Job Description: Research Director – Software Lifecycle Engineering & Observability

Job Title: Research Director – Software Lifecycle Engineering (SLE) & Observability

Practice Areas: Software Lifecycle Engineering; Observability

Location: Flexible (US Remote)

Company: The Futurum Group

Contact: Alex Smith – [email protected] (no agencies)

Company Overview

The Futurum Group is a renowned technology advisory and research company, empowering organizations worldwide to navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation. With a commitment to delivering actionable insights and innovative solutions, we help our clients harness the power of emerging technologies to drive sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

As we expand our intelligence platform and research depth, we are seeking a collaborative, highly technical, and results-driven individual to join our team as a Research Director supporting the Software Lifecycle Engineering (SLE) and Observability research practices.

Position Summary

As the Research Director, you will partner closely with the Vice President of the practice to drive, execute, and scale Futurum’s research agenda at the vital intersection of modern software development and system visibility.

In 2026, the software landscape is shifting rapidly from AI experimentation to the development of agent-based systems that successfully reach production, meeting the required governance, security, visibility, and controls. Software development is moving from code-centric execution to intent-directed, agent-based systems. Consequently, observability is transitioning from a forensic operational and post-incident analysis system to a real-time, observability-native control surface for non-deterministic systems.

In this supportive leadership role, you will be a key subject-matter expert, understanding, analyzing, and predicting how organizations build, deploy, manage, and secure this new AI-native software and its underlying AI stack. You will work in tandem with the VP to deliver world-class insights to tech vendors, enterprise buyers, and investors, helping them understand where value is being created, consolidated, and protected.

Key Coverage Areas & Research Domains

In collaboration with the VP, you will track and research:

1. Software Lifecycle Engineering (SLE)

• The New AI-Centric Development Model: Tracking the transition from traditional developer patterns to AI-centered primitives for planning, delegation, and execution.
• The New AI Stack: Researching agent-native infrastructure (the “Kubernetes of the agentic era”), including agent control planes, orchestration, and scalable operations.
• Agent Control Planes & Harnesses: Evaluating how vendors establish agent orchestration, governance, scoped authority, behavioral constraints, and safety guardrails.
• Hybrid & Parallel Development Pipelines: Documenting how enterprises reconcile AI-generated code with legacy CI/CD pipelines, testing environments, and ownership models.
• Open Standards: Assessing emerging frameworks (e.g., MCP, A2A) and their impact on ecosystem interoperability.

2. Observability

• Embedded, Execution-Native Observability: Analyzing the shift from downstream, post hoc infrastructure telemetry to real-time, runtime visibility into agent intent, decisions, and outcomes.
• Observability as an AI Control Surface: Explaining how observability platforms bound, govern, and make probabilistic, non-deterministic execution explainable.
• The Agent OS Management Surface: Assessing how observability acts as the core feedback mechanism to throttle, escalate, and orchestrate autonomous systems before operational risks compound.

Key Responsibilities

• Research Execution & Collaboration: Work in close partnership with the Vice President to execute the strategic research agenda and roadmap, aligning planned deliverables with 2026 market realities.
• Thought Leadership & Writing: Co-author and contribute to high-impact research deliverables, including bi-annual State of the Market Reports, Analyst Insight Reports, and Futurum Signal Reports. Deliver engaging presentations, participate in panel discussions, and contribute to industry publications.
• Client Advisory & Delivery: Serve as a trusted advisor to technology vendors and IT buyers. Conduct custom briefings, workshops, and advisory sessions that translate complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies.
• Business Development Support: Assist the VP, sales, and marketing teams in identifying growth opportunities, supporting custom proposals, and participating in scoping calls to expand subscription and advisory accounts.
• Ecosystem Networking & Event Travel: Cultivate and maintain active relationships with industry stakeholders, developers, platform vendors, cloud providers, and open-source communities. This includes representing The Futurum Group at major trade shows, technology conferences, and industry events, which requires regular travel to connect with the ecosystem in person and surface emerging trends early.
• Market Modeling & Data Integrity: Support the VP in reviewing, maintaining, and refining the market size and five-year forecast models for both practice areas. Conduct quality assurance on datasets within the Futurum Intelligence platform.
• AR & Client Relationship Building: Establish and build relationships with vendor Analyst Relations organizations and team members, expanding Futurum Research’s reach, influence, work within the vendor organizations.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or a highly related technical field; advanced degree (e.g., MS, MBA, PhD) preferred.
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of experience in a product management, product development, software engineering, technical marketing, tech journalism, or analyst role (with prior strong practitioner experience) covering SDLC, Software Engineering, DevOps, Observability, Testing, ITOps, Platform Engineering, SRE, CloudOps, and platform Infrastructure.
• Domain Expertise:

• Deep understanding of the modern software delivery lifecycle (CI/CD, developer platforms, platform engineering, testing automation) and open source software.
• Robust comprehension of observability architectures, tracing, OpenTelemetry (OTel), APM, and log management.
• Familiarity with LLMs, agentic software development environments, AI open standards, and the emerging AI software stack.

• Analytical & Technical Writing Skills: Strong ability to synthesize quantitative surveys (e.g., IT Decision Maker surveys) and qualitative market signals into clear, structured, and forward-looking reports.
• Communication: Exceptional writing, presentation skills, and interview skills as a subject matter expert. Proven ability to confidently engage with technical leaders (vendor CTOs, VP of Engineering, Technical Product Management, Forward Engineering, and Head of Operations) to articulate business value, industry insights, and viewpoints.
• Mindset: An entrepreneurial, collaborative, and highly adaptive teammate who excels in flat, fast-moving organizations.

Success Measurements

• Quantitative Metrics:

• On-time delivery of scheduled bi-annual forecasts, buyer surveys, and Signal Reports in coordination with the VP.
• Contribution to practice revenue goals through high-quality delivery, client retention, project opportunity identification, and pre-sales technical support.
• Strong client satisfaction (CSAT) scores on delivered advisory sessions and briefings.

• Qualitative Impact:

• Collaborative influence of research output as measured by industry citations, social reach, and media placement.
• Accuracy and robustness of maintained market models and data-driven insights.
• Seamless internal collaboration with the VP, sales, and marketing to elevate the overall profile of both practice areas.

Compensation

We offer a competitive and thoughtfully designed benefits package to support your health, financial well-being, and work-life balance. This includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employer-funded HSA contributions, 401(k) matching, unlimited PTO, and more.

• Offer medical, dental, and vision insurance plans. HSA with company contribution.
• 401(k) Matching: A competitive 401(k) plan with a company match.
• Unlimited/Generous PTO: A “discretionary”, unlimited time-off policy.
• Global Virtual-First/Hybrid Work: A remote-first model, providing flexibility for staff to work from home.
• Performance-Based Incentives: Beyond base salary, this role has a significant bonus structure tied to role-based and company targets.

Salary: $130,000 – $160,000 + incentives + quarterly & annual bonus