Job description
Head of Academia
Prolific
At Prolific, Our market place is rooted in academia, and that commitment runs deep. Alongside our continued work to accelerate future of AI—we’re continuing to redefine how the world conducts academic research. What started as a research-driven idea has evolved into the world’s most trusted infrastructure for human data. Today, tens of thousands of researchers from top universities across the globe rely on Prolific to power their work—from peer-reviewed studies to the next generation of technological breakthroughs.
As we continue to scale, academia remains at the heart of everything we do. our commitment to academic researchers runs deeper than ever— exacting standards required for quality human data for online research have shaped us into the trusted infrastructure now also accelerating AI’s future, bridging the gap between rigorous research and technological innovation
We’re doubling down on our mission to serve the academic community—deepening relationships, building smarter tools, and making high-quality human data more accessible than ever.
The Role
We’re looking for a strategic, commercial, and data-obsessed Head of Academia to lead our efforts in one of Prolific’s most important verticals: Higher Education.
This is a rare opportunity to own and expand a well-established customer base in academia—while shaping how the world’s best researchers engage with human data. You’ll be a key driver of growth, influence product direction, and be at the intersection of customer success, sales, marketing, and strategy.
You’ll define and execute the go-to-market strategy, win new partnerships, and elevate our offering for academic institutions globally. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who’s as comfortable closing a strategic deal as they are diving into performance metrics or crafting a compelling event strategy.
If you want to make a big impact in a mission-driven, high-growth environment—and you bring both commercial ownership and deep knowledge of the academic world—we’d love to hear from you.
What you’ll be doing in the role
- Own and grow the academic customer base: Drive acquisition, retention, success and expansion of institutional and individual researcher accounts.
- Design and execute end-to-end growth strategies, focusing on demand generation, activation, and revenue expansion across the academic vertical.
- Operate in a matrix-style environment, partnering with and driving alignment across multiple areas of the business product, marketing, customer success, finance, and data to ensure cohesive strategy and flawless execution
- Identify trends and surface opportunities through research, interviews, and market analysis—becoming our internal expert on the evolving needs of academic researchers.
- Represent Prolific as a spokesperson in the Academic community through public speaking engagements, media opportunities, and industry associations.
- Develop and lead marketing and outreach campaigns targeting academia—think conferences, content, digital campaigns, and community engagement.
- Deeply understand the academic user journey, optimizing experiences and touchpoints to drive satisfaction, retention, and word-of-mouth growth.
- Own and track performance metrics across the funnel: acquisition, engagement, activation, satisfaction, and revenue.
- Experiment and iterate: Test new approaches, evaluate success with rigorous data, and scale what works.
What you’ll bring to the role
- A proven track record in a commercial or growth leadership role (e.g. Sales, Marketing, Customer Success) at a high-growth startup or scale-up.
- Deep understanding of the academic research ecosystem—you know the rhythms, needs, and challenges of university-based researchers and institutions.
- Experience leading go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, and lifecycle marketing in a B2B or B2C context.
- Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills, with the ability to turn complex data into clear action.
- A bias for action: you’re hands-on, scrappy when needed, and ready to roll up your sleeves to deliver results.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills—you can navigate university departments just as well as internal product and marketing teams.
- A genuine passion for research, science, and innovation.
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