Design Researcher/Strategist

Job Description

Beyond Design is seeking an experienced creative Design Researcher/Strategist with a strong understanding of human behavior and research methods. The ideal candidate should be able to identify latent user needs, find insights through analysis and potential opportunity through strategic methods. You will be responsible for coordinating and moderating work sessions (in-home interviews, focus groups, ideation sessions, etc.) with participants and clients.

The ideal candidate is a strong moderator who can communicate the opportunity areas to the broader team, including the client, with conviction and confidence. As a Design Researcher/Strategist, you will guide the team to take opportunity areas and convert them into actionable and tangible directions. You must be a person who is comfortable speaking in front of others and is inquisitive, but not leading. You should also have excellent graphic skills and the ability to show data analyzing skills through compelling infographics.

This candidate must demonstrate portfolio examples showing case studies in research process and methodologies, design strategy, developing infographics and design frameworks, and excellent verbal and visual communications.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
• Plan, organize, implement, and coordinate research programs to support specific projects and areas of the product development process.
• Determine the most appropriate research and methodology for the challenge at hand and whenever necessary create new research approaches and ideas.
• Conduct qualitative/quantitative research, ethnographies and other product testing to inform product development.
• Educate and convince the client of the importance of research and strategy in the product development process.
• Be a core member of the design team and work closely with other designers to build creative but actionable design strategies and approaches for each project.
• Oversee and assist in product design, UI/UX design, GUI, and service design projects.
• Create frameworks and infographics that help to tell a compelling research and strategy story.
• Express oneself clearly, orally and in writing, with the ability to give presentations to business management and other professionals.
• Demonstrate the ability to not only synthesize data from multiple research sources but also translate the output into actionable insights that can directly impact the innovation efforts of Beyond Design.
• Ability to teach and mentor other members of the team who are less familiar with design research and strategy.

Requirements:
• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Design Research, Design Strategy, Human factors Design, or related program.
• 3+ years of experience designing, developing and implementing research and strategy for innovation and design.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects at once.
• Prior product development experience is a must and consulting experience is a plus.
• Strong moderator who is inquisitive, but not leading.
• Strong frameworks and infographics capabilities.
• Must have strong verbal and visual presentation skills with confidence and substance.
• Excellent analytical thinking and ability to find new trends in design process and methods to inspire and direct others.
• Strong skills in visualization, communication design, and graphics with a great knowledge of different design strategy and methodology is essential.
• Proficient in Abode Creative Suite and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Can provide clear and objective critiques of creative work.
• Problem solver and creative thinker
• Additional product development experience (CAD, Sketching) is a plus.
• Ability to wear multiple hats at once.
• Sense of humor and the desire to work in a creative atmosphere.

Application Details

Please submit portfolio sample (including case studies) as a PDF document, be considerate of file size. All submission will be kept confidential. Submissions without portfolio samples will not be considered.

NOTE: International candidates must hold a valid US working permit.