Research Lead, New AI Products & Platforms

The New York Times•New York, NY

3h•$140,000 - $155,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The New York Times is seeking a Research Lead passionate about integrating reader-centric insights into the product development process for the New AI Products and Platforms (NAPP) Mission. This role involves leading end-to-end research projects to inform strategy, collaborating with a cross-functional digital product team (Product, Design, Editorial, Engineering, Marketing), and reporting to the Managing Director of News Products and Audience Insights. The Audience Insights team at The Times focuses on understanding the audience to drive company growth, utilizing product, human-centered design, innovation, market, and UX research, drawing from social science principles. This is a hybrid role based in the New York City office.

Requirements

8+ years of research and insights experience.
Experience researching chat interfaces or GenAI search tools and using a range of GenAI tools and features in your work.
Experience moderating qualitative research and facilitating brainstorms and workshops with cross-functional partners.
Mastery of a range of research methods. These methods include participatory design, in-person and remote interviews, ethnographies, co-creation, and user-initiated feedback tools. Additionally, surveys, card-sorting, and usability studies are also part of the range.
Experience executing qualitative and quantitative research and selecting the right approach based on the problem to be solved.
Experience synthesizing complex findings into compelling narratives and visualize insights for diverse audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience conducting research for early-stage 0-1 product development, helping teams identify opportunities, validate concepts, and shape new product experiences.
Experience working in rapid prototyping environments, using research to inform iterative product development and experimentation.
Experience building alignment among cross-functional stakeholders, including Product, Design, Engineering, Editorial, and Marketing partners.
Experience presenting to stakeholders, senior management, and fellow researchers.
A deep curiosity about the role of AI in shaping the future of information, media, and journalism.

Responsibilities

Lead a human-centered design approach for Products teams, inspiring colleagues to build innovative product features grounded in user needs to drive NAPP and company goals.
Use research-based insights and GenAI tools for rapid prototype iteration.
Own evaluation for quality and editorial integrity: Create frameworks to assess the success of A.I. prototypes and products.
Build innovative solutions using AI tools to support certain parts of the research process.
Champion A.I. innovation and ethics: Stay up to date with industry trends, new research methodologies, LLM advancements, and emerging technologies. Champion the ethical and responsible use of AI, ensuring our tools uphold our standards of accuracy and objectivity.
Complement research with behavioral data, proprietary and industry research, and A/B testing results to provide a holistic view of our users.
Work with Audience Insights researchers across News Product, Marketing, Cooking, Wirecutter, The Athletic and Games to identify opportunities to collaborate and avoid duplicative product work.
Manage external research vendors to support moderation, fieldwork, and analysis, ensuring high-quality and efficient project execution.
Contribute to the collaborative culture of Audience Insights and the NAPP Mission; help The New York Times understand, and build empathy for, our audiences.
Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.