Manager, User Experience Research

We’re hiring a UX Research Manager strongly committed to the principles of free knowledge, human-centered research, open source and open data, transparency, privacy, and collaboration to join the Research team. As our UX Research Manager you will be leading and supporting a small and talented team of design researchers and a program manager to oversee research that informs and advances Wikipedia’s product, technology, and design developments across more than 300 languages.

You’ll work remotely with the fully distributed Research team, with members currently spread between UTC+3 and UTC-7. You will be accountable for our UX Research function which serves stakeholders in the Wikimedia Foundation and the broader Wikimedia Movement. Within the Foundation, you will work closely with our Research and Decision Science, Design, and Product teams. Outside of the Wikimedia Foundation, you will coordinate work with the Wikimedia affiliates and understand, translate and triage the UX research community needs as part of the work of your team.

Here are some things we’ve worked on that might give you a better sense of the scope of work you will be accountable for and part of:

• Understanding Wikipedia administrators recruitment, retention, and attrition patterns and identifying the causes behind at least one pattern (Learn more)
• Identifying opportunities and challenges of bridging Wikifunctions with Wikipedia (report)
• Understanding non-editing participation by Wikipedia users (presentation)
• Develop deeper understanding of human and machine interaction in machine translation (Learn more)

You can find more projects conducted by the team in the team’s timeline. You can learn about all aspects of the work of the Research team through our bi-annual Research Report.

Note: This role reports to the Head of Research and requires working with senior leadership and stakeholders across the organization in different timezones. It is expected that the person who will join us in this role will be available for critical meetings and synchronous work between 15:00 to 19:00 UTC. It is further expected that the candidate is open to traveling up to four times per year. 

You are responsible for:

• Building and managing a motivated, collaborative and high performing team of individuals from different disciplines, with varying seniority levels and responsibilities in a remote-first organization.
• Identifying research opportunities and overseeing research that inform our product and technology teams in building the right products and features for the right users.
• Acting as a trusted and strategic partner for leaders across the organization and supporting them in the adoption of research-based user-centered recommendations.
• Lead and inform planning and strategy discussions through research by consolidating, analyzing, and synthesizing what is known about users, products, services and organizational needs. 
• Proposing and executing an annual plan for the team and managing the team’s budget.

Skills and Experience:

• 3 or more years of experience directly managing, coaching and developing UX researchers with varying levels of seniority in a large, matrixed organization.
• 3 or more years of experience working with senior leadership.
• 5 or more years experience conducting or overseeing UX research in product-focused  teams or organizations.
• Experience working as a UX researcher, individual contributor or manager, overseeing human centered research projects that go beyond a limited number of languages, cultures, and geographies.
• Track record of translating research into design and product.
• Master's or PhD degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Statistics, Behavioral Economics, Linguistics, Psychology, Anthropology, or a related field.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, excellent at asynchronous communication.

Qualities that are important to us:

• Deep resonance with our mission, values, and guiding principles 
• Able to manage and lead in the face of ambiguity, complexity, and change
• Self motivated and proactive
• An effective and responsible communicator and an active listener
• Curious; a critical thinker; and a lifelong learner
• Able to methodically manage time
• Strive to deliver quality and high impact work
• Invested in the quality and health of our work place beyond the immediate team
• Comfortable with working in the open and public exposure in a multicultural, collaborative, and transparent environment

Additionally, we’d love it if you have one or more of the following:

• Experience overseeing teams with mixed method expertise.
• Experience working with international vendors and contractors.
• Experience working with volunteer communities and projects.
• Experience working in NGO, non-profit, or social good oriented organizations.
• Experience contributing to Wikimedia projects.
• Fluency in languages beyond English.
• Published research in the past three years or contributed to research communities through service activities in the past three years.

About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge, and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocate for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive. 

The Wikimedia Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that relies on donations. We receive donations from millions of individuals around the world, with an average donation of about $15. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts. The Wikimedia Foundation is a United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Wikimedia Foundation values having a diverse workforce and continuously strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable workplace. We encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate against any person based upon their race, traits historically associated with race, religion, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy or related medical conditions, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristics.

The Wikimedia Foundation is a remote-first organization with staff members including contractors based 40+ countries*. Salaries at the Wikimedia Foundation are set in a way that is competitive, equitable, and consistent with our values and culture. The anticipated annual pay range of this position for applicants based within the United States is US$ $120,791 to US$189,762 with multiple individualized factors, including cost of living in the location, being the determinants of the offered pay. For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire. We neither ask for nor take into consideration the salary history of applicants. The compensation for a successful applicant will be based on their skills, experience and location. 

*Please note that we are currently able to hire in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay.  Our non-US employees are hired through a local third party Employer of Record (EOR). 

We periodically review this list to streamline to ensure alignment with our hiring requirements. 

All applicants can reach out to their recruiter to understand more about the specific pay range for their location during the interview process.

If you are a qualified applicant requiring assistance or an accommodation to complete any step of the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at recruiting@wikimedia.org or +1 (415) 839-6885.

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