Sr. Cultural Researcher, Futures Insights, Devices Experience Design

About the role

Join us in shaping the future of Amazon's revolutionary products! As a Sr. Cultural Researcher on the Futures Insights team, which is part of Amazon's Devices and Services Experience Design organization, you'll play a pivotal role in informing mid-to-long term strategic planning (3-5 years) for next-generation and net-new device and service innovations.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute global, in-field research programs on topics of strategic relevance to the organization, leading the output and activities of the project's lifecycle (e.g., screener development to final insight reports)
• Help the Futures Insights team build and scale mechanisms for collecting, synthesizing, and communicating strategic cultural insights on human needs and motivations, and sociocultural trends
• Collaborate with product, brand and design teams across the org to translate emerging insights and trends into next-gen or net new capabilities, devices experiences, value propositions, or innovation pathways
• Help leadership determine the right research questions to ask, informing long-term research roadmaps that align with business strategy and goals

Qualifications

• Have a portfolio demonstrating past work experience and deliverables (e.g., study plans, reports, personas)
• 7+ years of proven success leading Design Research projects with demonstrated impact experience
• Working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods, with deep expertise in ethnographic, semiotic, co-design, and design research methods
• BA/BS in Anthropology, Design Research, Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies, or a related field
• Experience in the field of research with a focus on early, generative design research that informs long-term business strategy, ideally in the digital products and services industry
• Experience translating and creatively activating insights via design principles, strategic frameworks, scenarios, design provocations, and immersion workshops

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent written communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization
• Ability to travel internationally to conduct in-context, in-person (e.g., home, workplace, office) research
• Strong design acumen and comfort working with design tools to create research outputs (e.g., Figma-based presentations, trend reports) and activation materials (e.g., scenarios, design prompt cards)
• MA/MS in Anthropology, Design Research, Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies, or a related field
• Experience with more futures or foresight-focused methodologies and frameworks, like STEEP analysis, the Futures Triangle, Scenario development, Causal Layer Analysis, etc.
• Ability to independently drive multiple concurrent projects in an agile environment