Economist​/Researcher

About Profound

Profound is an NYC-based AI startup helping brands measure and improve their visibility in AI platforms such as ChatGPT. We partner with some of the biggest brands and marketing agencies, including companies like Mongo

DB, Indeed, Mercury, Docu Sign, Zapier, Ramp, Rho, Golin, Workable, Mejuri, Eight Sleep, G2, US Bank, Chime, and Clay.

We recently raised a $35 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with continued backing from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, and South Park Commons, as well as angel investors including Guillermo Rauch (Vercel) and Andrew Karam (Applovin).

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Profound is on a mission to help companies understand and control their AI presence. As an Economist and Researcher, you will build trusted industry insights and measurement standards that explain how people use AI for search, shopping, and decision making. You will take real user conversations and AI model behavior and turn them into public facing research that shapes the narrative of where AI is going and how brands must adapt.

• Create accurate and rigorous research that becomes the trusted source of truth for AI usage trends and answer engine behavior
• Engage with media, academia, and industry leaders to educate the market using evidence grounded analysis
• Identify emerging inflection points in AI search and AI shopping and quantify their impact on consumers and businesses
• Publish research papers, reports, and insights that inform our product roadmap and guide strategic decisions
  Uphold high standards of correctness, reproducibility, and transparency in all published outputs

• Experience solving complex research problems in academia or industry (5 or more years)
• Strong ability to validate assumptions, pressure test results, and ensure research can withstand scrutiny
• Fluency in SQL and proficiency in R or Python for empirical analysis
• Excellent communication skills and comfort presenting research externally
  Ownership mindset, intellectual curiosity, and passion for answering questions that matter

Preferred

• PhD in Economics or a related quantitative field from a leading academic program
• Experience in tech economics, economic consulting, or policy research
• Record of published research or public facing insights that influenced decision making

• Access to rare and unmatched data on how real people use AI to search and shop across every major answer engine
• The opportunity to define industry standard metrics for AI visibility and AI shopping behavior
• A platform to publish research that gets cited by media, industry analysts, and academic partners
• A fast paced, high trust environment where your work directly shapes product direction, thought leadership, and category creation
• Competitive compensation and meaningful equity in a rapidly growing company