Principal UX Researcher, Futures Insights, Devices Design Group

$163,000 - $269,500/Yr

Amazon.com - Seattle, WA

Full-time - Senior

Seattle, WA

General Merchandise Retailers

About the position

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 Principal UX Researcher to join our Futures Insights research team responsible for establishing foundational insights on human needs, motivations, and trends to inform mid-to-long term strategic planning. This role will report to the Head of Futures Insights, and will partner closely with peer Product Line, Research Science, and Design System research teams. 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.

Responsibilities

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

Requirements

• 10+ 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.
• Strong portfolio that illustrates how your research has informed strategic decision-making.
• Ability to independently drive multiple concurrent projects in an agile environment.
• Working knowledge of a full range of UX research methods, with deep expertise in early-phase qual methods, and the proven ability to execute the right methodology to get the needed result.
• 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.
• Passion for understanding and applying the latest learnings and innovations in social and behavioral science, research methods, and UX design.
• Strategic, business-building approach to research with a proven capacity for translating data into bottom-line impact.
• Broad knowledge of qualitative research methodologies and the proven ability to execute the right methodology to get the needed result.
• MS in Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, or a related field.

Nice-to-haves

• Ability to handle highest complexity and ambiguity, defining crisp, cogent strategy for net-new product development, whether from many diverse inputs, or with no input at all.
• Experience systematically weaving research insights into ideation and design sprint processes.
• Deep understanding of human motivations, capabilities, and limitations, and their implication for product design.
• Understanding of the product design process and how research is appropriately integrated at each phase.
• Experience with embedded systems and multi-modal device interaction (e.g., touch, voice, and mediated control).

Benefits

• Equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package.
• Full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.