Lead Researcher, Research & Insights

Research & Insights (R&I) is a strategic partner to product management, engineering, User Experience (UX), and go-to-market teams across Salesforce. We are passionate about understanding and solving our customers’ issues, using data‑driven insights to create experiences that delight. We balance big‑picture thinking with detailed craft, collaborating along the way with product managers, designers, engineers, content writers, marketers, sales, strategy and operations.

Together we shape the future of Salesforce for the benefit of millions of end users.

The Marketing Cloud Research & Insights team focuses on equipping Cloud leaders with data about customer needs and experiences in distinct product pillars including AI‑fueled capabilities, omni‑channel management, personalization, and feature adoption.

We are seeking a Lead Researcher who can distill complex problems into insights that inform product, design, development, and business decisions. You are a self‑driven, impact‑oriented researcher with experience in Research Community Management and strong quantitative data organization skills. You are a nimble leader who balances the deployment of complex, end‑to‑end research initiatives alongside rapid community research interventions. You have expertise at relationship‑building, the maintenance of cross‑functional coalitions, and the creation of communities (research panels) that support product feedback.

You have expertise in survey research, qualitative inquiry, statistical analysis, and community management to generate actionable insights that drive business decisions. Ideally you have a deep understanding of research methodologies, data analytics, and participant engagement strategies for hard‑to‑reach populations. You distill complex problems into insights that inform design, development, and business decisions. You’re passionate about technology, and have deep empathy for technology users and their everyday struggles and challenges.

You are unwavering in your desire to provide the best experiences for users. You eagerly use new research methods to get at the heart of the issue, and you have expertise with the ‘tried and true’ ones. You are excited to leverage existing research at Salesforce to weave together actionable insights to share with cross‑functional teams. You seamlessly switch between research craft, collaboration, and operational excellence.

• Establish, grow, and manage multiple diverse research communities, ensuring high engagement and representation of key customer segments.
• Develop recruitment strategies to maintain a high‑quality participant pool for quantitative and qualitative research.
• Implement best practices for community management, including moderation, communication, and retention strategies.
• Work on fast‑paced projects, requiring attention to detail and working within constrained timelines.

• Execute rapid research in collaboration with cross‑functional teams.
• Translate fuzzy, qualitative insights into quantifiable, trackable metrics that teams can align around by solving the challenge of measuring what matters.
• Design, distribute, and analyze surveys using advanced survey methodologies and tools or advise vendors to execute.
• Apply statistical techniques to interpret survey data, ensuring reliability and validity of findings.
• Use data visualization tools to present research findings in a clear and actionable format.
• Scope and drive research projects that inform product strategy, design, and development, in collaboration with cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Conduct generative and evaluative research using a mixture of research methods (surveys, unmoderated testing, interviews, moderated concept testing, etc.).
• Synthesize research findings into actionable insights, creating narratives to frame problems and highlight the business value of recommended solutions.
• Manage research timelines, budgets, and deliverables while maintaining data integrity and ethical research standards.

• Partner with UX researchers, data scientists, product managers, and…