Position Summary

IDEO helps companies innovate. We design products, services, environments, and digital experiences for organizations seeking new ways to provide value for their customers. IDEO creates visible and tangible strategies for innovation and executes all aspects of design and development, from conception through production.

IDEO is growing a research capability to support decision-making in our design work. This new offer delivers insights to help refine designs, size business opportunities, and support getting our break-through concepts closer to market introduction. We deliver these goals by linking qualitative and quantitative research methods seamlessly and by working as an integral part of the project teams.

To further build this capability, IDEO is searching for someone who has in-depth experience in quantitative and qualitative insight methods. They should have a hunger to design new approaches to make current market research practice more innovative, and to develop new ones.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

The ideal candidate:

• Holds a degree in statistics, economics, social science or posseses other relevant training in data analysis methods such as advanced statistical analysis, e.g. clustering, regression, etc and the respective programs
• Possesses 4+ years of experience working with both qualitative and quantitative methods, ideally in an integrated way. This includes managing 20+ larger scale research studies and writing 20+ surveys for different markets and industries
• Has experimented with and deployed new techniques of insight generation that are based on, but not bound by academic and traditional market research methodology. Ideally these new approaches would be experiential and visual in nature
• Is comfortable engaging internal and external stakeholders with a variety of expertise regarding research approach, design and methodology
• Has trained people within an organization to better understand methodology trade-offs
• Has applied all market research methods with a focus on generating actionable insights for business decision-making

The following professional experience is a plus:

• Standardized concept testing
• Online data mining
• Textual analysis
• Network analysis
• Information design

Key Activities

In the course of working as a generative member of our design teams, we expect the candidate to:

• Replicate, refine and add to our novel research approaches and tailor them to the needs of our projects
• Work closely with project leaders, human factors specialists, and business design team members
• Be a generative design thinker working with project teams, as well as coach teams on timing and resource requirements of quantitative studies
• Support business development conversations with clients, especially senior market researchers, by championing our philosophy towards innovation research
• Independently manage the research work stream from start to finish
• Manage and collaborate with vendors and partners
• Analyze research data and then synthesize the information with teams by drawing out the relevant and actionable insights
• Help develop training materials to make research knowledge accessible throughout the company
• Have an entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to push our new approach further by researching and proposing new methods and vendors
• Be able to support multiple projects at any given time by providing quantitative and decision making method expertise
• Check in with clients when they are running research independently of IDEO (attending focus groups, reviewing testing plans/protocols, facilitating the preparation of materials for testing)
• Be flexible in accommodating teams’ work plans and schedules.

Additional Skills Required

You will favorably impress us by submitting a list of a variety of major research projects you have worked on, including a 1-2 line description for each. Further, please select 3-5 cases and share with us in more detail the approach designed, insights generated, output developed, and challenges encountered. It helps us to see a wide range of work that you have been involved in. (All attachments, including your cover letter, can be uploaded as a "resume attachment" within the automated application process).

This position is based in Palo Alto; however projects may be based in either Palo Alto or San Francisco offices. This position also entails frequent travel.

Helpful Tips

The Online Application Process:

• Please submit your cover letter, resume, portfolio and/or additional materials as a “Resume Attachment” in the resume attachment section which is located in the Career Center of your application page.
• Attachments must be formatted as an Adobe "text based" PDF, PowerPoint, or Word document.
• If you skip the cover letter section at the start of the application form, please attach your cover letter as a resume attachment per the instructions above.
• Create a profile at OpenIDEO.com to explore how we work and for us to get to you know you better. You'll find a space in the IDEO application form to enter your OpenIDEO username.
• Additional tips can be found in our Careers FAQ.

Equal Opportunity Employer:
IDEO is an equal opportunity employer; applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, marital, parental, veteran or military status, unfavorable military discharge, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.