Senior Product Researcher

Location & Flexibility

Our Senior Product Researcher will be an integral part of our leadership at WillowTree. To help retain our deep culture of collaboration both among ourselves and our clients, this role will maintain an in-office presence in a hybrid (Work From Near) capacity in our Vancouver office.  

Learn more about Work From Near.

Who We Are

WillowTree is an award-winning digital product agency driven by innovation and grounded in strategy and user-centered design. We create long-term partnerships with the world’s leading brands to design and build digital flagship products crucial to their core business. WillowTree is continuing to grow and thrive as the largest independent agency in the US. Some of our clients include HBO, National Geographic, Anheuser-Busch, and PepsiCo.

The Opportunity

Come join a collaborative product and research team with ample opportunities to shape digital products across a variety of industries. You’ll make a direct impact on the success of our teams, clients, and company through your research and mentorship. You’ll design and lead research spanning every step of the product life cycle, from kick-off and understanding business and consumer needs before we build products, to assuring the products we build provide a useful and seamless experience, to measuring the impact of our products once shipped.

We understand our responsibility to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive place within the tech industry, while pushing to make our industry more representative. Because of this responsibility, we need candidates who value diversity and inclusion through their work, team collaboration, or mentorship. So in your cover letter, we encourage you to reflect on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute end-to-end research using a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods to influence business and product decisions
• Collaborate with a cross-functional team of designers, product strategists, and software engineers, and more to build digital products that meet the needs of our clients and their customers considering rigor and timeline and scope. 
• Build trust and credibility with clients through empathy and open communication
• Partner with clients to set research and business goals and resolve any conflicts to ensure the users’ best interest
• Identify important research questions and implement user-centered research methods that translate to digital features and design
• Draw from a breadth of tools and approaches to investigate UX questions such as user interviews, surveys, ethnographic research, and usability tests
• Balance quantitative and qualitative research methods to drive product direction and implementation
• Compile and present findings to stakeholders in a clear, actionable, and compelling way
• Advocate for research best practices with our clients and across the company 
• Mentor and coach early career researchers on the team

Qualifications

• Excellent foundation in research methodology: ability to identify a research question and apply the appropriate method for delivering insights and answers
• Experience designing and executing  both quantitative and qualitative user-centered research.   
• Training and experience with a variety of research methods (e.g. survey design and analysis, ethnographic research, interviews, usability tests, experimental design, competitive landscapes, secondary research, etc.)
• Experience conducting research in support of digital product development or innovation
• Can select appropriate research methods considering timelines and constraints
• Ability to apply basic statistical concepts and tests (t-tests, ANOVA, confidence intervals, sampling, generalizability, etc) to analysis
• Ability to collaborate with a cross-functional or interdisciplinary team, incorporate the broader team into the research process, and contribute to the ideation and product design process. 
• Can synthesize complex information and findings into actionable and compelling insights and presentations for both researchers and non-researchers
• Ability to reframe client concerns into problem statements and research questions
• Experience managing relationships and being a point of contact for client relationships
• Ability and desire to mentor, coach, and train team members

Bonus Points

• Formal experience leading and managing teams or individuals with a focus on mentorship and professional development
• Advanced statistical and modeling skills such as cluster analysis, regression, maxdiff, and conjoint analysis
• Experience conducting research at a digital product agency
• You’ve been part of a growing research practice within a non-academic setting 
• You’ve shipped products with features based on your research

Even if you don’t have expertise in all of the qualifications listed, we value new perspectives and backgrounds and encourage you to apply. We’re committed to building a diverse company that reflects the diversity of our users. We’re committed to growth-mindset.

Why WillowTree?

We offer a place to be yourself.

Our differences, both visible and invisible, benefit our teams, our communities, and the products we craft. That’s why WillowTree strives to build a team with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. You’ll work hard here; however, we’ll balance that with a culture that supports your growth and cares about your well-being. We’re committed to creating an environment of inclusion — a place where every Tree can thrive.

We want you to reach your fullest potential and part of your professional development at WillowTree will include dedicated time to innovate on passion projects and an annual stipend to fund your professional pursuits.

WillowTree celebrates our differences and provides equal employment opportunities to all team members and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Diverse teams build better products. We acknowledge that the tech industry especially lacks opportunity for those who are of non-traditional backgrounds and in underrepresented groups. In order to create the best products for everyone, we know that it’s important for our team to reflect the diversity of our users, and we are committed to being the change we want to see.