Principal Client Strategist

Artificial Societies (societies.io) helps Fortune 500 organisations understand how real-world audiences think, feel, and respond — without the cost, delay, or limitations of traditional research. We build large-scale simulated populations grounded in real-world data, enabling clients to test messages, strategies, and concepts. Our clients love the ability to receive insights backed by millions of responses in hours rather than months, and to access previously inaccessible audiences (e.g. investors, CEOs, opinion leaders).

We're backed by Y Combinator, Point72 Ventures, and Kindred Capital, with over 100 months of capital runway, and work with leading organisations across technology, financial services, communications, and public affairs. We're a lean and highly effective team. We move fast, hold a high bar, and trust each other to own outcomes end-to-end. The culture is collaborative but low-ego: ideas win on merit, not seniority.

The Role

Until now, client strategy has been led by the founders. We're looking for someone exceptional to take the reins — someone with deep experience advising senior stakeholders who can lead our most complex client engagements independently and shape the strategic direction of our research practice. Our clients include leading advisory firms, global communications consultancies, and Fortune 500 organisations. They bring us questions that shape boardroom strategy: how will policymakers react to this announcement? Which narrative will move investor sentiment? How will public opinion shift after a crisis? Your job is to shape those questions into rigorous, compelling research programmes that clients trust and act on.

This is a senior role with real ownership. You'll lead client relationships end-to-end, exercise strategic judgement on our highest-stakes engagements, and help mentor our Client Strategy Lead as the team grows. You'll work alongside the founders as a peer, not a report.

What You'll Do

• Reimagine how simulation applies to strategic decisions — our clients face the highest-stakes questions in business: how will investors react, how will public opinion shift, what will policymakers do next. You'll figure out how to apply simulation research to these problems in ways that haven't been done before — designing novel study approaches that go far beyond what traditional research can offer.
• Lead research strategy — take complex client briefs and design the simulation study: define the audience, structure the methodology, identify the right dimensions to measure, and determine what success looks like. You'll draw on deep research expertise to ask better questions than the client thought to ask.
• Execute simulations — work directly with our state-of-the-art simulation engine and AI agents to build and run simulations that are impossible in traditional research. You'll interface with AI tools daily to conduct studies, iterate on approaches, and push the boundaries of what's possible with simulated research.
• Own delivery end-to-end — lead the client relationship from study design through to final presentation. Analyse results, distil them into clear strategic narratives, and present to the most senior stakeholders. These deliverables inform boardroom decisions at some of the world's most important firms; the output needs to be rigorous enough for a research director and compelling enough to move a room.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of relevant experience. You've worked with senior stakeholders at top-tier advisory firms, consultancies, research agencies, or similar environments. You're credible, trusted, and effective in front of the most demanding clients.
• Proven research expertise. You've designed and led studies before, ideally in market research, social research, or a similar discipline. You have strong command of methodology, experimental design, and how to interpret results critically. A social science background is a strong plus.
• Strong analytical thinking. You can take an ambiguous client problem and structure it into a clear research approach. You're comfortable with data, comfortable with ambiguity, and good at finding the narrative that delivers maximum value with the insights.
• Intellectual curiosity about human behaviour. Our work sits at the intersection of AI and how people think, feel, and decide. You find this genuinely interesting, not just commercially useful.
• Comfortable with AI tools. You already use AI to work faster and better, or you're eager to. You'll be working directly with AI agents daily, and we expect you to push the boundaries of what's possible.
• Ownership mentality. You don't wait to be told what to do. You see what needs to happen and you make it happen. You care about the outcome, not the process.

Logistics

Location: London, in-office. We build better together, and this role is no exception. Equity: Up to 0.3% — this is a senior role and you'll be rewarded like one.

Why Join Now

If you're tired of the constraints of traditional consulting or research — slow timelines, methodological ceilings, work that feels incremental — this is something different. You'd be joining a team that's building an entirely new way to understand human behaviour, advising some of the most exceptional firms in the world on decisions that matter. As the most senior person in client strategy, you'll shape how we work with clients from the ground up.