Researcher

Who is Multistudio? At Multistudio, we’re not just designing spaces—we’re designing impact. As a purpose-driven, human-first design collective with five studios and one shared mission, we elevate lives through work that matters. Our strength lies in our diversity—of people, perspectives, and ideas—and our culture thrives on ownership, inclusion, and impact. As a 100% employee-owned firm, we invest in each other because we believe great design starts with great people. Join a studio where your contributions shape our future and your voice matters. The Opportunity We are seeking a full-time Researcher to work in a studio-based setting based in Kansas City, MO. This position serves as a firmwide asset, and you’ll conduct research activities under the supervision of the Director of Research. Your research activity will primarily focus on Research Synthesis: bridging design-based research with communication and storytelling to make Multistudio research readily accessible to both internal and external audiences. What You'll Do

• Participate in core research activities including study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of findings.
• Engage data and published scholarship across multiple market sectors including architecture, branding, and city planning.
• Lead the crafting of research communication that connects study findings and design implications.
• Collaborate with the Communications team to create text and visual storytelling strategies appropriate for internal training, external industry dissemination, and client messaging.
• May represent the Multistudio research team in live presentations, as directed by Studio or Research leadership.

What You Bring

• Master’s degree in design, architecture, or a social science field AND substantive experience working in a professional design setting.
• A well-qualified candidate with a PhD and no experience would be considered.
• Expertise in conducting qualitative research (ex: focus groups, interviews, ethnography).
• Comfort with basic quantitative methods (ex: calculating averages and creating graphs) will also be needed.
• Strong writing skills that convey important information that is engaging, clear, and accurate.
• Writing skills must include the ability to write for both expert and lay audiences, to use industry standard formats (ex: APA), and to read and cite credible peer-reviewed literature.
• Competence in managing multiple active projects with deadlines spread over long time frames.
• A collaborative spirit who can build relationships with project teams (locally and nationally) to cultivate trust and grow working relationships.
• A domain of research expertise, with the capacity to contribute to the design of rigorous research studies.
• While these skills will be important for success in the position, we encourage anyone passionate about design research to apply. We value hiring for a diversity of lived experience on the research team and explicitly invite applicants from historically marginalized backgrounds.

Why Join Us?

• Employee ownership: Share in the success you help create.
• Flexible work culture: A hybrid environment that supports balance.
• Purpose-driven mission: Work that makes a difference—in lives, communities, and the world around us.
• Creative community: Join a collective of people who care deeply about design, impact, and each other.

Ready design a better future, together? We’d love to hear from you.

EEO/Veterans/Disabled