Associate Director, UX Research, MRM

MRM creatively engineers total human experiences. Through purposeful, dynamic intersections between strategy, creative, technology and data sciences, MRM operates in a borderless, integrated way, to allow for greater collaboration and velocity— all to the service of helping businesses grow meaningful relationships with people. MRM has 35-plus offices across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.mrm.com.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We’re seeking a UX research expert to lead and manage customer research activities within our User Experience department. This position will report into our VP, Associate Director of UX.

As a candidate for this role, you must have:

• Significant experience working with vendors, clients and internal stakeholders on research projects as lead, support and advisor
• Deep experience creating research plans, leading recruitment, conducting research, developing findings/final reports and presenting to clients
• The ability to manage large well-funded research projects with many stakeholders but also to work independently and get scrappy to develop customer insights with small budgets
• Proven strategic capability, agency experience on the Research or UX side and has collaborated with creative/UX leaders to ensure strategy is applied

In this role, you will be planning, conducting and analyzing customer research studies, managing the availability of preexisting primary and secondary research to inform new design initiatives, and working with strategists, architects, designers and Clients to determine appropriate updates to product design.

As a member of the MRM UX Team, you must be passionate about customer behavior and learning how experiences can be optimized to create the best outcomes for people and the companies they do business with (our Clients).

ABOUT OUR TEAM

The MRM UX team is made up of talented designers from diverse backgrounds, education, and cultures, all of whom embrace the MRM belief that we're better together. Our team culture is rooted in curiosity and collaboration, working through design problems to understand our user's context, emotions, goals, and motivations. We support each project as an advocate for the customer, establishing informed perspectives, and leading UX activities that help us to design and iterate digital product experiences that benefit our client’s businesses. As Associate Director, UX Research, you will bring a deep understanding of UX research methodologies and design process, confidently presenting your ideas and concepts to internal teams and clients.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion is at the core of who we are as MRM and what we do every day. Through our Blueprint initiative, we want to make sure our workplace is one where everyone is treated with dignity, respect and fairness, and where all creeds, ethnicities and perspectives are welcome. We want to make sure our community is a place where all can succeed.

YOUR DAY AT MRM

As a UX team member, you will be consulting with strategists and designers to create appropriate research plans; seeking out relevant primary and secondary research; and conducting and analyzing new primary research to validate product designs and identify opportunities for improvement.

Our expectations are for you to:

• Work collaboratively with your UX, strategy and analytics colleagues, the project management team, clients, and outside vendors.
• Gain trust internally and externally through your expertise and clear communication skills.
• Deliver timely insights and fuel organic business growth by influencing the potential of a brand, project, or program using the value customer research to tell a meaningful story.
• Develop the UX research practice at MRM.

Most of our research is conducted online. Given the need to occasionally interview customers in-person, some limited travel may be required when feasible.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

• Understand the overall customer experience goals and be able to identify gaps in experience (with a strong focus in UX) based in customer understanding.
• Align with an interdisciplinary team of strategists, architects and designers, performance analysts and account teams to identify, prepare for, and prioritize research needs.
• Manage and catalog primary and secondary research findings and resources for team reference and continued education.
• Work with team members to determine when new research is needed and where findings from previous studies can be used to support a design decision or strategy.
• Lead and manage new research plans, including methodology, screeners, scripts, and working with vendors for recruitment and other services.
• Serve as a key agency contact for vendors and software providers.
• Conduct research remotely or in-person.
• Create research findings reports and present to agency and Client stakeholders.

• Conduct competitive benchmarking and analyses.
• Demonstrate clear communication, organization, and writing skills.

• Deliver your work in a timely and professional manner, with limited oversight.
• Understand and adapt to changing or shifting priorities within or across multiple projects.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• 8 years of Research, Strategic or UX with customer experience understanding.
• Work experience with creative/digital development process.
• Versed in most research methodologies (usability testing, card sorts, tree tests, customer interviews, ethnography, journey map research, etc.) and associated technology/tools (Usertesting.com, Userlytics, Optimal Workshop, Survey Monkey, iPerceptions, Usability Hub, etc.).
• Knowledge of the customer experience strategy, human-centered design and familiarity with digital prototypes is desirable.
• Bachelor’s degree and experience within a digital design team working in a similar strategic capacity is preferred.

We understand that formal education or time spent within related work experience for UX professionals can vary quite a bit. For this role on our team, we will take all your experiences into account: the certificates you've earned, undergraduate and graduate degrees, related work experience, freelance history, and so forth.

MRM//McCann is an EEO/AA employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, disability, genetic information or veteran status or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. MRM//McCann participates in e-Verify.

If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please submit your request through one of the following methods listed below:

NOTE: Disability accommodation requests only.