Job Description

Innovation Research Lead

We are seeking a collaborative research professional with an insatiable curiosity about people, the future, and emerging technology as we seek to bridge the gap between human-centered design, business strategy and innovation. The Innovation Research Lead will focus on understanding user behaviors, attitudes and actions using methods that enable project and practice teams to make more informed – and less risky decisions. This role is part of the Intellectual Property, Research and Facilitation team within Innovation. One objective of this team is to promote human-centered design and bring to light the customer’s perspectives, attitudes and behaviors related to emerging technologies, potential innovative solutions and long-term opportunities. Projects and innovation activities will involve a mix of deep customer research to inform product/solution strategy and experiments that test innovative concepts focused on the future.

The Innovation Research Lead will have a solid understanding of human-centered design methods and significant experience in scoping research efforts, selecting appropriate methodologies, and conducting research (both qualitative and quantitative). The Innovation Research Lead will partner with team members to clarify project goals and identify areas where customer research can provide greater insight, and lead discovery efforts that result in actionable insights. The successful candidate will have a bias for action and a sense of urgency. They are a self-starter comfortable with ambiguity, with a strong attention to detail and excellent collaboration skills.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience in design, HCI, or related field. Master's degree in relevant field a plus.
• Five to eight years of customer or user research is a must, preferably with a mix of experience in consulting and large corporate environments.
• Mastery and advanced knowledge of a broad set of user-centered qualitative and quantitative research methods, including but not limited to contextual inquiry and ethnographic field studies, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, concept testing, competitive assessments, diary studies, etc.
• Significant experience identifying and conducting research that results in actionable insights and contributes directly toward meeting goals identified.

Preferred Skills/Experience:

• Thorough knowledge of immersive and interactive methods (workshops, design sprints) for helping stakeholders and project teams understand the needs and experiences of customers.
• Experience applying design thinking and lean startup methodologies to ambiguous situations and on a variety of digital and non-digital projects.
• Skill with strategic and evaluative research inclusive of metrics, and the ability to synthesize and correlate quantitative data with qualitative user research.
• Experience managing research vendors to ensure that vendor, study participants and research findings meet team and stakeholder expectations.
• Has an intellectual curiosity that inspires others around you.
• Proven ability to guide teams to apply research findings/insights.
• Previous experience driving user research within an agile product development environment.
• Experience using digital research platforms (dscout, UserTesting).
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills, especially as they relate to presenting and defending research and experiment decisions; can flex and adapt to audiences (stakeholders and partners) at all levels and sizes, both in-person and via remote technology.

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