Research Interviewer at IANS (Boston, MA)Research Interviewer

The Research Interviewer role, within the New Product Development team, will primarily support qualitative data collection efforts, conducting 10-20 structured interviews with senior security executives per week.  This is a research role, not a call-center role, and you will lead interviews following established protocols, and is a key contributor to IANS data collection efforts.

Core Responsibilities

Interview Coordination & Scheduling (~50% of time)

• Manage an assigned caseload of cybersecurity executives, lead outreach and recruitment, scheduling, and note-taking review (AI tools will supplement)
• Use IANS resources (such as account managers) to reach executives on caseload, ensuring outreach is proactive and timely
• Maintain a master tracker of interviews completed and flag coverage gaps to Director in advance of target deadlines

Conducting Interviews & Data Review (~50% of time)

• Conduct 10-20 (30 or 60-minute structured interviews online via Zoom, Teams) per week
• Adhere to the established interview protocol, showing judgment for using probing
• Ask intelligent, probing follow-up questions when responses are vague, surface-level, or inconsistent
• Record all interviews (with consent) and capture real-time notes during the call to supplement the automated recording and transcription
• Edit and process verbatim quotes from interview recordings: remove filler words (e.g., “um,”), fix grammar, and ensure quotes are fully coherent and attributable — while preserving the interviewee’s authentic voice
• Proactively flag data quality issues for Director, and ensure all data is properly tagged for later review and integration into the data stream

Requirements:

Must-Haves:

• 5 years of relevant experience, or a bachelor’s degree + 1 year of relevant experience with executives/senior professionals
• Highly organized, quick and self-directed learner, able to get up to speed (with direction and support) on the cybersecurity space, including key products and terminology used by executives
• Ability to ‘read the room’, build relationships, and direct conversations with senior level executives
• A client-first mentality—our clients are our first priority, and you will be representing IANS while interviewing them

Nice-to-Have:

• Experience interfacing with other teams, coordinating client outreach, scheduling, and follow-up
• Experience working with quotas and targets, in market or applied research settings
• Qualitative data collection experience
• B2B experience strongly preferred
• Familiarity with cybersecurity concepts and terminology
• Experience with Qualtrics and other data collection tools; AI tools (e.g., Copilot)

Not-Needed:

• Deep/senior level cybersecurity experience