Senior User Researcher & AI Research Operations

Our mission is to open the door to the life-changing impact of education and help make education accessible for all. As a nimble growth stage start-up, we've emerged as the leading online education platform helping over 30 million learners and educators each month. Study.com has earned numerous awards and it has been recognized as one of the most transformational companies in EdTech, living up to our commitment to all learners: Breakthroughs Start Here. From students and educators in over 9,000 school districts that use Study.com, to working adults striving to complete their college degree or gain professional certifications, we empower them to reach their full potential. Our product is our impact! Across our college programs alone we have saved students over $200M in tuition and enabled tens of thousands to become nurses, teachers, accountants and more. Additionally, as part of our mission we’ve donated over $27 million across social impact programs to learners and educators.

We’re looking for an AI first Senior User Researcher to lead and modernize our research team across product, marketing, brand and lead the AI transformation for Research. This role is for a seasoned, full-stack researcher who brings mastery of qualitative and quantitative methods, deep experience in both product and marketing research, and the experience to leverage AI to accelerate the scale and quality of research at Study.com.

You’ll be responsible for leading our most important research initiatives across college credit and professional test prep segments to equip the company with strategic and actionable customer insights. You will also be responsible for internal voice of the customer programs, managing contractors and conducting your own research on high priority business areas.

This is a full-time contract position. You will be expected to work during Study.com's Pacific Time business hours Monday through Friday. Additionally, you will use your own computer and have reliable access to high-speed internet.

What You’Ll Do:

• Lead and scale high-impact research across product development, brand strategy, and marketing. Independently conduct complex generative and evaluative studies that uncover unmet needs, inform product vision, and de-risk decisions at scale.
• Implement advanced AI-native practices and embed AI into research workflows to ensure speed, quality, and impact. Define what it means to work AI-natively across research internally and for our customers. Stay up to date on the latest AI-based research techniques and tools.
• Connect the dots, patterns and connections across teams. Ensure insights are shared across teams and inform decisions. Partner with senior leadership to identify and evangelize the highest-impact opportunities for our customers.
• Be the in-house expert across all core research methods, including usability testing, ethnographic research, surveys, segmentation, message testing, brand tracking, and concept validation.
• Coach designers, marketers, product managers and other employees on conducting research, reviewing their projects and implementing changes to the AI first workflow based on their usage.
• Lead and moderate company-wide Voice of the Customer (VoC) sessions, interviewing real customers in live forums to bring their perspectives directly to cross-functional teams
• Manage external research contractors and vendors, including scoping, quality control, and budget alignment
• Build and scale a research enablement model, coaching designers, marketers, and product managers to run self-serve research with confidence and consistency. Develop tools, templates, and guidance that scale research capabilities and impact.
• Collaborate with cross-functional leadership to build and prioritize a unified, impact-driven research roadmap
• Be a skilled communicator to peers to executives. Articulate effective customer stories to drive change and inform strategy of product initiatives to business strategy.

What You’Ll Bring To The Role:

• 5+ years in user research roles, with experience spanning product, marketing, and brand research
• Deep fluency in all major research methodologies, qualitative and quantitative, statistical analysis, generative and evaluative. Hands on experience moderating user interviews is required.
• Experience managing contractors, vendors, and agencies across multiple workstreams
• Expert knowledge of AI tools to support the end-to-end research workflow
• Expert knowledge of UserTesting and SurveyMonkey for usability testing, survey design, and rapid feedback collection
• Strong leadership and enablement skills to equip non-researchers to conduct reliable, lean research
• Fluent in English (written and verbal)

At Study.com, we know that strong communities are built on the power of our diversity, and we respect and strive to understand for the diverse identities, race, ethnicities, backgrounds, and perspectives of our team members. Our work and company culture have been consistently recognized, including:

• Inc. Best Place to Work
• Fortune Great Places to Work – Best Workplaces in the Bay Area
• Golden Bridge Awards – Gold Winner, Corporate Social Responsibility
• San Francisco Business Times & Silicon Valley Business Journal – Best Places to Work

Study.com provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran or disability status. In addition to federal law requirements.   Study.com complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. Additionally, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for the position in accordance with applicable state and local laws.