Vice President of Product and Market Research

Vice President, Product & Market Research
Location: United States | Full-Time | Remote / Hybrid / On-site
Reports To: Chief Product Officer
About the Role
We are looking for a Vice President, Product & Market Research to lead product research, market intelligence, customer insights, and competitive analysis in support of the organization's product strategy and business objectives.
This is a senior leadership role responsible for identifying market opportunities, evaluating customer needs, assessing competitive products, and translating research findings into actionable recommendations. The VP will help ensure that product decisions are informed by reliable market data, customer feedback, industry trends, and a clear understanding of the competitive landscape.
You will work closely with executive leadership and partner across Product, Marketing, Technology, Sales, Business Development, Operations, and Customer Experience. The role will help establish structured research processes, improve product-market understanding, and provide decision-makers with the insights needed to prioritize product initiatives and support sustainable growth.
The ideal candidate combines strong research capabilities with product knowledge, analytical rigor, commercial awareness, and the ability to translate complex information into practical business recommendations.
Responsibilities
• Lead the Product & Market Research function, including market intelligence, customer research, product analysis, competitive assessments, and strategic insights.
• Develop research strategies and methodologies that support product planning, market positioning, customer acquisition, and business development priorities.
• Conduct market assessments to identify industry trends, customer segments, unmet needs, emerging opportunities, and potential areas for product expansion.
• Analyze competitor products, features, pricing, positioning, service models, and market strategies to identify differentiation opportunities.
• Lead qualitative and quantitative research initiatives, including customer interviews, surveys, market studies, product feedback analysis, and industry assessments.
• Translate research findings into clear recommendations for product roadmaps, feature prioritization, product positioning, and market entry decisions.
• Partner with Product and Technology teams to evaluate product concepts, assess user requirements, and validate proposed improvements before implementation.
• Work with Marketing and Sales teams to understand customer expectations, market demand, competitive objections, and product adoption challenges.
• Establish structured processes for collecting, validating, analyzing, documenting, and distributing product and market intelligence.
• Develop market sizing, customer segmentation, demand assessments, and opportunity evaluations to support strategic planning and resource allocation.
• Monitor changes in customer behavior, industry conditions, technology developments, and competitive activity that may affect product performance or market demand.
• Develop research reports, executive briefings, dashboards, scorecards, and presentations that communicate key findings and recommended actions.
• Establish product research frameworks to evaluate customer satisfaction, product usability, feature adoption, perceived value, and unmet customer needs.
• Collaborate with Customer Experience and Customer Success teams to identify recurring feedback patterns and translate them into product improvement opportunities.
• Support new product launches by assessing target markets, customer demand, competitive positioning, and potential barriers to adoption.
• Evaluate new market segments, customer groups, distribution channels, and product opportunities through structured research and feasibility analysis.
• Work with Finance and business leaders to assess commercial assumptions, market opportunities, product investment priorities, and potential business outcomes.
• Manage relationships with external research firms, data providers, consultants, and other partners supporting research initiatives.
• Establish appropriate standards for research quality, data integrity, analytical consistency, and the responsible use of customer information.
• Track the effectiveness of research initiatives and continuously improve research tools, methodologies, reporting, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Product & Market Research team as organizational requirements expand.
• Maintain a high standard of analytical rigor, objectivity, confidentiality, accuracy, and accountability across research activities.
What We're Looking For
We are looking for a senior research leader who combines strong market analysis and customer insight capabilities with product understanding and sound business judgment.
The strongest candidates will typically have:
• 20+ years of progressive experience in product research, market research, product strategy, customer insights, competitive intelligence, business analytics, or a related field.
• Significant leadership experience managing product research, market intelligence, customer insights, or strategic research functions.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing research programs that inform product development, market positioning, and business strategy.
• Strong understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods, market analysis, customer segmentation, competitive intelligence, and product evaluation.
• Experience translating research findings into product recommendations, business cases, market assessments, and executive-level insights.
• Strong analytical skills, including experience working with market data, customer feedback, industry reports, and competitive information.
• Experience collaborating with Product, Technology, Marketing, Sales, Business Development, and executive leadership.
• Familiarity with product analytics platforms, customer research tools, survey systems, business intelligence solutions, and data visualization tools.
• Experience evaluating product-market fit, customer demand, feature adoption, market opportunities, and competitive differentiation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex findings in a clear and actionable manner.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple research projects, establish priorities, and deliver reliable findings within defined timelines.
• Experience managing external research providers, consultants, data vendors, and cross-functional research initiatives.
• Strong project management, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent judgment, attention to detail, and commitment to maintaining research integrity and data confidentiality.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Statistics, Research, Product Management, or a related field required. MBA, master's degree, or other relevant advanced credentials are strongly preferred.
Experience in financial services, fintech, payments, banking, brokerage, trading, technology, SaaS, or other data-driven industries is a plus.
We are also interested in candidates from market research firms, consulting organizations, technology companies, financial institutions, consumer businesses, and organizations with established product research or market intelligence functions.
Location and Work Arrangement
This position is based in the United States. The company offers remote, hybrid, and on-site working arrangements depending on the individual, location, and business needs.
Travel may be required as needed for research activities, leadership meetings, customer interviews, industry conferences, partner discussions, strategic planning, and team meetings.
Compensation and Benefits
The company offers a competitive executive compensation package, including:
• Competitive executive base salary
• Annual performance-based incentive
• Equity appreciation opportunities
• 401(k) retirement benefits
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off and company holidays
• Professional development and industry training
• Reimbursement for approved business travel
Final compensation will depend on experience, qualifications, and the scope of the role.

Work arrangement
Yes