Sr. Manager, User Research

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. 

As a Senior Manager of User Research on the User Research team, you will drive research for two of the company’s top strategic pillars! By managing important research workstreams, you will create insights that help reinvent how companies and talent connect and work together. You will bring the power of insights to design and business decisions. You will be empowered by a strong design and research culture to lead research that results in products, messages, and experiences that help millions of users collaborate with distributed teams! You will report to the Senior Director of User Research.

Your Responsibilities:

• Lead the research strategy for several work-streams within the company’s top priority pillars
• Manage a team of 5-8 researchers - coach, mentor, and support them in their work and in their professional growth
• Shape learning goals and prioritize opportunities in partnership with Design, Product, Analytics, Marketing, and Engineering teams 
• Understand and incorporate complex technical and business requirements into research
• You will bring the power of insight to every important business and design decision, and to solve complex problems in partnership with a variety of cross-functional peers, including Data Scientists, Economists, Policy experts, and Communication strategists
• Define and launch UX metrics and develop programs for measuring the end-to-end user experience
• Identify gaps and solutions for future growth and for scaling our research practice
• Refine research operations in collaboration with Design Ops, Customer Services, and Analytics
• Increase user empathy across the organization. Be the subject matter expert and advocate for our customers’ needs
• Be a role model for sustainable ways of working and for inclusive behaviors, following our values

What it takes to catch our eye:

• Experience hiring, growing, and retaining researchers
• Experience with the strengths and shortcomings of different research methods, and those to stakeholders
• Proven experience with qual, quant, and mixed methods, and the sequencing of attitudinal and behavioral studies
• Working knowledge and a passion for statistics and the principles of experiment design
• Experience conducting research in B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C, or at least two of these models
• Experience telling stories that resonate, using words, visuals, and data, as needed
• A self-starter, “tinker” attitude that drives explorations
• ***Portfolio is required***

The annual base salary for this position in California and Washington ranges from $167,000 - $261,000. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salary for this position in California and Washington, and individual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, this position is eligible for the annual bonus plan or sales incentive plan and eligibility to participate in our long term equity incentive program.

Come change how the world works.

Change the world around you.

At Upwork, you'll shape talent solutions for how the world works today. We are a remote-first organization working together to create exciting remote work opportunities for a global community of professionals. While we have physical offices in San Francisco and Chicago, we also hire full-time employees in 19 states in the United States.

Our vibrant culture is built on shared values and our mission to create economic opportunities so that people have better lives. We foster amazing teams, put our community first, and have a bias toward action. We encourage everyone to bring their whole selves to work and grow together through development opportunities, mentorship, and employee resource groups. And oh yeah, we've also got amazing benefits - including medical insurance for you and your family, unlimited PTO, 401(k) with matching, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and a generous Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Check out our Life at Upwork page to learn more about our benefits and the employee experience.

Check out our Careers page to learn more about the employee experience.

Upwork is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, 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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