Senior Behavioral Scientist

M&C Saatchi World Services is a full-service marketing company renowned for using commercial advertising to solve the world’s toughest challenges. World Services is a specialty branch of M&C Saatchi Group, and we provide strategic communications, behavior change, and marketing support to Public Sector clients with special emphasis on the US Federal Government and State, Local, Tribal, & Territorial leaders.

M&C Saatchi World Services US is seeking a Senior Behavioral Scientist to apply behavioral science, psychology, human factors, and sociological frameworks to understand how stakeholders make decisions, process information, and engage with federal programs within a large federal and DoD-aligned mission environment.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

This role analyzes emotional and cognitive drivers, behavioral barriers, communication patterns, motivation factors, and adoption challenges impacting mission effectiveness and program engagement. The Behavioral Scientist provides research-driven insights to inform modernization strategies, program communications, user experience enhancements, performance optimization, and change management across multiple mission areas. This role supports both qualitative and quantitative research, behavior-driven analytics, and strategic recommendations grounded in human-centered behavioral science.

This is a hybrid role; however, the ideal candidate will live in the greater NYC area or the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region.

What you'll do:

• Analyze stakeholder behavior, motivations, emotional drivers, and engagement patterns using behavioral science methods.

• Study cognitive and psychological factors influencing adoption of federal programs, communications, and digital services.

• Conduct qualitative research (interviews, behavioral mapping, ethnographic studies) and quantitative research (surveys, behavioral datasets, pattern detection).

• Identify behavioral barriers, friction points, and psychological drivers affecting program usage and mission outcomes.

• Develop behavioral personas, decision-making models, and influence frameworks.

• Analyze mission communications to ensure they align with behavioral insights and motivation science.

• Produce research-backed recommendations to improve engagement, adoption, retention, and user trust.

• Partner with product teams, UX designers, PMO staff, and analysts to align behavioral insights with program decisions.

• Support A/B testing, pilot evaluations, and behavioral experiments to validate hypotheses.

• Document research findings, behavioral models, and insights in reports, presentations, and briefings.

• Track emerging behavioral science trends, tools, and methods relevant to mission operations.

You’ll bring:

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.

• Excellent communication skills for conveying behavioral insights to technical and non-technical audiences.

• Ability to synthesize complex psychological and behavioral factors into concise recommendations.

• Strong interpersonal skills for conducting interviews and qualitative research.

• High attention to detail and methodological rigor.

• Strong knowledge of behavioral science frameworks, decision models, and motivational psychology.

• Familiarity with qualitative research methods (interviews, observation, ethnography).

• Experience with quantitative analysis, survey design, or behavioral data interpretation.

• Understanding of human-centered design and human factors principles.

• Experience conducting behavioral studies, qualitative/quantitative analysis, and user behavior research.

• Experience supporting federal, DoD, or large enterprise programs.

WHAT YOU GET

We offer a competitive salary ($120,000-$140,000) and a benefits package designed to support your health, family life, financial wellbeing, and growth.

Family & parental support

• 12 weeks’ full pay for Primary Carers and 6 weeks for Secondary Carers (after one year of service; return requirements apply for subsequent leave)

• Applies to birth, adoption, and surrogacy