Lead Researcher, Research & Insights

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Job Category

User Experience

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

Research & Insights (R&I) is a strategic partner to product management, engineering, User Experience (UX), and go-to-market teams across Salesforce. We are passionate about understanding and solving our customers’ issues, using data-driven insights to create experiences that delight. We balance big-picture thinking with detailed craft, collaborating along the way with product managers, designers, engineers, content writers, marketers, sales, strategy and operations. Together, we shape the future of Salesforce for the benefit of millions of end users.

Job Description

The Marketing Cloud Research & Insights team focuses on equipping Cloud leaders with data about customer needs and experiences in distinct product pillars including: AI-fueled capabilities, omni-channel management, personalization, and feature adoption. 

We are seeking a Lead Researcher who can distill complex problems into insights that inform product, design, development, and business decisions. You are a self-driven, impact-oriented researcher with experience in Research Community Management and strong quantitative data organization skills. You are a nimble leader who balances the deployment of complex, end-to-end research initiatives alongside rapid community research interventions. You have expertise at relationship-building, the maintenance of cross- functional coalitions, and the creation of communities (research panels) that support product feedback. You have expertise in survey research, qualitative inquiry, statistical analysis, and community management to generate actionable insights that drive business decisions. Ideally, you have a deep understanding of research methodologies, data analytics, and participant engagement strategies for hard-to-reach populations. You distill complex problems into insights that inform design, development, and business decisions. You’re passionate about technology, and have deep empathy for technology users and their everyday struggles and challenges. You are unwavering in your desire to provide the best experiences for users. You eagerly use new research methods to get at the heart of the issue, and you have expertise with the ‘tried and true’ ones. You are excited to leverage existing research at Salesforce to weave together actionable insights to share with cross-functional teams. You seamlessly switch between research craft, collaboration, and operational excellence. 

Responsibilities:

Research Community Development & Management

• Establish, grow, and manage multiple diverse research communities, ensuring high engagement and representation of key customer segments.

• Develop recruitment strategies to maintain a high-quality participant pool for quantitative and qualitative research.

• Implement best practices for community management, including moderation, communication, and retention strategies.

• Work on fast-paced projects, requiring attention to detail and working within constrained timelines.

In-Depth Research & Analysis

• Execute rapid research in collaboration with cross-functional teams

• Translate fuzzy, qualitative insights into quantifiable, trackable metrics that teams can align around by solving the challenge of measuring what matters.

• Ability to design, distribute, and analyze surveys using advanced survey methodologies and tools or advise vendors to execute

• Apply statistical techniques to interpret survey data, ensuring reliability and validity of findings.

• Use data visualization tools to present research findings in a clear and actionable format.

• Scope and drive research projects that inform product strategy, design, and development, in collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders.

• Conduct generative and evaluative research using a mixture of research methods (surveys, unmoderated testing, interviews, moderated concept testing, etc.)

• Synthesize research findings into actionable insights, creating narratives to frame problems and highlight the business value of recommended solutions 

• Manage research timelines, budgets, and deliverables while maintaining data integrity and ethical research standards.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Insights Generation

• Partner with UX researchers, data scientists, product managers, and marketing teams to align research activities with business goals.

• Socialize insights with cross-functional stakeholders to influence their decision-making

• Partner fully with product owners, designers, engineers, and other researchers to provide the best possible experience for our users and customers.

Required Experience / Skills:

• 7+ years of experience conducting hands-on research in user experience, product design, or technology contexts; at least 2 years of experience working in a large matrixed organization

• Ability to plan, design, and execute foundational, generative, and evaluative research engagements

• Strong understanding of research methods (qualitative and quantitative) and best practices, and familiarity with a broad range of established and emerging user research tools 

• Experience working in cross-functional teams (e.g. design, product management, engineering)

• Excellent teamwork and collaboration skills

• Excellent project management, communication, and presentation skills

• Ability to work with a globally dispersed team (including some management and stakeholders based in India)

• University degree in a research- or business-focused discipline or in a field emphasizing human behavior (e.g., Psychology, Anthropology, HCI, Business, Research Methodology, Experimental Design, Design Research)

Preferred Experience / Skills:

• Prior experience in Research Community development and management

• Comfort building data libraries and dashboards

• Previous research experience in enterprise SaaS and/or technology, bonus for familiarity with Marketing personas/use cases

• Ability to structure and lead internal and external workshops or design studios and analyze the outcomes to provide insight for stakeholders

• Comfort with basic and advanced statistical methods and concepts, and experience working with behavioral signals data. Comfort translating qualitative learnings into quantifiable metrics, automate collection, and track them across millions of users to influence product strategy at scale.

About the Team

Marketing Cloud

In this role you will execute strategic and tactical research to shape Marketing Cloud’s vision of enabling the world’s most innovative and recognized brands to create AI-first, unified, custom experiences across all touchpoints of marketing responsibilities. You’ll learn about and advocate for our users — including marketing operations, marketing leaders, merchandisers, and developers.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.

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Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.

In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $172,500 - $260,100 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $207,800 - $258,800 annually.

The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.