Lead UX Product Researcher - Vendor Tools

About Target: 

Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here.

Target UX is a group of design, content, research, and accessibility practitioners and experts, with a passion for improving and innovating our digital experiences for Target’s guests, team members, and partners. Here, we pride ourselves on designing tangible, inspiring, and impactful solutions that serve all aspects of our business– and being a part of the team means you will play a critical role for Target’s digital experience by increasing ease, simplicity, value, and delight for every touchpoint.  

About the role:  

As a Lead Product Researcher within our Enterprise UX Team, you’ll be at the forefront of Target’s evolving digital experience for vendor and B2B tools – shaping our vendor experience and contributing to growing business relationships and supporting efficient workflows. You will evolve how we understand vendors’ experience, needs, and pain points with a particular focus on the end-to-end experience of how we support our commercial customers. You will drive the product development process for B2B tools, ensuring that these experiences align with vendor needs, business objectives, and technological feasibility.

As a Lead Product Researcher you will certify relevance and quality of insights through thoughtful assessment of risk, establishment of clear success criteria, and the use of methodology based on sound research principles and practices. In addition, you will serve as a catalyst to educate, accelerate, and activate product design and development to be masters of guest needs and apply that into their product.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a leader 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

• Provide expert guidance in leading, conducting, and synthesizing qualitative research projects – including, but not limited to: in person moderated testing, remote moderated & unmoderated testing, surveys, journey mapping and persona development, benchmark studies, concept testing, online intercepts and contextual inquiries

• Lead synthesis and analysis of research findings – activating the insights gleaned through observations and interviews and identifying key opportunity areas in the context of corporate strategic direction

• Use your influence to identify and pursue user-centric outcomes within and across products

• Effectively facilitate multiple cross functional working teams and collaborate across multiple design and product teams

• Guide research process and mentor junior researchers

• Advance a culture of human-centered practice within UX, product, and engineering teams

• Build a network of relationships to enable your vision in service of our guest experience and Target as a whole

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About you:  

• 7+ years experience as a product researcher with a strong portfolio showcasing successful case studies and understanding of AI best practices

• Preferred 4-year degree in Anthropology, Social Science, Design Research, Psychology, Human Factors, HCI, or related field

• Genuine curiosity about people and experiences

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; demonstrated ability to effectively communicate complex concepts to cross functional partners

• A strong ability to tell compelling stories from data 

• Comfortable with ambiguity and can easily adjust to changing priorities 

• Strong project management skills – experience managing and prioritizing multiple projects at various stages in the project life cycle

• Advanced strategic problem-solving, systems thinking, and collaboration skills

• You balance the need for near-term solutions and long-term vision

• You are an expert in communicating how research connects to, serves, and improves business outcomes

• Exhibit a growth mindset 

• Comfortable speaking to a diverse group of people and leading conversations to uncover research insights.

• Experience running, recruiting, moderating and analyzing research and thinking strategically about their application

This position will operate as a Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement based on Target’s needs. A Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement means the team member’s core role will need to be performed both onsite at the Target HQ MN location the role is assigned to and virtually, depending upon what your role, team and tasks require for that day. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location, unless otherwise prescribed by Target. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.