Lead - UX Research & Strategy

 

BE PART OF SOMETHING REAL

POSITION TITLE:         Lead – UX Research & Strategy

REPORTS TO:             Senior Manager of UX Research & Strategy

SUPERVISES:              Researchers and Senior Researchers

LOCATION:                 Hybrid  

About AEO

We strive to be an employer of choice - a place where people are excited to come to work because they believe in what we do, enjoy working with each other, and have fun doing it.  Our people come first. We employ more than 45,000 associates throughout the world and we believe that a truly diverse workplace is the result of an inclusive culture. It’s about more than simply bringing together people who are different, it’s about celebrating what makes us REAL.

If you want to be part of something REAL and want to help to shape the future of retail shopping and believe that great customer experiences are achieved through a fundamental understanding of human motivations, habits and behaviors, then read on!

About the AEO UX Team

Our goal is to create best in class customer experiences while always adding value to the organization. Our UX group looks to understand the nuances of ecommerce and omni-channel shopping experiences. Using customer research and analytics, we partner with cross-functional teams to break down complex business challenges into great (and usable) customer experiences. We’re a highly collaborative and (mostly) energetic bunch, not afraid to roll up our sleeves and dig into the challenges presented to us–always looking to understand “why?” We emphasize work-life balance, being the customer champion, showcasing bias for action, thinking big and delivering results.

Role Overview

As part of the UX Team, UX researchers lead qualitative and quantitative studies that provide insights across our customers’ journey. Our team has an exciting and diverse scope–working closely with UX designers to understand customers' digital and store experiences across the AEO family of brands. We’re seeking a UX Lead Researcher to join our growing team of UX researchers who are passionate about empathizing with customers. The ideal candidate will be responsible for conducting foundational and strategic research to identify opportunities requested by our digital product, merchant and stores teams. It’s a mix of formative and summative studies that require research question definition, method selection, testing structure and analysis of findings. It’s a dynamic, fast-paced environment with some ambiguity and competing priorities where learnings come from many places and require mixed research methods. It also requires a practical understanding of how to integrate technical and business requirements into research findings to help designers and product managers create a innovative, best practice user experience.

Although the work is mostly qualitative, the ideal candidate has a blended background of qualitative and quantitative research with some experience working with metrics, data analytics and data science.

As a Research Lead, you’ll play a key role growing, coaching, and empowering our research team and helping to scale the UX Research across AEO. Since our work spans digital and store experiences, you’ll build relationships with business partners and key stakeholders, you will advise them on the best usability trends, practices, and other user experience standards and make recommendations that align design and development processes to these trends and practices.

Lastly, you’ll work closely with the Senior Manager of Research and Strategy to continually grow, and improve the craft of UX research by finding new and competitive methods of understanding consumer behavior and experience.

What you Bring to The Role

• Self-directed strategic thinking with experience conducting, coaching and mentoring the discovery, interpretation, and communication of user insights.
• You have expertise with qualitative and quantitative methods including usability testing (familiarity with well-known industry testing platforms such as Qualtrics a plus), field research, 1:1 interviews, journey mapping, tree testing, card sorting, survey construction, concept testing, storyboarding, diary studies and other methods. Experience incorporating complex technical and business requirements into research structure.
• Experience studying competitive environments and ability to utilize the processes, tools and techniques needed to gather, analyze, and communicate relevant competitive practices. 
• Proven ability to report research at the appropriate fidelity (from ad hoc requests to formal stakeholder reviews) and facilitate discussions on the meaning of results. This means taking complex research findings and choosing the right artifacts (maps, matrices, personas, graphics, etc.) and crafting them into easily digestible stories, tailored for specific audiences that quickly enable product design and/or business decisions.
• Evidence of positive working relationships/partnerships with designers, product managers and others that enable teams to identify gaps in understanding of user needs and craft research to answer these questions.
• Ability to handle ambiguity and work autonomously.
• Able to meet deadlines and deliver high-quality research on schedule, including quickly turning around study plans and findings reports.
• Be current on best practice research techniques and have the opportunity to incorporate them into the work of the research team.
• Application of design thinking to assist in facilitating workshops to help create new products and services and possibly improving organizational operations.
• A passion for user-centered design.
• A meticulous eye for detail with the ability to manage multiple simultaneous projects.
• Constantly willing tot learn new and developing research methods and analyses.

Our Must-Haves (aka Required Experience/Skills)

• Masters or bachelor’s degree in Consumer Behavior, Statistics, Cognitive Science, Human Computer Design, User Experience, Interaction Design, Anthropology, Human Psychology or related discipline.
• 7+ years proven success using various research methods including field research, usability, focus groups, survey design, and data analysis including statistical measures (includes experience testing on well-known digital testing platforms).
• Ability to demonstrate past work experience and deliverables (e.g., problem statements, plans, reports, creative research methodologies, different ways to drive customer empathy into product and design teams).
• The ability to manage ambiguity, work autonomously and prioritize independently, and multi-task in a fast-paced environment. Ability to think both creatively and analytically.
• A passion for user-centered design.
• A strong eye for detail with the ability to manage multiple projects with ease.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating past work experience and deliverables (e.g. case studies including research plans, artifacts, reports and what parts of the project you worked on specifically).

Our Nice-to-Haves (aka Bonus Points)

• Masters or Ph.D. in Consumer Behavior, Statistics, Cognitive Science, Human Computer Design, User Experience, Interaction Design, Anthropology, Human Psychology or related discipline.
• Excellent communication, presentation, interpersonal and analytical skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization.
• Experience in omni-channel eCommerce / retail
• Experience with supporting one or more digital brands in an ecommerce ecosystem
• Experience with digital customer loyalty programs
• Knowledge of areas such as personalization, game dynamics, behavioral economics, brand strategy, data visualization, storytelling and narrative as they relate to UX

What's in it for You

• Competitive compensation, benefits and perks to support your physical, financial, and emotional well being. 
• Working remotely (We love to see you in person but we also believe great work can be done anywhere).
• Add to your UX research chops with one of the best brands in retail.
• Freedom to be self-driven and take initiative to identify research needs and creatively solve problems. You’ll drive your partners and stakeholders to learn by setting goals and biasing towards action.
• Working on an ego-free, highly talented, collaborative UX team that works hard and likes to have fun.
• Thriving in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

We recognize not everyone will have all of these requirements. If you meet most of the criteria and you’re excited about the opportunity, we’d love to hear from you.

AEO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state and local equal employment opportunity ("EEO") laws. AEO prohibits discrimination against associates and applicants for employment because of the individual's race or color, religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or partnership status, domestic violence or stalking victim status, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This applies to all AEO activities, including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, compensation, assignment, training, promotion, performance evaluation, discipline and discharge. AEO also provides reasonable accommodation of religion and disability in accordance with applicable law

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