Freelance Researcher & Strategist

Freelance Researcher & Strategist

We are looking for a Freelance Researcher & Strategist with a passion for uncovering insights through research to join us as an Interim Researcher & Strategist. You will be working from either Amsterdam or Austin, working closely with both offices, but mainly for US based clients. While research will be your core focus, you’ll be expected to think strategically. Connecting dots between culture, audience behavior, and brand positioning.

This role is ideal for someone who can balance analytical rigor with creative thinking. You know your way around social listening tools and cultural trends, and you're skilled at turning insight into strategic direction.

What you’ll do

• Lead audience, cultural, and competitive research to inform brand positioning and communications strategy.
• Conduct social listening, desk research and user research to uncover behavioral and attitudinal insights.
• Translate research into strategic frameworks, brand narratives, and communication territories.
• Collaborate with strategists, creatives, and client teams to shape strategic approaches across campaigns and platforms.
• Use tools like Brandwatch and other social/digital analytics platforms to track conversations, map trends, and identify whitespace opportunities.
• Participate in brand and creative strategy development, supporting ongoing client initiatives.
• Stay plugged into culture, emerging behaviors, and platform shifts—and know how to make them relevant to the brands we work with.

What we need

• 5+ years of experience in communications or social strategy, cultural research, or audience insights gathering.
• Strong strategic thinking skills—able to see the big picture and connect insight to brand action.
• Solid experience with social listening and digital research tools (Brandwatch a plus).
• Confidence in leading client-facing conversations and presenting strategic thinking.
• Comfortable working in multidisciplinary teams—across time zones and cultures.
• Excellent storytelling skills: you can craft a compelling deck, not just a data dump.
• Bonus: Experience with the automotive industry.

What we offer

• An interim role with the potential to convert to a permanent position.
• The chance to work on forward-thinking brands, using research and insight to shape real-world impact.
• Collaboration between our Austin and Amsterdam teams—global perspective, tight crew.
• A culture that values strategic curiosity, cultural relevance, and brand creativity.
• If you're a hybrid thinker who thrives at the intersection of data, culture, and brand—let’s talk.

About us

We’ve been exploring technology's potential to deliver breakthrough innovations since 1998. We believe that deep technical know-how combined with cutting-edge creativity drives change to future-proof businesses. Change relies on radical synergy. Technology and creativity should work in perfect unison. Tech enables creativity. Creativity unlocks the potential of tech.

Our track record of disruptive ventures and innovative ideas shows that we have transformative thinking deeply ingrained in our DNA. We punch above our weight when it comes to consulting, creating and maintaining digital ecosystems for global clients like VodafoneZiggo, Polestar, citizenM, and Philips. With a team of 450+ specialists across brand, experience, technology, and data & AI, we have the power to drive fundamental transformation at scale.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Our people are a true cross-section of society. That’s how we ensure that the services, campaigns, and products we create uphold the same quality regardless of who interacts with them. We welcome everybody and respect individual identities. We are convinced that diversity stimulates creativity and ensures innovations.