Sr. Cultural Researcher, Futures Insights, Devices Experience Design

Amazon • Seattle, WA

5d • Remote

About The Position

Join us in shaping the future of Amazon's revolutionary products! As a Sr. Cultural Researcher on the Futures Insights team, which is part of Amazon's Devices and Services Experience Design organization, you'll play a pivotal role in informing mid-to-long term strategic planning (3-5 years) for next-generation and net-new device and service innovations. Your research will help the organization situate emerging technologies within a deep understanding of enduring and emerging human needs, cultural trends, and broader systems (e.g., STEEP analysis). Our work begins at the start of the design process, identifying insights and opportunities to drive humanity-centered innovation throughout. We collaborate with a variety of teams and functions in our work, driving efforts that are at times embedded within futures concept explorations or independent of them.

We recognize that the combination of skills and experience required to do this work can take many forms. Maybe you're a design ethnographer, cultural anthropologist, futures researcher, strategic foresight analyst, design strategist, or user experience researcher with deep experience in the 0-1 product space? Either way, we'd love to hear from you if this role sounds exciting.

Requirements

• Have a portfolio demonstrating past work experience and deliverables (e.g., study plans, reports, personas)
• 7+ years of proven success leading Design Research projects with demonstrated impact experience
• Working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods, with deep expertise in ethnographic, semiotic, co-design, and design research methods
• BA/BS in Anthropology, Design Research, Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies, or a related field
• Experience in the field of research with a focus on early, generative design research that informs long-term business strategy, ideally in the digital products and services industry
• Experience translating and creatively activating insights via design principles, strategic frameworks, scenarios, design provocations, and immersion workshops

Nice To Haves

• Excellent written communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization
• Ability to travel internationally to conduct in-context, in-person (e.g., home, workplace, office) research
• Strong design acumen and comfort working with design tools to create research outputs (e.g., Figma-based presentations, trend reports) and activation materials (e.g., scenarios, design prompt cards)
• MA/MS in Anthropology, Design Research, Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies, or a related field
• Experience with more futures or foresight-focused methodologies and frameworks, like STEEP analysis, the Futures Triangle, Scenario development, Causal Layer Analysis, etc.
• Ability to independently drive multiple concurrent projects in an agile environment

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute global, in-field research programs on topics of strategic relevance to the organization, leading the output and activities of the project's lifecycle (e.g., screener development to final insight reports)
• Help the Futures Insights team build and scale mechanisms for collecting, synthesizing, and communicating strategic cultural insights on human needs and motivations, and sociocultural trends
• Collaborate with product, brand and design teams across the org to translate emerging insights and trends into next-gen or net new capabilities, devices experiences, value propositions, or innovation pathways
• Help leadership determine the right research questions to ask, informing long-term research roadmaps that align with business strategy and goals

Benefits

• health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage)
• 401(k) matching
• paid time off
• parental leave
• sign-on payments
• restricted stock units (RSUs)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree