Design Researcher - Principal Associate level

Capital One•McLean, VA

About The Position

Capital One’s Experience Design organization is focused on co-creating memorable, meaningful customer and associate experiences that build our brand with humanity and drive business advantage. The goal of Experience Design Research is to accelerate teams’ learning velocity. We do this by conducting primary research studies, assessments, and testing. Additionally, we oversee democratized research/testing conducted by others. A key aspect of our role is to find and synthesize existing research and data to help teams acquire the knowledge they seek to make informed decisions. Role Overview As a Design Researcher in Premium Design, you will be responsible for executing program-specific learning agendas by embedding directly with Product Managers and Design Leads. Your primary focus will be on the end-to-end research cycle: generating clear research roadmaps, conducting high-quality primary research, and synthesizing human behavior expertise to deliver pragmatic recommendations that eliminate knowledge gaps and drive measurable product recommendations. You will actively seek opportunities to scale the impact of your findings more broadly across Capital One.

Requirements

At least 3 years conducting user research
At least 3 years conducting quantitative or qualitative primary research or data analysis (survey data, behavioral analytics, etc.)

Nice To Haves

7+ years conducting research in corporate enterprises
Exceptional business communications (verbal and written)
Experience working with and influencing senior level executives

Responsibilities

Learning Objective Clarity: Owns the process of generating and maintaining clear learning agendas, research roadmaps, and research objectives in consultation with Product teams. Defines primary research questions that align directly with business strategy to eliminate knowledge gaps.
Research Execution: Owns the full execution process, including selecting the best research method, producing research plans, and identifying participant screening criteria. Creates high-quality research artifacts and conducts research sessions, providing touchpoints for cross-functional partners.
Expert Analysis: Applies human factors and human behavior expertise to analyze and synthesize primary and secondary research data, surfacing relevant, actionable insights that answer research questions and produces the promised deliverables.
Actionable Recommendations: Authors useful, pragmatic, and concrete recommendations that product teams can action. Actively follow up to ensure recommendation actioning is tracked and monitored throughout the Product Development Lifecycle.
Scaled Impact: Opportunistically increase the altitude and aperture of your research to create additional leverage across Capital One.
Enablement: Leads Consult Hours to advise non-researchers on method selection and research approach.
Results Focus: Drives the delivery of significant design outcomes for a product area, influencing cross-functional teams to align on ambitious, measurable goals.
Influence: Leverages strong relationships to influence strategic decisions and outcomes across product areas, guiding cross-functional partners and mid-level leadership to shape strategic roadmaps.
Collaboration: Drives effective cross functional collaboration to influence shared outcomes, facilitates complex discussions, and guides teams toward common goals.
Communication: Presents work to audiences across levels and job functions using a human-centered approach that to effectively articulate insights and recommendations