Manager, Experience Researcher

Our Purpose

Title and Summary

Manager, Experience Researcher

Overview

• At Mastercard, we believe that the future of our business depends on our ability to help our partners define and deliver great experiences. In support of that, we are driving a comprehensive Customer Experience & Design (CX&D) program within Foundry to drive the creation of new innovative products developed using customer centric strategic and design approaches.
• The delivery of excellent customer experience requires a strong performing cross functional team, harnessing the skills of the UX disciplines: Research, Product Experience Design, Content Design, Experience Strategy, and more. The Experience Researcher is a key member of the team who is responsible for helping to define, shape and test strategies and great experiences for our customers and consumers.
• Are you a talented Experience Researcher with a passion for shaping and executing fit for purpose customer research?
• Are you observant, curious and passionate about helping build the best possible experience for customers?
• Do you thrive on unearthing actionable insights that drive strategic product and design decisions?
• Do you have a passion for understanding evolving behavioral shifts, exploring new verticals and innovating with new business models and technologies?
• Do you possess a can-do attitude and strong sense of ownership /desire to succeed?
• Are you self-motivated with the ability to confidently lead research projects?
• Do you want to be a part of a collaborative environment working across multiple geographies?
• The ideal candidate loves working with and guiding other experts to help create elegant solutions to tough problems. This person is observant, curious, and passionate about building the best possible experience for our customers.
• The ideal candidate works to develop key insights along the product lifecycle and is responsible for directing and planning experience research, including methods such as: usability lab studies, ethnographic field studies, remote testing, competitive evaluations, participatory design sessions, surveys, heuristic evaluations, and other approaches based on need.
• The ideal candidate is a consummate advocate for the user who knows how to leverage existing data and metrics to build a holistic picture and meaningful recommendation for product-improvement.

Role

• Participate in all phases of the research, strategy and design process from framing the right problem to solve and defining the design target all the way through to defining the vision, and future state experience to the validation of concepts.
• Display understanding of what problem the team is trying to solve and can align end-customer research activities to ensure research contributes to informed decision-making and implications for product team
• Ensure definition of research objectives to draft fit for purpose research plans to meet defined objectives and validate hypotheses and concepts.
• Construct simple to complex research plans to achieve research objectives, lead and conduct generative and evaluative research methods. Ability to also lead engagements with third party vendors to execute on research plans.
• Apply a creative approach to problem solving.
• Apply critical thinking skills to analyze and synthesize findings without bias, recognizing patterns and themes that are formulated into complete and compelling stories that articulate insights and implications. Integrates knowledge of cultural nuances and trends.
• Develop actionable insights that inform differentiated value propositions and experience design while supporting innovation projects across Mastercards New Product development portfolios.
• Educate and lead peers and stakeholders on behalf of voice of customer
• Possess the curiosity for curating behavioral, experience and technology trends that can be shared with team members to inform higher quality thinking and outcomes.
• Manage timelines and input from design and business stakeholders and contribute to the product design and development process.
• Be open to new challenges and have a desire to develop as a researcher and learn new skills, while also codifying best practices and mentoring or training other practitioners.
• Contribute to both the Customer Experience & Design and Foundry New Product Development community while also supporting efforts to broaden and mature the understanding and community connected to Experience Research.
• Write and present findings to senior management and contribute to thought leadership.

All About You

• Practical experience in deploying qualitative and quantitative research methods throughout the product development life cycle from conceptualization to launch.
• Expertise in, and knowing when to apply the range of research methods with experience with collecting and reporting qualitative and quantitative measurements
• Able to support findings with storytelling, usability, and cognitive principles. Strong oral and written skills.
• Approach research and design as an iterative process with users at its center.
• Familiarity of Design Thinking and have worked on/exposure to projects which were driven by Design Thinking methodologies.
• Considered a passionate, great thinker and practitioner in CX/Experience research and can demonstrate success in bringing digital products to market.
• Possess a curiosity for cultural and technology trends, innovation, CX & Design and experience based thinking alongside sharing thought leadership.
• Considered a collaborative and inclusive team player, who can build relationships and ensure connections across disciplines.
• Possess excellent communication skills, have the ability to influence partners, and are able to articulate complex concepts clearly and persuasively to senior audiences.
• Well experienced in navigating complex projects with multiple stakeholders in large business settings.
• Excited about the global evolution of consumer experiences in the world of payments, small business, online marketplaces, digital identity, consumer loyalty and beyond.
• Must be organized, able to act independently and able to switch between projects in a sometimes fast-paced and exciting environment
• Have exceptional analytical skills enabling you define strategies, make defensible recommendations, and shape research observations into insights and implications for both the experience and business.
• Experience working with a B2B2C business ecosystem.
• International travel on occasion may be required in this role.
• Excited about improving the world through doing well by doing good.
• Advanced Degree or equivalent work experience in Human Factors, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive or Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Science or related field