How to hire a senior research analyst

How to hire a senior research analyst, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior research analyst hiring guide:

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

What does a senior research analyst do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a senior research analyst, 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

   Hiring the perfect senior research analyst also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of senior research analysts and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Senior Research Analyst	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Research Analyst	Market research analysts study market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They help companies understand what products people want, who will buy them, and at what price.	$27-47
   Analyst Sales	Analyst sales, or a sales analyst, is a professional who is responsible for increasing sales and revenue of a company by running competitive analysis and making recommendations on how the marketing and sales team should move forward. Sales analysts must assist in the review of monthly financial statements and prepare complex financial statements for retail and service businesses... Show more	$22-47
   Analyst Lead	The duties of an analyst lead depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis, coordinating with different departments to gather leads and data, reviewing findings, and producing reports and presentations for the stakeholders and other higher-ranking officials... Show more	$35-58

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Analytics
   • Data Analysis
   • Data Collection
   • PowerPoint
   • Research Projects
   • Healthcare
   • Market Research
   • SAS
   • Research Data
   • Visualization
   • Emerging Technologies
   • Project Management
   • SPSS
   • Research Reports

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage research department employees and resources, operational budget preparation and oversight.
   • Work with SAS to manipulate data and perform analysis by using macros, metadata, loops, counts and macro variables.
   • Develop and automate front-end data querying and reporting tools for client presentations and reports in VBA and SQL.
   • Conduct statistical analyses with SAS using grocery store scanner data of consumer package goods for test households throughout the U.S.
   • Develop and redesign SQL databases for condensation and reporting efficiency.
   • Analyze quantitative project data using SPSS and serve as statistical consultant for company.

   More senior research analyst duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior research analyst job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A senior research analyst salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, senior research analysts' average salary in idaho is 46% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior research analysts earn 42% less than senior-level senior research analysts.
   • Certifications. A senior research analyst with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a senior research analyst's salary.

   Average senior research analyst salary

   $75,056yearly

   $36.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior research analyst salary

   $57,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average senior research analyst salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$106,097	$51
   2	California	$99,072	$48
   3	New York	$89,140	$43
   4	District of Columbia	$80,139	$39
   5	Connecticut	$79,986	$38
   6	Delaware	$79,768	$38
   7	Texas	$79,156	$38
   8	Illinois	$76,653	$37
   9	Minnesota	$75,797	$36
   10	Oregon	$73,918	$36
   11	Georgia	$73,288	$35
   12	Colorado	$73,286	$35
   13	Virginia	$72,999	$35
   14	North Carolina	$71,621	$34
   15	Massachusetts	$71,554	$34
   16	Pennsylvania	$71,297	$34
   17	Missouri	$69,518	$33
   18	Ohio	$68,069	$33
   19	Arkansas	$67,792	$33
   20	Maryland	$67,107	$32

   Average senior research analyst salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$164,175	$78.93	175
   2	BNY Mellon	$153,303	$73.70	6
   3	The Brattle Group	$152,048	$73.10	17
   4	Netflix	$145,352	$69.88	13
   5	Apple	$141,180	$67.88	43
   6	Microsoft	$140,253	$67.43	256
   7	State Street	$136,022	$65.40	2
   8	Merrill Lynch	$135,771	$65.27
   9	Neuberger Berman	$135,709	$65.24	15
   10	Forest Investment Associates	$135,585	$65.19
   11	Twilio	$133,545	$64.20
   12	BGC Partners	$133,086	$63.98
   13	Chime	$132,028	$63.48
   14	Barclays	$131,369	$63.16	13
   15	Ford Motor	$130,424	$62.70	17
   16	Mayo Clinic	$129,234	$62.13	182
   17	Hedge Fund	$128,997	$62.02	1
   18	Bunge	$128,712	$61.88	3
   19	Workday	$127,753	$61.42
   20	Calamos Investments	$126,946	$61.03	1

4. Writing a senior research analyst job description

   A job description for a senior research analyst role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior research analyst job description:

   Senior research analyst job description example

   The role will be based at our Foster City office, in the Bay Area.
   
   Positioned within Visa's Corporate Strategy group, Visa's Knowledge Services team is dedicated to providing research assistance and access to payment industry research to individuals across Visa globally. Among its key functions, the team manages an internal website that is accessible to all Visa personnel. The site hosts searchable research content relating to the payments sector licensed through various research subscription services. In addition, the team provides research support for colleagues around Visa globally, responding to research requests by conducting preliminary online research and conveying findings to the requester. The team also oversees the distribution of a daily email newsletter, schedules monthly webinars on topics of broad interest in the payments industry and maintains a steady communications flow with users highlighting new research resources and materials as they become available. The team continually engages with the IT, legal and sourcing teams to ensure the smooth functioning of Knowledge Services and on-going development of its intranet platform.
   
   Essential Functions
   
   As a member of a small team, core duties for the Senior Research Analyst include:
   
   Research Support. Provide research support to Visa teams globally. Interact directly with Visa colleagues to understand the nature of the request, as needed. Search various sources including syndicated research reports housed in the Knowledge Center, databases available to the Knowledge Center and external resources.
   
   Content Curation. Select, review, tag and upload research documents to the Knowledge Services platform. Participate in efforts to improve the taxonomy and overall process.
   
   Communications. Participate, if needed, in creating and managing the distribution of Knowledge Center news materials to alert users of new research reports, services, etc.
   
   Other. Additional activities, as determined by the team manager and team needs, may include assistance with Sourcing/Procurement, IT and other needs.
   
   This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office two days a week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% of the time based on business needs.
   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior research analyst for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior research analysts they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior research analysts who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior research analyst job on Zippia to find and recruit senior research analyst candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit senior research analysts, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 senior research analyst

   Once you've decided on a perfect senior research analyst candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new senior research analyst first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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