Director, Design Research

Director, Design Research (Enterprise Associate Listening)

Location: Bentonville, Arkansas

About Walmart Global People

Leaders and individual contributors alike look to our Global People teams to influence strategy, optimize working models, and enable the business to achieve results while preserving the fabric that sets us apart and keeps our 1.3M+ associates coming to work every day. From building communities to preparing Walmart for the future, to be a member of this team is to operate as a vital component to our sustainable success. Together, we think beyond the status-quo and inspire others to evoke positive change. When you join us in Global People, you immerse yourself in our culture, becoming a trailblazer and a true agent of influence.

About this Role/Team (Summary)

The Global People Strategy & Innovation team is creating the future of how we listen to our global workforce across Walmart, Inc. Our team is based in Bentonville, AR and works across our business segments and functions to deliver cutting-edge associate listening capabilities in partnership with brilliant product managers, designers, and engineers. We’re on a journey to strengthen our culture of continuous listening and deliver exceptional, consumer grade digital experiences.

We’re looking for a uniquely qualified director to join our team and help lead the way through strong thought leadership and bold vision. If you’re someone with a unique blend of methodological rigor, creativity, and passion for improving the associate experience, this new role could be perfect for you

You’ll Sweep Us of our feet if…

• You have deep research methodology expertise—both qualitative and quantitative. You’re deeply familiar with diverse research methods and when to apply them.
• Strong working knowledge and previous experience working with employee experience software is a must (e.g., Qualtrics or similar platforms).
• You have a track record of deploying large scale feedback programs from design to insights and can effectively navigate working with business partners and other functions to deliver results and business value.
• You stay informed on emerging trends and technology and enjoy applying a creative mindset and approach to solution design.
• Excellent communication skills are vital. It’s important you can demonstrate your ability to communicate with influence across all levels of the organization, translating complex or novel ideas into clear and compelling messages.
• You thrive operating in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment and you excel at building healthy relationships and collaborating effectively to get things done.

What You’ll do:

• Managing Functional Partnerships : Requires knowledge of: Stakeholder identification and mapping; Stakeholder analysis; Stakeholder communication; Stakeholder engagement techniques; Stakeholder management effectiveness tools and methods; Fluency in many specialized business vernacular; Deep understanding of diverse markets to deliver customer and business value; adapt style and best practices to accommodate cultural differences. To collaborate with partners in the value chain to achieve desired outcomes across international markets. Lead cross-functional strategic technology focused initiatives and encourage team to cultivate relationships across the businesses and markets. Establishes best practices in the relevant functional area for team members to collaborate with people having different perspectives. Facilitate cross functional team thinking and brainstorming activities to collectively create and share ideas. Establish shared goals and information sharing platform to foster collaboration. Resolve technical and business issues related to collaborative efforts in varying business conditions. Seek out individuals with different perspectives to help foster creativity and personal growth.

• Design Research : Requires knowledge of: Principles of research; Best practices of qualitative and quantitative research; Data analysis techniques; Techniques to detect gaps in information; Legal risks, factual errors, and breaches of codes of conduct involving the use of research material; Organizational research requirements; Success metrics for research projects; Purpose of research and how it will be used; Values, limitations, and risks of sources and social networks for research purposes; Emerging methods for obtaining relevant information. To define the key problems to be addressed in research projects. Designs and drives a research strategy to meet identified research needs. Reviews the relevance and usefulness of findings against research objectives outlined in research project plans. Leads the production of final research findings and associated outcomes. Develops reports on future improvements to research processes. Identifies potential legal and ethical issues from using research material. Collaborates with and understands the value of other research partners (for example, site analytics, consumer insights) to synthesize and leverage existing data and coordinate research efforts.

• Influencing and Building Stakeholder Consensus : Requires knowledge of: Verbal/Non-verbal behaviors; Application and allocation of Business Communication styles/techniques in ambiguous and challenging situations; Communication channels/mediums; Interpersonal skills and universal relationship building with ability to connect seemingly unconnected parties; Influencing styles. To lead discussions with varying viewpoints confidently. Influence diverse audiences using customized communication and appropriate frameworks. Leverage fact-based data & analytics insights to build a cohesive narrative and present in a clear, concise and meaningful way. Demonstrate superior decision and coordination skills when faced with conflicting or ambiguous inputs. Become a trusted advisor to diverse stakeholders, influencing them to act on the product/technology matters. Provide respectful, effective, timely feedback and seek, internalize, and utilize received feedback.

• Usability Testing and Iteration : Requires knowledge of: User profiles; Testing scenarios; Documentation; Test plans To perform testing against a design specification. Assists in the development of a set of specific suites of tests and the goals for each test. Works with customers to develop test scenarios and conducts acceptance tests on user stories. Participates in a specific user acceptance testing process. Records and stores test cases, associated input data, operations, and expected results.

• User Discovery: Requires knowledge of: User experience strategies; User interviews and surveys; User journeys; Story boards; Contextual inquiries. To demonstrate awareness of trends in user consumption habits to develop or improve interaction design and user experience strategies. Proactively identifies areas for user profile enhancements and new participatory design features based on user interviews and surveys. Plans site visits to end users. Maintains appropriate records of user observations. Presents data from site visits in ways that can be used to drive design (for example, user stories, user journey maps). Critically evaluates previous user research from multiple sources and perspectives.

• Driving Customer/Client Needs : Requires knowledge of: Customer and business problems; Dependencies and impacts on product processes/ways of working; Journey mapping; Process optimization; Communication and influencing techniques. To enable the creation of an ecosystem involving customers, vendors, and partners to create solutions that meet customer needs in a pre-emptive manner. Fosters the importance of understanding the customer needs for designing solutions, within the organization. Works with customers and business partners to identify and remove barriers.

• Provides overall direction by analyzing business objectives and customer needs; developing, communicating, building support for, and implementing business strategies, plans, and practices; analyzing costs and forecasts and incorporating them into business plans; determining and supporting resource requirements; evaluating operational processes; measuring outcomes to ensure desired results; identifying and capitalizing on improvement opportunities; promoting a customer environment; and demonstrating adaptability and sponsoring continuous learning.

• Develops and implements strategies to attract and maintain a highly skilled and engaged workforce by diagnosing capability gaps; recruiting, selecting, and developing talent; supporting mentorship, workforce development, and succession planning; and leveraging the capabilities of new and existing talent.

• Cultivates an environment where associates respect and adhere to company standards of integrity and ethics by integrating these values into all programs and practices; developing consequences for violations or non-compliance; and supporting the Open Door Policy.

• Develops and leverages internal and external partnerships and networks to maximize the achievement of business goals by sponsoring and leading key community outreach and involvement initiatives; engaging key stakeholders in the development, execution, and evaluation of appropriate business plans and initiatives; and supporting associate efforts in these areas.