Whole Foods Market is looking for a Senior User Experience (UX) Researcher to join our team in Austin. This is an IC5, Individual Contributor position. We are building, evolving, and refining an ecosystem of digital and physical products to create a best-in-class retail experience that is intuitive, joyful, and innovative. This position will design and conduct research activities that inform our understanding of the in-store shopping experience and Team Member (TM) experience, identifying key opportunity areas. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of user research methods and best practices, experience with and passion for new consumer technology and digital product development, and a nimble, creative, and pragmatic approach.  This role will work in close day-to-day partnership with the Design, Product, and Technology teams to improve existing customer experiences and identify new opportunities for future growth.    

Location: Austin, TX 

Responsibilities 
  

• Distill project goals and research questions into well thought-out research plans

• Method determination – ability to identify the best method or mix of methods based on research questions, timeline and resourcing

• Evaluative research – assessing our existing product ecosystem with an eye for incremental improvements and refinements

• Generative research – assessing gaps in our customer journey that would benefit the customer and how they engage with our offerings

• Collaboration on interdisciplinary teams – strong cross-functional communication skills and comfortable working with design, product, and technology in order to actualize the recommended changes

• Communication through documentation – Perform quick (but thorough) analysis and translate into clear, beautiful, and insightful presentations of research findings

• Leading workshops and stakeholder meetings – ability to listen and incorporate feedback from colleagues in a workshop environment

• Ownership of key research supplier relationships, including general account management and serving as the liaison between supplier and team members utilizing research platforms

Desired Skills and Experience 

• 4+ years of experience in product and/or UX research 

• BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience 

• End-to-end experience with all aspects of research (study design, recruiting, moderation, analysis, reporting) 

• Experience with usability testing and evaluative research as well as generative research methodologies, including expertise in digital product development 

• Facilitation for decision making and prioritization 

• Conversant in complex & emerging technologies 

• Understanding of agile design and development practices

• UX-centered systems thinking for complex organizations 

• Excellent communication, presentation, interpersonal and analytical skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization 

• The ability to manage ambiguity, work autonomously, and multi-task in an agile environment 

• A portfolio that exhibits how past research experiences contributed to successful feature/product development is strongly encouraged, but not required 

• Sense of humor is a must