FUTURE OPPORTUNITY: Mixed Methods Lead Researcher

As the leader in cloud-managed IT, Cisco Meraki connects passionate people to their mission by simplifying the digital workplace. Our impact is driven by the innovative, purposeful, and vibrant people who make up our inclusive community. When technology is intuitive, our customers can focus on what matters.

We are building a network of future Merakians who are excited by our mission & culture and want to make an impact in their next role. We would like to hear from you if you are interested in being considered for future career opportunities with us.

To be considered for future roles, please submit your resume. When a position is available that matches your background and skills, we will get in touch with you.

Please note this job posting is currently not open and is intended to advertise future job opportunities.

We’re looking for a Lead UX Researcher to lead research and experience strategy projects, mentor others around research best practices, and help craft the team’s processes. Working with design, product management, and engineering partners, you will identify the right projects to seek using mixed research methods that get answers to our questions and inspire our user experiences. You will work to understand the complex needs and motivations of IT administrators and help the organization develop empathy accordingly.

Meraki believes the quality of our products is dependent on the quality of our teams. We place a high value on cultivating the growth and development of everyone we hire. On the UX team, we give and get feedback early and often, share what we know, and learn from each other. As a Lead UX researcher, you will be key in helping bring further definition to our UX research practice.

Our team’s primary focus is on software, but we also find opportunities to collaborate with teams across the organization and think about how to improve the entire customer journey.

You’d be a good fit if you:

• Have a desire to understand people; their behaviors, attitudes, and motivations
• Find excitement in working in an industry with complex workflows
• Led complex, mixed-method research initiatives to help companies to discover and tackle problems
• Can identify the best methods, qualitative or quantitative, to get to actionable insights and scalable solutions
• Demonstrate good judgment in tradeoffs between time/effort and quality
• Collaborate with other UXRs, Data Scientists, designers, engineers, PMs, market researchers etc.
• Skilled in listening to and helping product managers, partners, and other team members to identify the right research questions
• An effective verbal and written communication style to distill complex research results into understandable, compelling, and actionable insights
• A self-starter - you don’t wait for orders and identify what we need to learn and find the answers
• Are adaptable, resilient, and welcome change
• Have a growth mentality - you are continually learning
• Bring energy, empathy, and a sense of humor to the office every day

Your day-to-day:

• Define research roadmaps to ensure key strategic initiatives are customer centric
• Align cross functional stakeholders through workshops and other methods to define problem space
• Lead, coach, and collaborate with others on foundational, generative and evaluative research efforts
• Take initiative to help formalize a research practice on a growing design team (e.g., identify tools, establish standards and templates, refine process)
• Set standards for other team members (designers, PMs, etc.) to conduct research and/or gather sound data in conversations with customers
• Synthesize findings into models, stories, and frameworks that help teams take action on insights
• Inspire the team with new methods, training, and thought leadership, especially quant research

Requirements & Qualifications:

• Graduate degree with a focus on Psychology, Research Methods, Sociology, Human-computer Interaction (HCI), or any other related field. The equivalent in work experience is acceptable
• At least 10 years’ experience with qualitative research techniques such as ethnography, 1:1 interviews, co-creation sessions, diary studies, usability and concept testing
• 8- 10 years of experience with survey research. Good understanding of basic statistics and some experience working with Data Science to triangulate data from analytics.
• Experience with statistical tools such as Qualtrics, SPSS or R.
• Experience with other platforms such as Usertesting.com, Google Analytics or FullStory
• Experience working in cross-functional teams
• Experience researching end-to-end user experience
• Excellent storytelling skills, you should be able to create compelling ways to generate, evangelize and present results.

Bonus Points

• Proficient in survey research and advanced understanding of statistical analysis and techniques like regression or categorical data analysis.
• Knowledge of Design thinking methods and brainstorm facilitation techniques

Meraki headquarters are based in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco, less than a 5-minute walk from the Chase Center and with beautiful views of the AT&T Ballpark and the Bay beyond. In Chicago, we are located in the beautiful Old Post Office downtown. Walking distance to public transportation including the L, Metra and CTA busses. Both offices provide access to an onsite gym, multiple kitchens stocked with high-quality snacks, a coffee bar, catered lunches every single day, and a generous benefits package.

At Cisco Meraki, we’re challenging the status quo with the power of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration. When we connect different perspectives, we can imagine new possibilities, inspire innovation, and release the full potential of our people. We’re building an employee experience that includes appreciation, belonging, growth, and purpose for everyone.

Cisco is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.