Fractional Research Lead
Senior research leadership, without the full-time cost.
Your team is moving fast but you’re not ready to bring on a full-time research lead. I embed on a part-time basis, providing the strategic oversight, stakeholder alignment, and hands-on leadership your work needs.
Free 25-minute scoping call · No obligation
Who it’s for
If research is happening but not landing, this is why.
You have research happening. It’s just not consistently changing decisions. The problem isn’t the research. It’s the absence of someone whose job is to make it land.
How it works
Embedded, ongoing, and built around what your team needs.
01
Scope the engagement
We determine whether you need research leadership, research execution, team mentorship, or all three.
02
Set research priorities
I work with stakeholders to align on what questions matter most and build a research roadmap around them.
03
Lead the work
Design and oversee studies, run sessions, synthesize findings, and present to stakeholders so research actually shows up in decisions.
04
Build the practice
Mentor the team, establish standards, and make sure research outlasts the engagement.
A real example
A national automotive parts supplier came in needing research. They ended up rebuilding their entire UX research practice. What started as a nine-month field study across three customer groups evolved into embedded strategic leadership: aligning stakeholders, synthesizing findings, and feeding everything directly into a multi-year digital transformation program.
By the end of the engagement, the client asked me to stay on and help rebuild their UX research department from scratch. That’s what this engagement looks like at its best. Research that doesn’t sit in a report. Research that changes how an organization makes decisions.
See the full case study: Internal Journey Mapping and Capability Building →9 mos
embedded research leadership
Rebuilt
UX research department from scratch
FAQ
About the Research Lead engagement
How does fractional research leadership differ from project-based UX research?
Project-based research delivers findings and hands them off. Fractional research leadership is embedded and ongoing: strategic oversight, stakeholder alignment, and hands-on guidance week over week, so research actually influences the roadmap instead of just informing it.
Do you work with teams outside of Atlanta?
Yes, many of my clients are distributed across the US and I work with them remotely or on-site depending on what the engagement calls for.
How long do these engagements typically run?
It depends on what your team needs. Some clients bring me on for a single quarter to get a research function up and running. Others keep me on an ongoing basis as their research lead. We’ll scope it based on your situation, not a standard template.
Ready when you are
Ready to get research working for your roadmap?
Most engagements start with a short conversation about what your team is trying to decide. From there I scope an approach that fits.
Atlanta-based · available nationally