Lead UX Researcher, Strategic Discovery & Human-Centered Design

Pay is based on several factors which vary based on include labor markets and in some instancesmay include education work experience and addition to your pay Target cares about and invests in you as a team member so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs which may include medical vision dental life insurance and more to help you and your family take care of your whole benefits for eligible team members include 401(k) employee discount short term disability long term disability paid sick leave paid national holidays and paid competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at Us

Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here.

Target UX is a group of design content research and accessibility practitioners and experts with a passion for improving and innovating our digital experiences for Targets guests team members and partners. Here we pride ourselves on designing tangible inspiring and impactful solutions that serve all aspects of our business. Being part of the team means you will play a critical role in shaping Targets digital experience through insight creativity and human-centered thinking.

About the role

As a Lead UX Researcher Strategic Discovery & Human-Centered Design you will help shape some of Targets most important future opportunities by bringing a deeply human-centered and strategic approach to discovery. You will work before solutions are fully defined helping leaders and teams understand where Target should invest what problems are worth solving and how emerging opportunities connect to real human needs.

This role focuses on helping teams move from ambiguity to alignment and from assumptions to evidence. Through research experimentation and discovery you will uncover opportunities reduce uncertainty and help teams make better decisions. You willfacilitateworkshops guide strategic conversations and translate complex insights into clear opportunity areas experience principles and recommendations.

Success in this role requires strong partnership across UX product technology business strategy and other insight teams. By connecting human understanding with business context and multiple sources of evidence you will help create a more complete view of opportunities risks and future possibilities.

Asnew technologiesand AI-enabled experiencesemerge you will help teams explore opportunities and evaluate concepts through a human-centered lens. You will apply new tools and methods thoughtfully whilemaintainingthe judgment ethics and rigor that drive high-quality research.

As a member of the team you will help strengthen Targets culture of human-centered discovery.Beyond individual projects you will mentor others contribute to evolving research practices and help teams build confidence in making decisions earlier in the product and experience development process.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic discovery efforts that help teams understand complex problemsidentifyopportunities and make informed decisions.

• Design and conduct research that reduces uncertainty and informs product business and experience strategy.

• Facilitate workshops and working sessions that bring diverse perspectives together create alignment and help teams move from insight to action.

• Translate research findings into compelling stories opportunity areas and recommendations that influence future direction.

• Partner with quantitative researchers and other insight teams to connect human understanding with behavioral operational and business signals.

• Use experimentation and rapid learning approaches to help teams test assumptions and explore future possibilities.

• Apply AI-enabled research and discovery tools thoughtfully whilemaintainingresearch quality ethical practice and human judgment.

• Contribute to the growth of Targets research practice through mentorship influence and the development of reusable methods and frameworks.

• Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.