Lead Design Researcher
Kin is on a mission to change home insurance from what it is to what it should be. Whether we’re leveraging data to create customizable coverage or providing claims service that goes above and beyond expectations, our members are at the heart of everything we do. In the face of ever-growing climate risk, they deserve an insurance company that cares about them. We aim to stick with our members through thick and thin.
Use efficient technology that lets homeowners buy directly from us to keep costs down: This is the essence of Kin. Our approach has fostered amazing growth, attracted marquee investors, and earned us accolades, including being named to:
- Built In Chicago's Best Places to Work, Midsize Companies (2021-2024).
- Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers (2021- 2023).
- Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies.
- Forbes’ Fintech 50.
Simply put, our people are what make us great – we need forward-thinking, inspired game-changers like you to join us in our mission.
So, what’s the role?
Kin is taking on the home insurance market with accelerated growth to help customers in climate affected states get affordable property insurance. We are a direct to customer business and our agents and support staff process complex information to ensure our customers find the best insurance policy for them. We are looking for a Lead Design Researcher to join our growing design and research team to help our agents seamlessly access information and guide our customers through the policy buying process.
As Kin’s Lead Design Researcher, you will play a crucial role in informing our product and marketing experience through the development of actionable insights and measurement studies that are anchored in user actions and behaviors. You will be using mixed methods to accomplish these goals, including surveys, focus groups, field studies, usability tests, and 1:1 interviews. We value a diverse range of perspectives and stem from many different backgrounds. You are an excellent communicator and an expert about research devoted to understanding people, and curious about the relationship between how an environment changing world affects our customers and how Kin can best meet those needs.
A day in the life could include:
- Leading, developing and executing qualitative research, and measuring strategy for Kin’s Insurance product and marketing experiences
- Working closely with strategic advertisers and cross-functional stakeholders to build research studies that impact revenue
- Playing a key role in developing and validating our acquisition, retention, policy management, and claims experiences across Kin
- Working across all areas of survey research–survey design, project management, data integrity and fieldwork supervision, data analysis, storytelling, report creation, presentation, and insight adoption
- Providing critical user and industry expertise–staying ahead of user needs, industry trends, methodologies, and 3rd party partnerships, advising Kin’s experience strategy accordingly
- Designing and executing end-to-end custom, primary research using a wide variety of methods
- Designing studies that address both user behavior and attitudes
- Educating internal and external stakeholders on user performance trends and best practices to advise product decisions
- Effectively managing and prioritizing research plans through ambiguous and fast-changing environments, and aligning and efficiently executing critical insights and work with a large group of stakeholders
- Leading multiple customer research engagements - presenting thought leadership and measurement insights
- Extracting insights from large and diversified data/results, providing hypotheses, and using insights to answer product, sales, marketing, and business development questions
- Having a strong point of view on validity of data sources, and ensuring that all insights are consistent and methodologically sound
- Generating insights that both fuel ideation and evaluate designs
- Managing and mentoring 1-2 researchers
- Leading a partnership with product managers, engineers, designers, marketers, and data scientists
- Facilitating adoption of user insights, and drawing a direct line from research insight to user adoption to business impact by prioritizing high impact research studies
I’ve got the skills… but do I have the necessary ones?
- Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years’ of relevant experience in user experience, applied research and/or product research and development; or a Master’s degree and 8+ years’ relevant experience; or PhD and 5+ year relevant experience
- Experience conducting in-depth interviews, focus groups, concept testing, and usability testing
- Interest in and experience executing hands-on, primary research
- Experience translating research findings into strategic narratives
Bonus Points:
- Degrees in a human behavior related field, such as Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Sociology, Communication, Information Science, Media Studies, Computer Science, or Economics
- Experience with consumer products, consumer insights, or product development
Oh, and don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability and Life Insurance
- Flexible PTO policy
- Remote work
- Generous equity package
- 401K with company match
- Parental leave
- Continuing education and professional development
- The excitement of joining a high-growth Insurtech company and seeing your work make an impact
Kin is the only pure-play, direct-to-consumer digital insurer focused on the growing home insurance market. We make policies convenient and affordable through a technology platform that delivers a seamless user experience, customized options for coverage, and fast, high-quality claims service. Kin is a fully licensed carrier that offers coverage through its reciprocal exchanges which are owned by its policyholders. To learn more, visit www.kin.com.
EEOC Statement
Kin is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We don't just accept difference – we honor it, nurture it, and celebrate it. We don’t discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
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