Sr. Cultural Researcher, Futures Insights, Devices Experience Design

Join us in shaping the future of Amazons revolutionary products! As a Sr. Cultural Researcher on the Futures Insights team which is part of Amazons Devices and Services Experience Design organization youll play a pivotal role in informing mid-to-long term strategic planning (3-5 years) for next-generation and net-new device and service innovations. Your research will help the organization situate emerging technologies within a deep understanding of enduring and emerging human needs cultural trends and broader systems (e.g. STEEP analysis). Our work begins at the start of the design process identifying insights and opportunities to drive humanity-centered innovation throughout. We collaborate with a variety of teams and functions in our work driving efforts that are at times embedded within futures concept explorations or independent of them.

We recognize that the combination of skills and experience required to do this work can take many forms. Maybe youre a design ethnographer cultural anthropologist futures researcher strategic foresight analyst design strategist or user experience researcher with deep experience in the 0-1 product space Either way wed love to hear from you if this role sounds exciting.

Key job responsibilities
Key job responsibilities

- Plan and execute global in-field research programs on topics of strategic relevance to the organization leading the output and activities of the projects lifecycle (e.g. screener development to final insight reports)
- Help the Futures Insights team build and scale mechanisms for collecting synthesizing and communicating strategic cultural insights on human needs and motivations and sociocultural trends
- Collaborate with product brand and design teams across the org to translate emerging insights and trends into next-gen or net new capabilities devices experiences value propositions or innovation pathways
- Help leadership determine the right research questions to ask informing long-term research roadmaps that align with business strategy and goals

A day in the life
In this role youll dive deep into understanding human needs behaviors motivations and sociocultural trends to inform futures design explorations or broader organizational strategy. Your work will consist of two major types: 1) driving independent cultural and futures research programs around themes of strategic relevance to the organization and 2) working with product and design partners to translate and activate futures research in near-term product design workstreams.

To that end your day-to-day might consist of:
- Closely partnering with the Devices & Services Design teams to shape concept development and experience roadmaps.
- Leading in-home customer interviews in Brazil talking to academic experts about social robotics or exploring the fringes of cultures for emerging signals and trends.
- Creating the artifacts necessary to plan and deliver insights (e.g. screeners discussion guides insights reports) as well as artifacts and activities necessary to help activate them.
- Planning and facilitating workshops to help teams immerse in and design with the insights surfaced by your work.

About the team
The Futures Insights team is a research team within a larger design research team inside Amazons Devices and Services Experience Design organization. Our team is split across our New York and London studios. We draw on a variety of methods and disciplines to inform our work: strategic foresight cultural analysis ethnography and design research methods.

The Devices and Services Design Research team is a collaborative group of ethnographers psychologists human factors researchers and research scientists dedicated to providing deep insights into customer motivations and behaviors. The broader teams research supports multiple time horizons with product line research teams influencing existing roadmaps and Futures Insights shaping the furthest out time horizons. Collectively we work closely with business and design partners to clarify opportunities inspire innovation and translate insights into operational outcomes.

- Have a portfolio demonstrating past work experience and deliverables (e.g. study plans reports personas)
- Working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods with deep expertise in ethnographic semiotic co-design and design research methods
- BA/BS in Anthropology Design Research Sociology Media and Cultural Studies or a related field
- Experience in the field of research with a focus on early generative design research that informs long-term business strategy ideally in the digital products and services industry
- Experience translating and creatively activating insights via design principles strategic frameworks scenarios design provocations and immersion workshops

- Excellent written communication presentation and interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization
- Ability to travel internationally to conduct in-context in-person (e.g. home workplace office) research
- Strong design acumen and comfort working with design tools to create research outputs (e.g. Figma-based presentations trend reports) and activation materials (e.g. scenarios design prompt cards)
- MA/MS in Anthropology Design Research Sociology Media and Cultural Studies or a related field
- Experience with more futures or foresight-focused methodologies and frameworks like STEEP analysis the Futures Triangle Scenario development Causal Layer Analysis etc.
- Ability to independently drive multiple concurrent projects in an agile environment

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