Contract: Senior User Researcher

Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential.  

Last year, more than $3.3 billion of work was done through Upwork by skilled professionals who are gaining more control by finding work they are passionate about and innovating their careers. 

This is an engagement through Upwork’s Hybrid Workforce Solutions (HWS) Team. Our Hybrid Workforce Solutions Team is a global group of professionals that support Upwork’s business. Our HWS team members are located all over the world.

Work/Project Scope:

• Lead user research for the entire BU. Work with key partners to identify and execute on research opportunities.
• Synthesize past research into actionable insights and recommendations, and regularly share them widely. Identify gaps in our knowledge and develop a plan for addressing them.
• Be responsible for conducting the right research (both strategic and tactical), using the right methodologies, at the right time. Own the end-to-end planning and execution of research studies.
• Set up the tools and processes to support insight generation, knowledge consolidation and centralization, and insight socialization with the BU and the broader organization.
• Establish regular customer touchpoints for the Product team to learn directly from the end user (e.g. customer advisory board, client panel, continuous discovery calls).
• Leverage all existing channels and create new ones for regular collection of customer feedback (e.g. in-product surveys, Customer Success calls).
• Translate customer insights into actionable recommendations. Advocate research findings to diverse audiences in formats that inspire action.
• Lead and participate in Design Thinking workshops, ensuring teams are ideating with a background in user empathy.
• Build bridges across Product, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Experience for knowledge sharing. Develop and execute on a knowledge transfer plan.

Must Haves (Required Skills):

• Demonstrable experience working as part of a Product team in a fast paced environment.
• A track record of discovering, synthesizing, and socializing actionable insights that have influenced real products.
• Demonstrable understanding of business goals and ability to translate those into learning goals. Experience asking as well as answering questions for businesses.
• Highly skilled in qualitative User Experience Research methods (e.g. interviews, concept validation, usability testing, RITE, Kano surveys, co-design activities).
• Experience telling stories that resonate, using words, visuals, and data, as needed.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, and extensive experience partnering seamlessly with cross-functional stakeholders and influencing decisions.
• Portfolio is required

Upwork is proudly committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. We never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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