Innovation Research Functional Lead

At BBH, Partnership is more than a form of ownership—it’s our approach to business and relationships.  We know that supporting your professional and personal goals is the best way to help our clients and advance our business. We take that responsibility seriously. With a 200-year legacy and a shared passion for what’s next, this is the right place to build a fulfilling career.

Innovation Research Functional Lead

Brown Brothers Harriman has a long history of transformation and evolution driven by deep expertise, a passion for solving client problems, and smart applications of technology. Our dedicated innovation practice, Cable 5, is responsible for identifying, investigating, and incubating potential future new businesses by applying a disciplined, stage-gated innovation process from idea sourcing to MVP.

We are currently seeking a Research Functional Lead (FL) to join the Cable 5 team. This is a senior leadership role responsible for guiding early-stage research strategy, concept shape, and business design for new product concepts. Concepts are researched through gates: validating that the problem exists (or will exist) in the market and matters to the right people; validating that a defensible solution shape and business model addresses it; and validating that it’s possible to build.

The Research FL operates at the intersection of market research and business design across these early-stage concepts from idea to product launch and guides concept teams through the work by offering tools, frameworks and approaches that focus on testing the most critical hypotheses first.

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead the research and business design function across concept pods focused on early-stage innovation. 

• Work closely with the Product, Design, Engineering, and Applied Intelligence FLs and the Market Opportunity Development (MOD) team to advance ideas from concept to market. 

• Own the validation of market size and financial modeling for new concepts to ensure they align with revenue growth goals.

• Define and implement research plans that test customer desirability, market size potential and solution shape options.

• Guide researchers in applying qualitative and quantitative methods, including expert / customer segment interviews, desk research, and early market testing. 

• Support iteration of concept direction based on research insights and sponsor feedback. 

• Develop repeatable frameworks and tools to scale research across the innovation portfolio with extensibility into the broader BBH organization.
• In collaboration with Applied Intelligence FL, pursue and support the implementation of AI tools and prompting techniques to generate thoughtful, accurate, independent, and sourceable research outputs.
• As part of the senior leadership team, inspire and lead continuous transformation of the research function and innovation practice more broadly to incorporate modern capabilities and technologies.
• Participate in talent management process; identify, cultivate, assess, and develop innovation research talent; utilize and continuously improve competency models.

 Qualifications & Experience 

• 10–15 years of experience in research, business design, innovation, and new product development, ideally in financial services or tech. 

• Proven ability to translate research into business strategy and concept validation. 

• Strong understanding of market sizing, opportunity analysis, and early-stage product discovery. 

• Fluency in qualitative research methods (e.g., ethnography, blinded interviews, prototype testing). 

• Experience working in cross-functional environments with product, design, engineering, and analytics. 

• Comfortable navigating ambiguity, lean testing, and agile ways of working. 

• Experience building, managing, and developing a research team spread over multiple working concepts. 

• Ability to manage a complex ecosystem of internal subject matter experts and sponsors. 

• Comfort and ability to carry research into design practices and frameworks such as value chain building, journey mapping and developing primary research stimuli. 

Salary Range

Boston: $160k-$220k + annual target bonus

BBH and its affiliates' compensation program includes base salary, discretionary bonuses, and profit-sharing. The anticipated base salary range(s) shown above are only for the indicated location(s) and may differ in other locations due to cost of living and labor considerations. Base salaries may vary based on factors such as skill, experience and qualification for the role. BBH's total rewards package recognizes your contributions with more than just a paycheck—providing you with benefits that enhance your experience at BBH from long-term savings, healthcare, and income protection to professional development opportunities and time off, our programs support your overall well-being. 

We value diverse experiences. We value diverse experiences and transferrable skillsets. If your career hasn’t followed a traditional path, includes alternative experiences, or doesn’t meet every qualification or skill listed in the job description, please do go ahead and apply.

About BBH:

Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) is a premier global financial services firm, known for premium service, specialist expertise, technology solutions and partnership approach to client management. Across Investor Services and Capital Partners, we work with an enviable roster of sophisticated clients who make BBH their first call when they are tackling their hardest challenges. Delivering for our clients and each other energizes us.

We believe that how we do our work is just as important as what we do. We are relentless problem solvers who know our best ideas come from collective debate and development—so we are never possessive about our ideas. Every day we come together as a diverse community of smart and caring people to deliver exceptional service and expert advice—creating success that lasts. No matter where you sit in the organization, everyone is empowered to contribute their ideas. BBHers can pick up the phone and call any colleague, and they are happy to help. Expanding your impact beyond your daily role is part of how we operate as trusted partners to one another. 

We believe stability is a competitive advantage, but being stable means having the knowledge, skill, and discipline to evolve, often—pushing the boundaries of innovation.  As a private partnership, every investment we make is in the relationships, technologies, products and development we believe are in the long-term interests of our clients and our people. Our long-tenured leaders are experts in their areas and are actively involved in the day-to day business, taking the time to provide guidance and mentoring to build the next generation of BBHers. Because we know, our success begins with yours.

Go to BBH.com to learn more about our rewards and benefits, philanthropy, approach to sustainability or how we support you to thrive personally, physically and financially.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, genetic information, creed, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other protected status under federal, state or local law.