Behavioral Scientist

BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST Grotto AI | New York City (In-Person) WHAT WE DO Grotto is the AI platform that supercharges multifamily apartment teams during the moments that matter most. We're starting with leasing conversations—one of the most important decisions most of us make every year. Our data from millions of prospect interactions shows that the #1 predictor of whether someone signs a lease isn't product knowledge or perfect scripts. It's agents who are genuinely curious and who laugh—things that AI alone struggles at today. So we built a platform that guides leasing agents in real-time during calls and tours—helping them build rapport, handle objections, and convert more prospects into signed leases. It's working. We've driven massive increases in conversion with some of the largest apartment owners in the country. And this is just the start. THE ROLE Grotto is, at its core, a behavior change product. We're trying to help leasing agents build better habits, have more genuine conversations, and perform better in high-stakes moments. That means we need someone who deeply understands how humans actually change—and can build the feedback loops that make our product smarter over time. You'll own the full cycle: measure impact with rigor, understand why certain interventions work, and translate those insights into product improvements. You'll design studies, dig into the psychology of what moves people, and work directly with engineering to ship what you learn. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Design and run studies to measure Grotto's impact on agent behavior and customer outcomes - Go beyond "what works" to understand why—applying behavioral science to unpack the mechanisms behind our most effective interventions - Translate findings into product recommendations and work with engineering to ship them - Develop frameworks for how we think about behavior change at Grotto WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - (Non-Negotiable) 3+ years applying behavioral science or psychology in a product or applied research setting - (Non-Negotiable) 1+ year at an early-stage or growth-stage startup - Strong research methods and causal inference skills - Fluency in behavioral science: habit formation, nudges, motivation, feedback loops, cognitive biases - You build with AI tools (Claude, Copilot, etc.) as a default - Programming skills in Python and SQL - Based in NYC or willing to relocate NICE TO HAVE - Graduate degree in behavioral science, psychology, behavioral economics, or HCI - Background in product experimentation or UX research - Experience presenting deeply technical findings to non-technical audiences ABOUT US GrottoAI’s mission is to help humans shine in the moments that matter most. We’re starting with the process of finding a home—one of life's most important moments—where we drive bottom-line impact by helping leasing teams shine in key prospect interactions and convert more leads to leases. GrottoAI was founded by Nick Deveau and Ben Epstein—we met at EvolutionIQ, an insurance AI company acquired for $730M in 2024. We've spent the last decade building vertical AI products in hiring, healthcare, and insurance. Now we're bringing that playbook to real estate. We just closed a $10M seed round led by ICONIQ. We're working with some of the largest apartment owners in the country. We're lean, we're moving fast, and we're building a world where, in life's most important moments, people leave every conversation feeling more connected.