Senior Lead UX Researcher

Senior Lead UX Researcher 

Every great story has a new beginning, and yours starts here. 
Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of. 

 
Who We Are… 
When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons, and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next… 
From brilliant creatives to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive. 

 
Position Summary 
We are actively seeking a Senior Lead UX Researcher to join the Global Product UX Research Team and build on our legacy of strong partnerships with product and design in building best-in-class streaming entertainment experiences.  

In this role, you will fuel the streaming product development process with customer insights that engage and delight viewers. You will lead research programs to generate strategic and tactical user insights, informing product roadmaps to increase subscriber acquisition, satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Your research will focus on evolving customer and business needs, including platform and device experiences, content discovery, and new engagement methods.  

Collaboration is key, as you will work closely with product and design leaders to identify high-value customer problems, drive research to answer key questions, and apply findings to create innovative solutions.  This high-impact position demands exceptional communication and stakeholder collaboration skills. The ideal candidate possesses strong research skills and applies strategic and critical thinking to increase business value and delight subscribers.  

Responsibilities 
 

• Lead research programs in one or more critical business functions. Identify and drive research aligned to Product and Technology team OKR’s. Measure impact of research value in the product development process. 

• Provide UX research insights to equip product and design teams with strategic and tactical insights used for product decisions such as roadmap priorities, innovation, and feature development. 

• Propose research program plans with guidance from research leaders and peers. Plans include research alignment to strategic goals, planning, and justification of resources, phased research plans and staffing, and details for specific studies.  

• To execute the research program, you may manage contractors, lead a small team of in-house researchers and manage vendor research teams. 

• Communicate project status with stakeholders with guidance and oversight from Program Directors. 

• Conduct global research studies end-to-end including identifying research needs, setting objectives and metrics, determining methods, coordinating prototype delivery with design, recruiting plan, study session guide, study moderation, survey programming, data analysis, and reporting. 

• Present insights and hold workshops with stakeholder teams to apply the insights to product decisions and design solutions. Hold a team retrospective and track impact of research to continuously improve value to the business. 

• Hands-on project management of user research studies including project communication, vendor selection and contract management, software tool coordination, cost estimation and forecasting resources, timelines and deliverable schedule, prototype security measures, coordinating recruitment, and lab facility needs. 

• Maximize insights by mining and synthesizing data across the research team, behavioral analytics, and data science to pinpoint what is working and what we have yet to learn. 

• Distill and translate data into actionable insights that are clear and simple to all levels in the org. 

• Ensure the highest quality data in balance with the need for speed in decision-making. 

• Advocate for the needs of the customer, consult on best practices and UX standards. 

• Grow the UXR team's global expertise and value to the business; explore new ways to discover user insights, experiment with the latest research methods, stay abreast of customer trends, industry competitive offerings and emerging tech to identify and develop novel solutions. 

Requirements 

• At least 10+ years of progressively complex practical work experience as a UX Researcher on a global product development team or consulting group. 

• 5+ years leading high profile research projects and presenting to business executives and decision-makers. 

• 2+ years leading a small team of researchers to plan and execute projects. 

• Graduate degree in Engineering Human Factors, Engineering Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, or similar, with formal training in usability testing. 

• Experience conducting research for global products with stakeholders and audiences outside the U.S. 

• Strong business acumen and client-management skills with the ability to adapt research approach and communication to a variety of individual and team working styles. 

• Proven record of accomplishment of designing and executing research studies and experiments which generate clear actionable outcomes and positive impact for customers and the business. 

• Strong command of mixed-methods research and experiments with the ability to discern and recommend the right method(s) for a project. 

• Practical experience required with qualitative studies include diary studies, cognitive walkthroughs, moderating IDIs, contextual inquiry, focus groups, and lab-based usability tests. Ability to adapt those methods to remote-only testing. 

• Proficiency with quantitative methods includes customer survey and statistical analysis such as kano, max diff, and data analytics with the ability to blend work with data scientists to create and test hypotheses. 

• Proficiency with research software for project planning, remote/online research studies, statistical analysis, and AI to aid data analysis. 

• Bring clarity with research in ambiguous situations to drive forward progress. 

• Excellent communication and presentation skills in all categories; verbal, visual, and written. 

• Agile growth mindset with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment and pivot quickly. 

• Strong listening, analytical, and organizational skills with the ability to communicate and present ideas clearly. 

• Demonstrated experience using critical problem-solving skills in both strategic and tactical research applications. 

• Commitment to fostering an inclusive team culture, built on empathy, and radical candor. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Technical background with relevant work experience in ecommerce, video streaming, social media, and interactive entertainment.  

• Subject matter expertise with Connected TV devices and/or game consoles, e.g., Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Xbox, PlayStation, etc. 

• Experience testing streaming media platforms, multi-modal devices, and immersive displays. 

• Experience leveraging machine learning and AI powered tools in research or strong interest in driving innovation in this rapidly changing space. 

• Project portfolio required for interview. Exclude projects under NDA.