User Research Manager

As a User Research Manager within GDI's Design Solutions Design Team, you will establish and lead the user research practice to ensure our digital solutions truly meet user needs and drive adoption. You will build and manage a team of internal and external researchers while developing standardized methodologies that can be applied across Saint-Gobain's diverse business units.

Additionally, you will work closely with internal clients to integrate systematic discovery into all digital projects, ensuring research insights directly inform solution development.

Key Responsibilities :

1) Leadership and Team Management

• Build and lead an internal research function scaled to meet Saint-Gobain's growing needs
• Develop and mentor a team of researchers while managing external research partners
• Foster a culture of user-centered design across the organization
• Drive research initiatives that support GDI's strategic objectives in digital transformation
• Create knowledge sharing mechanisms to leverage insights across projects and teams

2) Process and Methodology

• Establish consistent research standards and methodologies specific to Saint-Gobain's context
• Create frameworks for systematic discovery that can be applied across different business units
• Implement best practices for research operations and insight management
• Develop scalable processes that support our growing project portfolio
• Design and maintain research repositories and documentation standards
• Oversee multiple concurrent research streams across various digital initiatives
• Ensure high-quality delivery of research insights that drive decision-making
• Lead complex discovery phases for critical digital projects
• Balance research scope and timeline requirements across the project portfolio
• Translate research findings into actionable recommendations for product teams
• Partner with Digital Solution Management Team to integrate research into project governance
• Build strong relationships with business units to understand their specific needs and contexts
• Present research findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure research insights inform solution development
• Manage relationships with external research partners and vendors

3) Continuous Improvement and Development

• Stay current with user research trends and methodologies in enterprise software
• Develop training programs to build research capabilities across the organization
• Measure and communicate the impact of research on project outcomes
• Continuously refine research processes based on team feedback and project learnings
• Identify opportunities to leverage new research tools and technologies

Is this job for you?

Hard Skills:

• Expert knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
• Proficiency in research tools (e.g., Dovetail, Maze, etc.)
• Experience with enterprise software and complex business applications
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
• Ability to translate research insights into strategic recommendations

Soft Skills:

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills in French and English
• Strategic thinking with strong business acumen
• Team leadership and mentoring abilities
• Change management and organizational development experience
• Ability to influence and drive adoption of user-centered practices

Experience:

• 7+ years of user research experience, with 3+ years in a leadership role
• Proven track record of building and scaling research functions
• Experience conducting research in enterprise and industrial settings
• Track record of successful stakeholder management at senior levels

A little more about us

Saint-Gobain Group Digital and IT (250 people at head office, including 120 internal) is responsible for defining, implementing and managing the Group's Information Systems (IS) with its 1,000 subsidiaries at 6,500 sites in the world. The Group Digital and IT also carries the common resources (infrastructures, telecommunications, digital platforms, transversal applications). The Digital Workplace team is part of Group Digital & IT department.