Research Program Manager
OVERVIEW
Every year, people across the world spend nearly one trillion dollars on groceries. It’s an industry that’s been around for centuries. Food itself, however, has been a constant in people’s lives since the beginning of time. Yes, sustenance is essential, but it’s also much more than that. Food can be a part of a daily ritual or a special moment that resonates with people on a meaningful and emotional level. It can be a much-needed break in a long day, a taste that brings back memories, a creative experiment, a shared meal with loved ones, or even comfort during a hard time. Whether it’s a special occasion or an everyday occurrence, it should always be easy for people to get the ingredients they need.
The Instacart Research team is dedicated to understanding the future of online grocery shopping and how current behaviors and needs may be rapidly evolving. We generate insights that drive product strategy and innovation. We are a collaborative and tight-knit team, and we partner with product, design, data science, and engineering to help build products that solve real problems for people and support Instacart’s mission.
As a Research Program Manager, you will build, optimize and scale research programs to strengthen the impact of our growing UX Research Team. You’ll manage Research Operations, ensuring that research tools and processes enable researchers to do their most impactful work, while fostering a customer and user feedback mechanism that is efficient, fair, transparent and safe. You’ll be responsible for shaping and executing research programs and events that create customer and user empathy throughout the organization and foster team trust & cohesiveness, as well as design and implement innovative processes and systems that support researcher and stakeholder collaboration and access to knowledge. Your leadership and expertise will ensure the Research Organization shines as the voice of the user.
ABOUT THE JOB
- Source, develop and optimize innovative tools and complex processes that enable research activities that help UX Researchers better understand our key user groups - customers, personal shoppers and retail/brand partners.
- Own the overall strategy of the UX Research team’s participant recruitment process.
- Ensure that participant recruiting tools and practices are efficient and compliant, with recruitment processes that provide a delightful screening and scheduling experience and incentivize respondents fairly.
- Manage and track vendor and tool relationships and budgets, making sure that contracts meet organizational procurement, legal and security & privacy requirements.
- Source and optimize in-person and remote/virtual research spaces (labs, online meeting rooms, analysis/information sharing workspaces) that foster a comfortable and collaborative environment.
- Guide best practices in data and document management, including templates, dashboards, knowledge storage, retention and archiving, and data sharing, ensuring it aligns with broader company information architecture and data storage/privacy guidelines.
- Refine and execute research programs and events that create customer and user empathy throughout the organization.
- Partner and collaborate with UX Researchers, leadership and cross-functional collaborators to proactively identify best practices and opportunities to improve the effectiveness of research processes and programs.
ABOUT YOU
- 4+ years experience working in Research Ops and Program Management
- 1+ years of experience managing Research Ops Coordinators
- Demonstrated ability to design, implement and scale research programs and events, as well as effectively manage multiple concurrent work streams
- Experience with building, hiring and mentoring high performing teams
- Emotional intelligence—the ability to truly understand what each individual on your team needs to thrive and feel fulfilled
- Proven track record of breaking down processes and identifying pain points in order to deliver business improvements
- In-depth experience with UX Research tools and resources such as SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, Validately, UserTesting, incentive management systems, etc.
- Proficient working with databases and SQL queries
- Familiarity with mixed UX Research methodologies to provide consultation on targeting and recruiting approaches
- Strong leadership characteristics with excellent communication skills
- Extremely detail-oriented with strong organizational skills and follow-through, while understanding the big picture
- Great time management and prioritization skills
- PMP certification a plus, but not required