Senior Researcher - Global Participation

The Position

Twitter’s Global Participation Research Team:

New and returning people visit Twitter for fresh and timely content and stay when they connect with a community and/or passion. Twitter’s charter is to craft a sense of belonging for users by helping them connect with people, interests and passions. For Global Participation, belonging takes on new meaning as Twitter aspires to tailor the full Twitter experience for new markets.

The Design and Research organization works with a set of 8 principles in mind. It’s our mission to uphold these principles and have them reflected in the experiences Twitter design and build.  

• Stand for people: From helping people stay informed to engaging in the public conversation to growing their businesses, always advocate for what is best for the people Twitter serves.
• Live in culture: Be immersed in and inspired by culture and counterculture.
• Set standards & break records: Strive for greatness. Don’t shortchange, shortcut, or settle.
• Work out loud: Share your work and your point of view. Create generously. Be transparent.
• Real talk: Give direct, honest, timely feedback that meets people where they are—and helps them along their professional journey.
• Always be learning: Run toward what you don't know.
• Own it: Be responsible for your work, and accountable for the impact it has on other teams and those Twitter serve. Bias toward action. Be decisive. Optimize to fail quickly, and iterate.
• Soar:  Bias toward action. Be decisive. Optimize to fail quickly, and iterate.

What You’ll Do:

As a member of Twitter Global Participation Research team, you will be embedded on the cross-functional team that is working on building and improving the products and tools that are at the foundation of how customers experience our platform locally. This role specifically focuses on global markets that require cultural context and local customer insights to develop localized products that meet customers needs. You will lead the proactive discovery, exploration and development of customer-centric insights to help this team achieve their goals at a strategic level, while also executing research plans that impact every stage of the product development process, from ideation to implementation.

You will also build productive relationships with cross-functional partners in Product, Engineering, Design, Content Strategy, Strategy & Operations, Data Science and collaborate with other internal research teams to connect the dots, seed ideas, and help drive better business decision-making that sharpens product development strategies which will help fuel long-term sustainable growth for Twitter.

You will accomplish this by championing a customer-centered process that integrates insights and feedback throughout the product development cycle. You will conduct primary research, exploring the behaviors and motivations of our users through a variety of research techniques and methods (i.e. field visits, ethnography, surveys and usability tests). Your research will help us create a product experience that is innovative, useful, usable, and delightful. You’ll inspire change at all stages of product development by delivering compelling, written, in-person and visual presentations on your findings and influencing with an informed point of view.

Who You Are:

You are an experienced researcher with expert understanding of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. You understand the importance of marrying business goals with cultural context and customer insights. You know exactly when to engage with cross-functional teams, what questions to ask, where to probe, and how to implement the most effective research strategies. You are a creative problem-solver who seeks to deeply understand the business so that you can define the most meaningful and strategic research plans. You thrive in a fast-paced environment and enjoy setting your own research goals, managing load and expectations, and delivering impactful research findings and recommendations. You have a passion for leading teams and developing talent and understand how to balance the jobs of leading a team through effective coaching and delegation with leading your own projects. You’re passionate about Twitter and believe great experiences are always inspired by a deep understanding of the user. 

Responsibilities:

• Lead purposeful relationship-building with a wide array of partners and other research teams
• Lead the proactive discovery, exploration, development and presentation of insights to drive strategy in the global participation space
• Partner with Design, Product, Engineering and Data Science teams to build in research at multiple stages of the product development process
• Collaborate with domestic and international research and product partners 
• Ensure problems are approached through the integration of multiple data streams, including qualitative and quantitative research along with cultural trends and patterns
• Advocate for insights in order to drive action and impact by providing compelling narratives and artefacts
• Lead purposeful relationship-building with a wide array of partners and other research teams

• Promote and lead the building of foresight and synthesis of trends through investigation of rapidly shifting marketplace dynamics, emerging data sources & technologies and the ever-changing consumer and business landscape to drive better business decisions around emerging opportunities

Qualifications

• 7+ years conducting user research and/or market research, with an excellent command of both qualitative and quantitative methods
• Experience working with teams and conducting research globally, across culture and languages
• Experience working in startups or on highly ambitious zero-to-one projects.
• Fluency in English. Fluency in at least one local language in West Africa 
• Bachelor's Degree (minimum requirement)
• (Optional) Advanced degree in Business (MBA), Communication, Psychology, or a related field
• Strong foundational knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research tools and techniques
• An ability to develop a deep understanding and empathy for customers whose daily life, circumstances and needs might be very different than your own.
• A track record of thought leadership and delivering research to inform business, marketing and product development strategies and roadmaps
• An entrepreneurial mindset and a creative approach to problem-solving
• Strong cross-organizational negotiating and influencing skills with the ability to sell an idea
• Forward thinking
• Ability to manage through ambiguity, proactively assess needs and create plans
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize initiatives
• Strong business acumen; an understanding of business goals, strategies and pressures while being aware of industry trends and competitive actions as a context for doing research
• Ability to build collaborative relationships remotely and cross-functionally to influence strategy and decisions
• Can express ideas clearly and simply; listen to others; create an environment where all are comfortable expressing thoughts; and promote timely and ongoing flow of information
• Strong project management skills and experience guiding multiple internal and/or outsourced projects simultaneously
• A growth mentality that fuels your desire to constantly learn and improve
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Detail oriented and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Interested in new and experimental methodologies
• Have demonstrated experience discovering, synthesizing, and socializing actionable insights that have shaped product strategy and produced a business impact