Principal Research Scientist, Clinical Research

About the role

You will establish and own the end-to-end planning of Headway's clinical research roadmap in close partnership with Clinical Leadership. You will drive execution through project development, evidence generation, data analysis, and collaboration on peer-reviewed publications. In this role you will build Headway's credibility with payers, providers, and patients by demonstrating tangible network impact through rigorous public-facing research. You will manage the clinical research budget and make the case for investments in analytics, experts, and conference attendance as needed. You will lead cross-functional research initiatives and bring analytical strategy, scientific rigor, and human-centered insight to a mission that expands access to mental healthcare. This is an opportunity to own foundational work that will define the research function for years.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Scale the clinical research function at Headway, developing quarterly roadmaps for the research team, aligning clinical research resources, and overseeing execution of clinical research in collaboration with leadership.
• Lead projects from conceptualization to execution, driving deep analytical insight through strategic analysis, causal inference, and experimentation.
• Develop and drive the vision for clinical research, including standards for analysis and experimentation, to ensure methodological rigor and impact.
• Tackle projects independently, performing strategic analysis to strengthen Headway's vision and resolve key initiatives, then translating complex insights into clear, data-driven recommendations.
• Serve as the foundational hire for this role, navigating ambiguity in defining responsibilities and success criteria while establishing governance and best practices.
• Influence senior leadership and directly shape corporate strategy and growth through research insights and evidence-based decision-making.
• Build and maintain relationships with internal stakeholders across Product, Data, Engineering, Operations, and Marketing to ensure research alignment and utility.
• Manage the clinical research budget, track expenditures, and make the case for additional investments in analytics, outside experts, conference attendance, or other research resources.
• Oversee the full publication and presentation lifecycle, coordinating peer-reviewed manuscripts and external presentations to build Headway's credibility among payers, providers, and patients.
• Leverage real-world health care data, including health insurance claims and EHR data, to generate findings that reflect actual patient and provider experiences.
• Design and execute studies that measure patient health outcomes, health economic outcomes, patient and provider satisfaction, and care delivery enhancements.
• Act as a thought partner to cross-functional teams, integrating feedback from product, marketing, engineering, and operations into research priorities and deliverables.

Requirements

• 10+ years of health services research, clinical epidemiology, or health economics research, including leading projects and experience in the end-to-end peer review publication process with a demonstrated publication record in studies of mental health.
• You will have led research teams, overseen research staff, and successfully obtained grant funding, with your CV reflecting this experience through publications in high-impact journals.
• This likely means you have an advanced degree in a research-related field that provides the foundation for rigorous inquiry and evidence generation.
• Experience working on patient health outcomes, health economic outcomes, patient and provider satisfaction outcomes, enhancing care delivery for providers, and/or working within a health insurance landscape.
• Experience partnering with cross-functional partners across product, marketing, engineering, and operations to align research with business and clinical priorities.
• Significant experience with real-world health care data, including health insurance claims and EHR data, to ensure findings are grounded in actual practice patterns and reimbursement realities.
• Strong background in experimentation, including the ability to set strategy, design studies, and coach others on rigorous methods.
• Significant experience with data analysis and interpretation, translating complex findings into clear, actionable insights for diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, navigate ambiguity, and deliver high-quality research under tight timelines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present research findings to senior leadership and external audiences.

Practical notes

• This is a remote, full-time position.
• No hours, travel, visa, or application deadline details are provided in the source.