How to hire a research staff member

How to hire a research staff member, step by step

Here's a step-by-step research staff member hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a research staff member job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new research staff member
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a research staff member do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a research staff member, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A research staff member's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, research staff members from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents research staff member salaries for various positions.

   Type of Research Staff Member	Description	Hourly rate
   Research Staff Member	Medical scientists conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings.	$37-75
   Doctoral Fellow	A doctoral fellow is a physician that has completed studies and receives a fellowship to cover his/her or her expenses while completing his/her or her medical dissertation. A doctor fellow undergoes this fellowship to get additional training for their chosen sub-specialty... Show more	$18-34
   Fellow	A fellow's responsibility will depend on the organization or industry where one belongs. However, most of the time, a fellow's duty will revolve around conducting research and analysis, presiding discussions and attending dialogues, handle lectures while complying with the guidelines or tasks set by supervisors, and assist in various projects and activities... Show more	$22-44

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Python
   • Machine Learning
   • Research Projects
   • DOE
   • Data Analysis
   • Java
   • C
   • C++
   • Architecture
   • System Design
   • Adaptive
   • Cloud Computing
   • Linux
   • Distributed Computing

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Invent and develop new (user) input technology then lead the design and prototyping of its applications.
   • Design, analyze, and oversee HIV relate research projects including IRB protocol.
   • Perform testing for urinalysis, blood sugar, EKG, eye examinations, and blood pressure.
   • Prove that single amino acid changes affect protein oligomerization as well as DNA / RNA - protein binding.
   • Develop advance visualization components and diagrams using C++ third party libraries.
   • Research chemistry and biology projects pertaining to the synthesis of gamma amino derivatives

   More research staff member duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your research staff member job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A research staff member salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a research staff member in Mississippi may be lower than in Connecticut, and an entry-level research staff member usually earns less than a senior-level research staff member. Additionally, a research staff member with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average research staff member salary

   $110,035yearly

   $52.90 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level research staff member salary

   $77,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average research staff member salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$126,691	$61
   2	Maryland	$113,270	$54
   3	Tennessee	$112,258	$54
   4	Arizona	$111,156	$53
   5	New York	$108,981	$52
   6	Massachusetts	$107,885	$52
   7	Washington	$105,026	$50
   8	Michigan	$101,093	$49
   9	Pennsylvania	$99,160	$48
   10	Virginia	$97,091	$47
   11	Illinois	$96,845	$47
   12	North Carolina	$90,478	$44
   13	Texas	$87,378	$42
   14	Missouri	$78,168	$38
   15	Nebraska	$76,473	$37
   16	Utah	$66,583	$32

   Average research staff member salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	PARC	$138,056	$66.37
   2	Western Digital	$137,779	$66.24	6
   3	IBM	$134,623	$64.72	67
   4	NVIDIA	$131,839	$63.38	33
   5	MERL	$130,431	$62.71	8
   6	Xerox	$130,355	$62.67
   7	Nokia	$130,310	$62.65	29
   8	QuantumScape	$129,042	$62.04	1
   9	Adobe	$125,347	$60.26	13
   10	Seagate Technology	$124,158	$59.69	9
   11	Massachusetts General Hospital	$122,930	$59.10	1
   12	Fujitsu	$121,854	$58.58	13
   13	Henry Ford Health System	$121,091	$58.22
   14	Twilio	$118,947	$57.19	2
   15	Visa	$118,123	$56.79	35
   16	Lenovo	$115,717	$55.63	1
   17	Philips Lighting North America	$115,615	$55.58
   18	General Motors	$114,840	$55.21	396
   19	USG	$111,623	$53.66	3
   20	Philips	$107,561	$51.71

4. Writing a research staff member job description

   A research staff member job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a research staff member job description:

   Research staff member job description example

   Mailchimp is a leading marketing platform for small businesses. We empower millions of customers around the world to build their brands and grow their companies with a suite of marketing automation, multichannel campaigns, CRM, and analytics tools.
   
   This role sits on the Customer & Market Insights team within the Strategy department, a growing department at Mailchimp that supports the creation and deployment of corporate strategy and helps guide internal teams on driving business growth.
   
   As a Staff Researcher on our Customer Research team, you will be embedded on one of our strategic initiative cross-functional teams, responsible for elevating the customer voice and ensuring strategic decisions lead with the customer in mind. You listen hard, observe everything, and can skillfully synthesize large amounts of information into actionable insights. You take the lead on complex, high visibility projects, synthesize multiple data sources to tell a holistic story, and adeptly socialize insights across your initiative and to executive audiences.
   
   You will be an experienced researcher who excels in connecting the dots, a deft interviewer, a survey expert, and a persuasive storyteller. You must be comfortable working solo, managing vendors, and collaborating across Mailchimp's Strategy, Marketing, Product, Customer, and CX & Design teams.
   What you'll bring
   
   + 7+ years of experience leading qualitative and quantitative primary research projects (ideally within a product team or product organization)
   
   + Experience with segmentation, persona development, ethnography, market share / sizing, customer journey mapping, messaging / positioning / naming research, and concept testing
   
   + Experience conducting research to inform the discovery phase of the product development lifecycle
   
   + Expertise in writing discussion guides and moderating interviews, designing and fielding surveys, analyzing and visualizing data, and translating findings into strategic frameworks and recommendations
   
   + Experience managing third party vendors (full service agencies, sample providers, etc.)
   
   + Strong oral and written communication skills - ability to present insights to all levels of management in ways that make it easy for stakeholders to understand and act upon
   
   + Strong project management skills - ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and scope resources, timing, and budget for complex, multi-phased projects
   
   + Strong collaboration skills - ability to identify stakeholders, build cross-functional relationships, facilitate workshops, and work together towards a common goal
   
   + Confidence working with ambiguity, unknown variables, and missing context (and finding ways to bridge those gaps, when necessary)
   
   + You are willing to travel a few times a year (once it is safe and appropriate)
   
   + Bonus: You have a background in or exposure to the software or SaaS space and you've worked to support a product team / initiative within the space
   
   How you will lead
   
   + You will act as end-to-end driver of mixed-methods research to inform initiative strategy (with a focus on GTM, marketing, and product strategy), leveraging surveys, 1st party data, social listening tools, interviews, and other sources
   
   + You will own and maintain an initiative-level research roadmap informed by consistent conversations with initiative leads and be comfortable prioritizing and making tradeoffs accordingly
   
   + You will provide input into critical decisions to help mitigate risk and drive innovation and business growth
   
   + You will build relationships and foster two-way knowledge sharing to build a 360 degree view of the customer related to your initiative with other insights teams such as Customer Research, Competitive Intelligence, Analytics, CX Voice of Customer, Experience/UX Research, and Support Insights
   
   + You will communicate and socialize insights and recommendations within and outside your initiative and up to leadership clearly, effectively, and diplomatically (through reports, presentations, casual conversations, cross-functional meetings, internal newsletters, workshops, emails, etc.)
   
   + You will model these behaviors to other researchers and guide them to improve their abilities
   
   EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability. Intuit will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with requirements of local law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find research staff members for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your research staff member job on Zippia to find and recruit research staff member candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting research staff members requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new research staff member

   Once you've found the research staff member candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new research staff member. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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