Lead Researcher

Objective

The Lead Researcher will use ID8’s design thinking- and lean startup-based research methodologies to lead a team of researchers across three different domain areas in the automotive industry in a joint 12-week research sprint. This involves developing and maintaining research and learning plans, managing the recruitment of respondents across multiple customer segments and stakeholder groups, leading pointed secondary research efforts in the domain areas, scheduling and conducting customer discovery interviews, and leading the team in the synthesis of research findings. The Lead Researcher will work closely with the Project Lead to plan and facilitate regular meetings and workshops to share, capture, and synthesize findings across the research teams. The Lead Researcher will, jointly with other team members, develop a presentation to summarize the synthesized research findings to present to the client’s executive team.

Duties

• Define, structure, plan, and manage secondary and primary research.
• Oversee the recruitment, scheduling, and conducting of interviews across customer segments and automotive domain areas.
• Lead other researchers on the project to pursue research in strategically important areas of interest, and continually adjust these efforts based on new information revealed through the research sprint.  
• Clearly communicate research findings with the team, which will include other researchers, a project lead, UI/UX designers, and client business unit liaisons. 
• Work with the UI/UX designers and other team members to create helpful, visually compelling human-centered design artifacts and summary presentations.
• Plan and conduct weekly research share-outs and synthesis sessions, as well as a mix of workshops, throughout the research sprint.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Master’s degree in a related business, innovation, or design field a plus
• Demonstrated success working in a team environment
• Experience with both primary and secondary research methods
• Background in corporate innovation, research, or entrepreneurship a plus
• Qualification or significant experience in design thinking and human-centered design research methodologies preferred
• Entrepreneurial experience a plus
• Knowledge of new research approaches and tools a plus
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills
• Ability to lead and prioritize across multiple concurrent initiatives

Project Details

• 14-week duration
• Remote contract position
• Estimated 10-20 hours per week depending on the stage of the project
• Project fee based on experience