Senior Behavioral Scientist

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 Up to 10 days’ paid fertility leave per year (5 per cycle) 2 days’ paid leave for new grandparents $2,500 annual interest-free parental loan $6,000 interest-free fertility treatment loan Healthcare & wellbeing Three medical plans (HSA at $0 cost; EPO 75% employer funded; PPO 65% employer funded) $0 employee-cost dental and vision 10 days’ health leave per year (mental and physical) 24/7 mental health support through Self Space Wellhub subscription Financial & practical support 401(k) match (3% after 3 months; 4% after 1 year) Pre-tax commuter benefits 10 days’ paid military leave Full pay for jury duty (state/city payments declined) Uber/taxi home after 9:30pm Time off & flexibility 23 days’ PTO (with 3 discretionary carryover days; CA/CO policies follow state mandate) 10 federal holidays, plus the day after Thanksgiving Option to swap 2 federal holidays (excluding Thanksgiving and the day after) Office closed between Christmas and New Year 10 days’ special emergency leave (including bereavement) 10 days’ volunteering leave (5 paid, 5 unpaid) Half-day for blood donation Work from anywhere for up to 2 weeks per year (subject to approval) Culture & development $300 annual cultural stimulation allowance (accrued monthly; available after 90 days) Weekly Thursday happy hour Mentorship and Buddy programmes ABOUT M+C SAATCHI WORLD SERVICES M&C Saatchi World Services is a specialist division of M+C Saatchi Group, the world’s largest independent communications network. Our specialists work in office hubs across six continents, grounding our global expertise in local nuance. We offer award-winning commercial communications capabilities, which are utilized by global organizations to address the world’s most complex problems across defence, development, diplomacy, homeland and national security, law and order, health, education, and the environment. We work with clients that want to help the hardest-to-reach, hardest-to-influence audiences. This includes a range of Western Government departments, such as DOS and USAID; partner governments, including the U.K. and Australia; and prominent IGOs/NGOs such as the U.N. We are a comms agency that works on behaviour change projects typically focused on issues related to Security, Defence and Stabilization. Whether it’s producing critically acclaimed feature films in Africa, to TV shows in the Middle East, to pop music videos in Asia, we have a record of leveraging creativity to access communities anywhere in the world. Group company M+C Saatchi World Services Role MD Americas Locations Washington DC, New York (WS) Remote status Hybrid Yearly salary $120,000 - $140,000 Employment type Full-time Washington DC New York (WS) About M+C Saatchi Group M+C Saatchi Group was founded in 1995 and is now the biggest Independent creative agency group in the World. Founded on one core principle, Brutal Simplicity. Founded in 1995 Co-workers 2500+