Research Associate at Aarden in Seattle, WA

Research Associate Company: Aarden ABOUT AARDEN Land is the most valuable, yet one of the least transparent, asset classes in the world. Trillions of dollars flow through land-linked capital decisions every year — data centers, energy infrastructure, timber, agriculture — yet the data infrastructure that supports those decisions remains fragmented, opaque, and decades behind what equity and credit markets take for granted. Aarden is changing that. We’re building the data, price discovery, and transparency layer that land has never had — the foundation that institutional investors, developers, and financial markets need to treat land as a properly liquid, tradeable asset class. We build models and workflows that help to illuminate land’s potential for development, and value, across multiple uses. We’re a team of eight and our senior leadership has been leading all commercial activity directly. This is our first dedicated commercial hire and an opportunity to join our team at the ground-level, with significant potential for growth. THE ROLE You will own the production of client-facing deliverables — the investment-grade reports, memos, and analyses that our clients use to make real capital decisions. You’ll work directly with senior leadership and alongside our applied science and product teams to take Aarden’s data and translate it into outputs that are clear, credible, and worth paying for. You’ll become a critical part of our sales and go-to-market engine, supporting pipeline development, sales materials, and customer implementation and account management. The quality of what you produce reflects directly on Aarden’s brand and is a meaningful driver of renewal and expansion. You’ll interface with clients, field their questions, coordinate with product on feature needs surfaced through delivery, and help shape how we scale our service model. We’re looking for someone who operates with high autonomy — self-directed, accountable for outcomes, and energized by owning a body of work end to end. Trajectory This role is an early foothold in what will become Aarden’s client success and services organization. As we grow, there is a real path for the right person to grow into a leadership position in that function — shaping how it’s built, not just working within it. WHAT YOU’LL DO Client delivery • Produce investment-grade reports using Aarden’s platform, translating land intelligence data into clear, well-structured analyses for institutional land investors and developers • Manage the end-to-end report workflow: scoping, drafting, QA, revision, and delivery — with minimal oversight once ramped • Interface directly with clients during onboarding and delivery: run training sessions, manage implementation timelines, and handle inbound user questions • Serve as the connective tissue between clients and our product team — capturing user feedback, flagging friction points, and helping prioritize what we build next Analysis and research • Synthesize data across infrastructure, regulatory, environmental, and market signals to produce coherent site-level investment narratives • Build reusable templates and frameworks that let us scale delivery without sacrificing quality • Help develop the analytical point of view that gets published externally as Aarden thought leadership Commercial support • Support account management: prepare materials for reviews, renewal conversations, and expansion scoping • Support sales by building the pipeline through target research, outreach, pitches, and conferences/events • Help build the processes and playbooks that make client delivery repeatable as we grow WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR Required • Experience in management consulting, investment banking, or a similarly rigorous analytical environment where you produced client-facing work under time pressure • You know how to make a deck that a senior investor would actually read — clear argument, right level of detail, no fluff • Strong written communication: you can translate complex, multidimensional data into a narrative that non-experts can act on • Comfort with ambiguity and unstructured problems — we have a clear output standard but the path there requires judgment, not a checklist • High ownership instinct: you’re the kind of person who finishes things Advantageous, not required • Exposure to technology, real assets, energy infrastructure, private equity, or land and agriculture investment • Familiarity with geospatial data, GIS tools, or infrastructure siting analysis • Experience in a startup or early-stage environment where the playbook didn’t exist yet WHY AARDEN • The problem is genuinely interesting. Land intelligence sits at the intersection of real assets, energy transition, data infrastructure, and financial market development. • Exposure to novel tech. Our team actively tests, tinkers, and thinks critically about how to take advantage of advances in artificial intelligence. We serve industries that are attracting massive amounts of capital and are moving quickly. You’ll learn something every day. • You’ll build with us, not for us. This is an early role at a company where the services function doesn’t fully exist yet. The right person has real influence over how it takes shape. • Direct access to founders. Our senior leadership are deeply in the work and will be your primary collaborators. You will not be filtered through layers of hierarchy. • Generous equity and benefits. Unlimited time off and a team that encourages passions and side quests outside of work. COMPENSATION & LOGISTICS $95,000 – $150,000 base salary, depending on experience. Equity commensurate with stage and role. Benefits including health coverage. Title is flexible and open to discussion. Seattle-based teammates are a strong preference. Remote candidates will be asked to relocate to Seattle for 6-12 months. Remote work may be considered on a case by case basis following this period.