Heather Sandoval

Heather Sandoval is currently the Director at Shapiro+Raj. Heather has over eight years of experience in qualitative research, market strategy, and product development.

Sandoval began their career as a Graduate Research Assistant at Tulane University. Heather then became a Teaching Assistant before moving on to the Louisiana Public Health Institute as a Qualitative Research Coordinator. In this role, they were responsible for conducting qualitative research for various public health projects. After two years, they were promoted to Evaluation Manager, where they oversaw all aspects of program evaluation for the institute.

In 2018, Sandoval left the public health sector to join Optum as an Associate Director of Qualitative Research. In this role, they led B2B qualitative market research across all company segments and business units. Heather also presented actionable research insights and recommendations to leadership in order to inform product development, messaging, positioning, and/or growth strategy. After two years at Optum, Sandoval was promoted to Director of Qualitative Research. In this role, they advised market strategy leadership on research methodologies to best meet their objectives; developed and fostered relationships with diverse stakeholders across marketing, product, and strategy teams to effectively design research aligned to their business goals.

Sandoval left Optum in 2020 to join Shapiro+Raj as the Director. In this role, they are responsible for leading the qualitative research team and advising clients on the best research methodologies to meet their objectives.

Heather Sandoval has a Master of Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, with a focus in Global Health Systems and Development and Program Design and Implementation. Heather also holds a B.S. in Public Health and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Tulane University, as well as a Minor in Spanish. Heather is also proficient in Spanish, having studied at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile.

They are on a team with Elbert Singleton - SVP, Consumer Practice, Lisa La Brooy - SVP, Life Sciences Practice, and Chelsey Merker - VP, Strategy & Planning. Heather Sandoval reports to Zain Raj, Chairman & CEO.