Lead UX Researcher - Discovery and Personalization

About the position As a Lead UX Researcher within our Guest UX Team, you'll help shape Target's evolving digital experience for our guests. You'll also play a strategic role in driving business growth. In this role, you will be responsible for thoughtfully prioritizing, planning, executing, and synthesizing research to create clear and actionable insights for the cross-functional product development team. You will translate research insights into powerful stories and recommendations that inform product strategy. You'll lead research strategy across a portfolio of digital initiatives and guide product teams in leveraging insights to inform long-term vision and prioritization. This role is a key thought partner to several functions in the digital group including product managers, UX designers, and engineers. As an embedded member of a cross-functional product team, you will contribute to advancing the broader practice of UX at Target through influence, impact, and craft, while also educating cross-functional teams when needed. We are an engaged, supportive, and increasingly diverse team focused on elevating the impact of our discipline.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a leader within product teams throughout the research project life cycle - recommending appropriate methodology, scoping, and coordinating the entire process, facilitating in-field research and post-research synthesis through analysis
• Act as a strategic thought partner and provide expert guidance in leading, conducting, and synthesizing qualitative research projects - including, but not limited to in-person or remote moderated and unmoderated testing, surveys, heuristic reviews, benchmark studies, concept testing, online and in-store intercepts, and ethnographies
• Activate insights to identify key opportunities and whitespace areas aligned with Target's strategic direction
• Mentor and coach other researchers to elevate research quality and influence across teams
• Drive alignment through prioritization and decision making across multiple product teams
• Contribute to the evolution of Target's research frameworks and best practices
• Champion a human-centered mindset across UX, product, and engineering teams
• Navigate complexity and ambiguity within a matrixed organization

Requirements

• Minimum of 7 years' experience practicing UX research for digital product teams
• Proven expertise leading complex UX research programs across multiple products or domains
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to clearly communicate complex concepts to cross-functional partners
• Strong ability to tell compelling stories from data to communicate insights and recommendations
• Thrives in ambiguity and guides others through it
• Skilled in applying prioritization frameworks to balance short- and long-term research needs
• Experienced in leading and managing multiple projects of varying size and scope while adapting to shifting priorities
• Strong project management skills with experience tracking projects across stages of the product design life cycle
• Adept at developing and driving strategic learning agendas for digital experiences
• Experienced in managing a portfolio of research projects aligned to a product roadmap
• Proven success mentoring other researchers and fostering cross-functional understanding of research insights
• Experienced leading research initiatives in a matrixed, agile environment
• Hands-on experience establishing, recruiting for, moderating, and analyzing online research panels
• Proficient in research tools for remote testing, surveys, analysis, and reporting (User Testing, Qualtrics, Dscout, ChatGPT, etc.)
• Preferred 4-year degree in Anthropology, Social Science, Design Research, Psychology, Human Factors, HCI, or related field

Benefits

• comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more
• 401(k)
• employee discount
• short term disability
• long term disability
• paid sick leave
• paid national holidays
• paid vacation

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