Sr. UX Researcher, Futures Insights, Devices Design Group

Sr. UX Researcher, Futures Insights, Devices Design Group

DESCRIPTION

The Amazon Device and Services Design Group (DDG) creates revolutionary products used by millions of customers around the world every day - including Echo, Fire TV, Alexa Communications, and more. Within DDG, the DDG UX Research (UXR) team enables Amazon's Devices and Alexa business to make informed decisions based on sound mixed-method research and analytics. We are seeking an exceptional Sr. UX Researcher to partner with our Design team responsible for informing mid-to-long term strategic planning. This role will report to the Head of Futures Insights. If you are passionate about using research to inform early strategic decision making, enjoy collaborating closely with diverse and highly skilled researchers, designers, product managers, and engineers, and like your efforts to translate into real world impact, we want you on our team. This role is based in the Device Design Group's Seattle location, but we are open to considering placing well qualified candidates in our London, UK studio.

Key job responsibilities

1. Help build and sustain a program for collecting, synthesizing, and communicating foundational insights on human needs and motivations, and sociocultural trends, to inform mid-to-long term planning efforts of DDG and its product line partners.
2. Partner deeply with the DDG Design Futures team to inform and shape mid-to-long term (2-5 year) concept development and experience roadmaps.
3. Help leadership determine the right research questions to ask, creating long-term research roadmaps that align to and inform business strategy and goals.
4. Synthesize primary and secondary data to perform quick and thorough analyses leading to focused, insightful, and actionable findings.
5. Define, invent, and execute research methods appropriate to the questions at hand, including but not limited to ethnographic and survey techniques.
6. Translate insights into operational criteria aligned to business goals.
7. Advance the development of insight-based knowledge management systems to drive organizational decision-making and prioritization of investments.
8. Persuade decision makers to take aligned action on research findings - inspire them and help them internalize opportunities to delight customers and differentiate our offerings.

About the team
The DDG UXR team is comprised of more than two dozen highly capable and collaborative ethnographers, psychologists, and research scientists. With the support of a dedicated research operations team, we execute and synthesize human research that provides the business with a deep understanding of the motivations, behaviors, needs, and capabilities of current and potential customers. We reveal insights that clarify opportunities and inspire innovation, and translate these insights into operational outcomes. We then partner to iteratively design and test solutions until outcomes are achieved or hypotheses are proven wrong.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

1. 6+ years of experience in the field of UX research with a focus on early, generative research that informs long term business strategy, ideally in the digital products and services industry.
2. Strong portfolio that illustrates how your research has informed strategic decision-making.
3. Working knowledge of a full range of UX research methods, with deep expertise in early-phase qualitative methods, and the proven ability to execute the right methodology to get the needed result.
4. MS in Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, or a related field.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

1. Ability to independently drive multiple concurrent projects in an agile environment.
2. Excellent written communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization.
3. Passion for understanding and applying the latest learnings and innovations in social and behavioral science, research methods, and UX design.
4. Strategic, business-building approach to research with a proven capacity for translating data into bottom-line impact.
5. Ability to handle high complexity and ambiguity, defining crisp, cogent strategy for net-new product development, whether from many diverse inputs, or with no input at all.
6. Experience systematically weaving research insights into ideation and design sprint processes.
7. Deep understanding of human motivations, capabilities, and limitations, and their implication for product design.
8. Understanding of the product design process and how research is appropriately integrated at each phase.
9. Experience with embedded systems and multi-modal device interaction (e.g., touch, voice, and mediated control).

Amazon is an equal opportunities employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We value your passion to discover, invent, simplify and build. Protecting your privacy and the security of your data is a longstanding top priority for Amazon. Please consult our Privacy Notice to know more about how we collect, use and transfer the personal data of our candidates.

Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.