Strategic Researcher

Macrae is a premier transatlantic legal search firm placing partners and groups at the world’s leading law firms. Our growth stems from a business model that is distinct in our industry and a culture that is collaborative, inclusive, and transparent. We strive to be the right long-term fit for everyone who joins, so we focus on hiring exceptional individuals to add immediate value to the firm through their unique talents and contributions.

This is a hybrid position (2 to 3 days per week in the office) for a professional with documented secondary research experience in a market intelligence, business intelligence, or competitive intelligence role; in a law firm, in a professional services or investment firm, in government, or as a talent sourcing professional with a focus on secondary research. This position is ideally located in DC or NY but we will consider remote work situations with occasional travel to NY or DC for experienced and qualified applicants. 

Strategic researchers gather data from secondary sources and distill their findings into actionable insights to meet our recruiters’ needs. Our researchers have deep experience in retrieving data from commercial sources and the ability to transform findings into tables, charts, action items, and longer reports. AI in particular is becoming a standard part of our secondary research and analysis toolkit, and our team utilizes AI to support their research.

This is not a role for someone who does storytelling, project management, pure data analysis, or primary research. Likewise, this is not a role for a librarian whose job is retrieval without interpreting their results. Our staff run multiple database searchers, summarize their results, and then discuss them with the recruiters they support.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct research using information sources that target the legal and recruiting industries in the US and UK, and supplement with research from other business sources.
• Deliver written research on ad hoc topics with reference to legal markets, specific law firms, and their clients and clients’ industries.
• Help develop and populate internal databases used in our search process including coding specific law firm practice areas and market specializations.
• Complete targeted candidate searches and business development intelligence as requested from recruiters and staff.
• Maintain and update shared internal information sources in Power BI and SharePoint.

• Experience: 3–5+ years in an intelligence/information/library function supporting a business in an information-intensive field is preferred. Experience in government or general legal practice is highly desirable.
• Domain Knowledge: Strong knowledge of secondary sources used by researchers in legal or professional services or in government (transactions, finance, dockets, industry rankings, legislation/regulation, legal industry news, government news sources, general business research).
• Critical Thinking: A strong continuous-improvement mindset regarding what makes research quality excellent, and how to make it better.
• Technical Skills: Demonstrated experience with Word templates and Excel features like formulas, pivot tables, and conditional formatting. Skills with PowerPoint and SharePoint are highly desirable.
• AI Fluency: Professional-level AI expertise (CoPilot, Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude). Applicants should be prepared to discuss this experience during the interview process.

Applicants should be prepared to offer examples of their output and/or complete a case study to confirm that we have a shared understanding of abilities and expectations.

Recruiting and retaining extraordinary staff begins with building a platform that staff wish to join, coupled with attractive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package. Macrae believes our total package is among the most competitive in our industry. The expected salary range for this position is $100K-$130K commensurate with experience.