Head of Vanguard Client Experience Research

Vanguard•Malvern, PA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Vanguard is seeking a Head of Vanguard Client Experience Research to lead and develop a high-performing Client Experience Research organization. This role involves setting the vision, strategy, and operating model for client experience research across various business lines, client segments, channels, products, and services. The Head of Research will align the research portfolio with Vanguard’s strategic priorities, ensuring the organization focuses on critical client, crew, and business questions. This leader will guide managers, research professionals, and multidisciplinary teams in conducting generative and evaluative research, continuous discovery, usability testing, client listening, and experience measurement across digital and service platforms. The position emphasizes establishing rigorous, scalable, and consistent research practices that translate client insights into actionable strategies throughout the product and experience lifecycle. Collaboration with senior leaders across Product, Design, Technology, Analytics, Marketing, and business units is key to identifying client and business needs, framing research questions, prioritizing opportunities, and selecting appropriate research methodologies. The role requires synthesizing complex research and data into strategic guidance, championing the voice of the client in enterprise decision-making, and building strong partnerships with other insight disciplines to create a holistic understanding of the client. Additionally, this role will focus on advancing the maturity and impact of the research practice, promoting human-centered design and ethical research standards, and developing organizational research capabilities. The Head of Research will also explore emerging client behaviors, industry changes, and new research technologies, including AI-enabled capabilities, to enhance client understanding and business outcomes. Special projects and other duties as assigned are also part of the role.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant professional experience in human-computer interaction, user experience, behavioral or social science, design research, information science, psychology, business, or a related field.
Minimum of eight years of progressively responsible experience in user experience research, client experience research, design research, human-computer interaction, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience leading research professionals and people leaders, setting organizational direction, developing talent, and building inclusive, high-performing teams.
Demonstrated ability to establish research strategy, lead complex research programs, and apply qualitative and quantitative methods to consequential product, service, experience, and business questions.
Strong executive communication, consultation, and influencing skills, with demonstrated ability to translate complex evidence into clear strategic guidance and build alignment among senior leaders and cross-functional partners.
Demonstrated ability to partner across Product, Design, Technology, Analytics, Marketing, and business teams and to operate effectively in a complex, cross-divisional environment.
Deep knowledge of human-centered design, continuous discovery, usability, research operations, client-listening practices, and the ethical collection, management, and use of participant data.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree preferred.
Experience connecting research with analytics, measurement, market research, behavioral science, or other insight disciplines preferred.
Experience advancing research practices through emerging methods, tools, technologies, or AI-enabled capabilities preferred.

Responsibilities

Leads and develops a high-performing Client Experience Research organization, including hiring, evaluating, supervising, coaching, and developing crew members.
Sets the vision, strategy, and operating model for Client Experience Research across business lines, client segments, channels, products, and services, aligning with Vanguard’s strategic priorities.
Leads managers, research professionals, and multidisciplinary teams in generative and evaluative research, continuous discovery, usability testing, client listening, and experience measurement.
Establishes rigorous, scalable, and consistent research practices that connect client insight to action throughout the product and experience lifecycle.
Partners with senior leaders and teams across Product, Design, Technology, Analytics, Marketing, and business units to identify needs, frame research questions, prioritize opportunities, and determine effective research approaches.
Guides the design and execution of research programs using various methods such as interviews, contextual inquiry, ethnography, diary studies, surveys, usability testing, heuristic evaluation, concept evaluation, experimentation, and continuous client-listening programs.
Synthesizes complex research, behavioral, and experience data into clear strategic guidance and communicates client needs, behaviors, pain points, perceptions, and opportunities to senior decision-makers.
Elevates the voice of the client in enterprise decision-making, ensuring insights are timely, credible, accessible, and actionable.
Builds strong partnerships across research and insight disciplines, including analytics, data science, market research, behavioral science, and experience measurement.
Advances the maturity and impact of the research practice by establishing standards, governance, tools, technologies, repositories, and quality measures.
Champions human-centered design and ethical research practices, ensuring participant privacy, consent, data protection, accessibility, inclusion, and professional conduct.
Develops organizational research capability by coaching research leaders and practitioners, mentoring cross-functional partners, advancing research literacy, and creating an inclusive environment.
Anticipates emerging client behaviors and industry changes and evaluates new research approaches, technologies, and AI-enabled capabilities.
Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned.