Director of UX Research - eBay Live/AI

eBay•San Jose, CA

About The Position

As the UXR Director leading the eBay Live, Global Verticals and AI domains, you will be a key leader and pivotal stakeholder in shaping the future of one of eBay's most critical strategic pillars, overseeing a team which spans across product areas including eBay Live, Global Verticals including Motors, Fashion, and Collectibles, and our horizontal AI UXR team You will lead and inspire an organization of talented UXR IC’s and a Manager, acting as a force-multiplier for their development and the continuous evolution of the UXR function. We will depend on you to build meaningful, collaborative relationships with our design, product and engineering partners and senior leadership, with a focus on influencing and creating customer-informed strategies and inspiring continuous user-based product and feature innovation. In this role, you will work within the Design org, alongside partners from Product Management, Engineering, Marketing, Analytics and other core teams to ensure your research team is optimized to develop key insights to drive great experiences. You will support your team of talented User Researchers in designing, planning, conducting, and socializing user research across a spectrum of methodologies. You are a strong influencer and promoter within and outside the Design organization, as well as an external face for eBay’s User Experience Research team.

Requirements

Proven people leader with experience in all aspects of managing teams.
14+ years of experience in an applied user research setting.
10+ years of experience in managing user research/product research teams.
5+ years of experience in managing research managers.
Advanced Degree in Human Factors, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive or Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Science or a related field is desired.
Consistent track record of building and curating user research programs, employing a range of methodologies.
Practical experience in deploying qualitative and quantitative research methods throughout the product development lifecycle, from ideation to launch.
Ability to solve complex problems and support the team in delivery of insights.
Strong communication skills, experienced influencer, and advocate for user research.

Nice To Haves

Experience with the eCommerce industry is a plus but not a mandatory requirement.
Experience with AI is a plus but not a mandatory requirement.

Responsibilities

Lead a team of User Researchers across the eBay Live, Global Verticals and AI domains, providing research leadership as well as career development guidance and coaching tailored for a mix of junior to senior research talent as well as manager talent.
Drive a mixed-methods research practice, gathering both generative and evaluative insights on designs and concepts. Methods include but are not limited to: in-depth user interviews, in-lab and field studies, online surveys, diary studies, usability testing, moderated and unmoderated remote testing, customer journey mapping, jobs to be done, benchmarking, heuristic evaluations, as well as stakeholder interviews.
Cultivate and manage partnerships with cross-functional partners and company leadership (Design, Product Management, Marketing, Analytics, and various Business Units), being a user insights thought leader and core leadership partner..
Establish and maintain an efficient strategy for scoping research, execution, and sharing insights to ensure velocity and visibility across internal partners.
Help drive the impact of insights generated by the team and play a leadership role in elevating the User Research practice at eBay.
Define and lead initiatives that contribute to the maturity of our research practice.
Manage budget and maintain a healthy bench of external vendors for specific needs.