make Waves.

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Bose is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristics. The EEOC’s “Know Your Rights: Workplace discrimination is illegal” Poster is available here: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf. Bose is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to [email protected]. Please include "Application Accommodation Request" in the subject of the email.

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Our goal is to create an atmosphere where every candidate feels supported and empowered in the interviewing process. Diversity and inclusion are integral to our success, and we believe that providing reasonable accommodation is not only a legal obligation but also a fundamental aspect of our commitment to being an employer of choice. We recognize that individuals may have different needs and requirements based on their abilities, and we provide reasonable accommodations to ensure ideal conditions are met during the application process.