Research Lead

Description
Bring your IT career and talents to CDW, where you can have a greater impact, be inspired by our mission and excited about your career and future. A Fortune 200 leader, we're the driven professionals and technology experts companies turn to most to solve their IT challenges. Enquizit, a CDW company, is seeking a Research Lead/Lead User Researcher who is skilled in both UX/UI best practices, user research, and workshop facilitation to understand end user needs. The individual must be capable of working in a fast-paced Agile environment and working cooperatively with a multi-functional team. Key Areas of Responsibility
* Plan and conduct simultaneous end-to-end research, some examples of methods we would like the candidate to have are exploratory, generative, evaluative research through qualitative and quantitative studies, in-depth user or group interviews, focus groups, user testing (moderated and/or unmoderated testing), user surveys, user experience surveys, testing prototypes, and any research activity that is needed to achieve the goals of the research plan, etc.
* Must be up-to-date on product trends and must align in understanding Enquizit, a CDW company, human-centered design/UX practice as well as deeply understand and aid in the research staffing, tasking, timelines, and research specific objectives and initiatives that will align with the Product roadmap in order to identify areas of opportunity and initiate research to prove teams' hypotheses in before teams need to understand user pain points and needs
* Facilitate working sessions with federal clients and stakeholders to ensure alignment and a clear understanding of business drivers and product needs, research goals prior to translating them into appropriate research activities. Examples of methods the candidate should be knowledgeable and proficient in performing are group and 1:1 interviews, personas creation, usability testing, surveys, mixed research, journey mapping, heuristic design evaluations, ethnographic research, HCD methods, etc.
* Create research plans collaboratively with federal clients and stakeholders and develop and draft research questions and user guides/scripts
* Plan and execute on participant recruitment for research activities
* Identify and use different research methods (including UX and HCD methods), techniques and tools based on project goals and competing timelines
* Analyze research and results from multiple sources, translate into findings and clearly articulate findings, recommendations and actionable insights in a clear and concise manner to key stakeholders and leadership.
* Advocate research findings to diverse audiences through written and oral presentations. Create storytelling research readouts on findings and work with federal client to determine where to present findings and readouts and plan to share out to said audience
* Manage, facilitate, synthesize and create a monthly Voice of Customer survey result (survey analysis, new product performance tracking, identifying opportunities, cross-functional planning and implementation) involving multiple departments to gain a holistic view of customer feedback is asked for one. This is dependent on the customer's need.
* Develop research plans with stakeholders from multiple teams and leadership both inside and outside of UX (technical, user focused, anything the teams need to derive at a desired outcome for research findings)
* Socialize, educate, and advocate on cross-functional teams on the benefits of user research and assist in identifying areas where user research could benefit them, our federal customers, and our customers' products. Then, design meaningful and useable solutions along side the design lead. For example, lead ideation sessions, understanding workshops, testing sessions, cohort planning, conduct concept resonance and user and SME feedback research, etc.)
* Challenge traditional assumptions about UX design and research, seeking out, inventing, testing and sharing new directions and technologies, working closely with the UX leads and HCD team
* Self-manage projects, due dates and timelines in order to properly set expectations and meet project/ EQ team needs. Manage good relationships with federal clients and stakeholders.
* Other duties that are assigned by supervisor, Director of UX and HCD. Education and/or Skill-Set Qualifications
* B.A./B.S. (Completed) in UX, Human-Centered Design, Human Factors, Psychology, HCI/Computer Science, or other related fields or equivalent practical experience, also acceptable are certifications from HCD leaders on innovation, HCD, UX, and the like
* 5+ years of experience with one or more of the following methods: usability studies, mixed methods, group and 1:1 interviews, personas, usability testing, surveys, mixed research, journey mapping, heuristic design evaluations, ethnographic research, HCD methods Required Qualifications
* Strong understanding of the strengths and shortcomings of different research methods, including when and how to apply them during the product development process.
* Expertise collecting, synthesizing, and analyzing qualitative data to produce actionable insights
* Detail-oriented and ability to work independently on a variety of tasks
* Strong oral and written communication skills
* Effective interpersonal, communication, negotiation and collaboration skills.
* Can prioritize time between multiple teams, and be flexible by adapting to changing schedules and different projects and timelines The following attributes will be required to be successful:
* A Bias for Action. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
* Strong attention to detail
* Self-motivated, proactive, energetic and tenacious
* Excellent analytical, problem solving and resolution skills
* Strong sense of ownership and responsibility
* An interest in continuous improvement, innovation and simplification
* The ability to translate business problems into practical, scalable technical solutions
* Humility, integrity and the ability to be self-critical
* Ability to Travel: 20%
Who we are:
CDW is a leading technology solutions provider to business, government, education and healthcare organizations across the globe. Our fingerprints can be found on technology in workplaces of more than 250,000 companies; from fresh-faced start-ups to international conglomerates. With the breadth of products and services we offer, there is no request too big or too small.
What you can expect from us: Culture, coworkers, careers.
CDW is not only the People Who Get IT but the People who get People. Our relationships are fueled by our deep expertise and grounded in the CDW Way. Our empowering leadership makes things happen and inspires their teams to do the same. From the teammates beside us to the leaders who guide us, we move forward together. At CDW, you'll work with people who inspire you. People with positive, success-driven attitudes who you will learn from and forge strong relationships with. Bring your best true self- and your best ideas- to CDW. Because diverse perspectives bring forth better problem solving- and better solutions for our customers on a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status
Benefits overview: [https://cdw.benefit-info.com/](https://cdw.benefit-info.com/)