Position Summary...
Senior Manager, Design Research
At Sam's Club, we're committed to being the membership you love the most. The Sam's Club Experience Design team crafts compelling experiences wherever we meet our members and associates, from our clubs to their businesses, and to their homes. We deliver impact for the business through the web, apps, in-club experiences and associate-facing tools. In this role, we need your strategic Design Research expertise and leadership to shape, inform, and support key initiatives throughout the Sam's Club organization while growing organizational empathy and research capability.
From day one, you will rely on your interpersonal strengths and your ability to lead with creativity, strategic and systems thinking. You are the right fit if you have experience managing, mentoring, and coaching a team of researchers in developing the art and science of research design and high-quality insight creation. You are a compelling storyteller and communicator, with the skillset of turning data and insights into a captivating narrative to guide decision makers and influence direction. Senior Managers balance hands-on research with team leadership (approximately 35% practitioner / 65% manager) and are accountable for ensuring their team's work drives meaningful value and measurable impact.
What you'll do...
In This Role
As a Senior Manager of Design Research, you will lead researchers to deliver high-impact and actionable insights that shape a holistic experience strategy for our members and associates. You excel at turning complexity into clarity. You will facilitate workshops to help teams define opportunity areas, frame the right problem to solve, define research goals, select the right methodologies, make sense of the data, and translate findings into actionable-frameworks, narratives, and recommendations.
You will partner closely with interdisciplinary teams and business stakeholders to influence decisions, build aligned visions, and drive measurable outcomes. Your work will connect strategic opportunities, anticipating needs and aspirations of our associates and members to the creation and deployment of future-state experiences at scale. You are a great fit if you have a passion for applied research, blending qualitative and quantitative approaches to inform strategy across every phase of design, from discovery to optimization.
Manage a Team
· Manage aspects of the employee lifecycle including talent acquisition, onboarding, development, and performance management
· Provide leadership through mentoring and coaching a team of design researchers, assuming responsibility for methodological integrity, quality insights, and outputs that drive business outcomes.
Strategic Research Planning
Use existing data and secondary research to identify research gaps and frame opportunity areas and problem statements
Define the scope, objectives, and success criteria for research initiatives based on business needs, recommending the most effective methods
Develop inclusive, strategic research plans, recruitment approaches, discussion guides, screeners, interview scripts and stimuli, and study logistics
Execution & Methodologies
Lead generative research efforts to uncover associate and member motivations, behaviors, and attitudes across ecosystems
Apply a broad range of research methods including interviews, focus groups, surveys, qualitative studies, quantitative analysis, field research, and usability methods
Lead evaluative and continuous research as digital and physical experiences evolve from early proto@types to pilots and ultimately to scaled deployments
Facilitate workshops, journey walkthroughs, and concept evaluations
Synthesis & Deliverables
Facilitate collaborative synthesis with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders as you uncover and make meaning of insights
Translate findings into arche@types, personas, journey maps, opportunity frameworks, problem statements, and insights narratives
Transform complex findings into clear, actionable stories that guide decisions and build alignment
Use data, qualitative insights, and behavioral signals to inform prioritization and roadmap decisions
Stakeholder Collaboration & Influence
Partner with cross-functional teams to define experience direction across omni-channel experiences for associates and members (web, mobile, support, self-service, AI-driven flows, etc.)
Build effective relationships across product, engineering, design, and executive partners
Review and validate research outputs with peers, stakeholders, and customers to maintain clarity and alignment
Communicate recommendations from various altitudes-strategic framing, directional insights, and tactical feedback
Present solutions and research implications clearly, succinctly, and in business-oriented @contexts
User Centered Design Methods
Navigate ambiguity and engage with people through empathy in all aspects of the job
Design and facilitate remote and in-person workshops, co-creation sessions, ideation sessions, and design-thinking exercises with diverse stakeholders
Apply expertise in Customer Experience Design, human-centered design, systems thinking, and service design methodologies
Bring user-centric perspective to experience strategy and connected journey development
Leverage research insights to influence the broader experience strategy
Required Qualifications
Min 2 years managing researchers as direct reports or leading a research team
Bachelor's degree in HCI, Human Factors, UX, Behavioral Science, Information Science, Social Sciences, or related field
AND 8+ years of UX, CX, or Service Design Research experience
OR Master's degree in a related field with 6+ years of research experience
OR Doctorate in a related field with 4+ years of research experience
OR Equivalent practical experience in UX research or strategic experience research.
Experience Requirements
3+ years designing and facilitating co-creation, ideation, and design-thinking workshops.
6+ years conducting qualitative research (1:1 interviews, ethnography, etc.).
6+ years contributing to experience initiatives (in-store, web, mobile, omni-channel, AI-assisted experiences, self-service automation, etc.).
Demonstrated experience applying a wide range of research methods across foundational and evaluative phases.
Strong ability to communicate complex information in a clear, compelling way.
Strong stakeholder management skills, especially with senior leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
6+ years applying research methods that influence both strategic direction and detailed design execution of digital and physical design.
Experience in enterprise/B2B environments or large-scale technology-driven ecosystems.
Design Thinking Certification (IDEO, IBM, Stanford, Forrester, university programs, etc.).
Background or conceptual understanding of AI/ML, natural language experiences, chatbots, or AI-enhanced user interactions.
Experience conducting international research and managing global customer insights programs.
Experience building frameworks, narratives, and insights that shape North Star visions and multi-year experience strategies.
At Sam's Club, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet!
-Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage
-Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance
-Paid time off benefits include PTO, parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable.
For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices .
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Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.
Live Better U is a company paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates. Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart.
Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to a specific plan or program terms.
For information about benefits and eligibility, see One.Walmart (https://one.walmart.com/) .
The annual salary range for this position is $110,000.00 - $220,000.00
Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses.
Additional compensation for certain positions may also include Regional Pay Zone (RPZ) (based on location). At Sam's Club, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet!
-Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage
-Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance
-Paid time off benefits include PTO, parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable.
For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices .
-
Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.
Live Better U is a company paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates. Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart.
Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to a specific plan or program terms.
For information about benefits and eligibility, see One.Walmart (https://one.walmart.com/) .
The annual salary range for this position is $110,000.00 - $220,000.00 Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include Regional Pay Zone (RPZ) (based on location).
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Minimum Qualifications...
Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications.
Option 1: Bachelor's degree in UI/UX design, graphic design, visual communication, product design, computer science, information technology, or related area and 4 years' experience in market research, business analysis, UX design research, or related area.
Option 2: 6 years' experience in market research, business analysis, UX design research, or related area.
As permitted by applicable law, provide evidence of full vaccination as defined by CDC guidelines OR secure approval of medical or religious accommodation for the vaccination mandate.
1 year's supervisory experience.
Preferred Qualifications...
Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications.
Driving product development in a design research area, Market Research, Business Analysis, UX Design Research, or related area, Master's degree in UI/UX Design, Interactive and Visual Design, Product Design, or related area, Related industry experience (for example, retail, supply chain, eCommerce, healthcare), Research or design certification (for example, IDEOU - Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate), We value candidates with a background in creating inclusive digital experiences, demonstrating knowledge in implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility seamlessly. The ideal candidate would have knowledge of accessibility best practices and join us as we continue to create accessible products and services following Walmart's accessibility standards and guidelines for supporting an inclusive culture.
Primary Location...
2101 Se Simple Savings Dr, Bentonville, AR 72712-4304, United States of America
Walmart and its subsidiaries are committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace and has a no tolerance policy regarding the use of illegal drugs and alcohol on the job. This policy applies to all employees and aims to create a safe and productive work environment.
Walmart, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer- By Choice. We believe we are best equipped to help our associates, customers, and the communities we serve live better when we really know them. That means understanding, respecting, and valuing diversity- unique styles, experiences, identities, abilities, ideas and opinions- while being inclusive of all people.
