Manager, User Experience Research

at  Wikimedia Foundation

We’re hiring a UX Research Manager strongly committed to the principles of free knowledge, human-centered research, open source and open data, transparency, privacy, and collaboration to join the Research team. As our UX Research Manager you will be leading and supporting a small and talented team of design researchers and a program manager to oversee research that informs and advances Wikipedia’s product, technology, and design developments across more than 300 languages.
You’ll work remotely with the fully distributed Research team, with members currently spread between UTC+3 and UTC-7. You will be accountable for our UX Research function which serves stakeholders in the Wikimedia Foundation and the broader Wikimedia Movement. Within the Foundation, you will work closely with our Research and Decision Science, Design, and Product teams. Outside of the Wikimedia Foundation, you will coordinate work with the Wikimedia affiliates and understand, translate and triage the UX research community needs as part of the work of your team.

Here are some things we’ve worked on that might give you a better sense of the scope of work you will be accountable for and part of:

• Understanding Wikipedia administrators recruitment, retention, and attrition patterns and identifying the causes behind at least one pattern (Learn more)
• Identifying opportunities and challenges of bridging Wikifunctions with Wikipedia (report)
• Understanding non-editing participation by Wikipedia users (presentation)
• Develop deeper understanding of human and machine interaction in machine translation (Learn more)

You can find more projects conducted by the team in the team’s timeline. You can learn about all aspects of the work of the Research team through our bi-annual Research Report.
Note: This role reports to the Head of Research and requires working with senior leadership and stakeholders across the organization in different timezones. It is expected that the person who will join us in this role will be available for critical meetings and synchronous work between 15:00 to 19:00 UTC. It is further expected that the candidate is open to traveling up to four times per year.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• 3 or more years of experience directly managing, coaching and developing UX researchers with varying levels of seniority in a large, matrixed organization.
• 3 or more years of experience working with senior leadership.
• 5 or more years experience conducting or overseeing UX research in product-focused teams or organizations.
• Experience working as a UX researcher, individual contributor or manager, overseeing human centered research projects that go beyond a limited number of languages, cultures, and geographies.
• Track record of translating research into design and product.
• Master’s or PhD degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Statistics, Behavioral Economics, Linguistics, Psychology, Anthropology, or a related field.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, excellent at asynchronous communication.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

• Building and managing a motivated, collaborative and high performing team of individuals from different disciplines, with varying seniority levels and responsibilities in a remote-first organization.
• Identifying research opportunities and overseeing research that inform our product and technology teams in building the right products and features for the right users.
• Acting as a trusted and strategic partner for leaders across the organization and supporting them in the adoption of research-based user-centered recommendations.
• Lead and inform planning and strategy discussions through research by consolidating, analyzing, and synthesizing what is known about users, products, services and organizational needs.
• Proposing and executing an annual plan for the team and managing the team’s budget.

Here are some things we’ve worked on that might give you a better sense of the scope of work you will be accountable for and part of:

• Understanding Wikipedia administrators recruitment, retention, and attrition patterns and identifying the causes behind at least one pattern (Learn more)
• Identifying opportunities and challenges of bridging Wikifunctions with Wikipedia (report)
• Understanding non-editing participation by Wikipedia users (presentation)
• Develop deeper understanding of human and machine interaction in machine translation (Learn more