Live In Ethnographic Researcher Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Join us in shaping the future of Amazon's revolutionary products! As a Sr. Cultural Researcher on the Futures Insights team, which is part of Amazon's Devices and Services Experience Design organization, you'll play a pivotal role in informing mid-to-long term strategic planning (3-5 years) for next-generation and net-new device and service innovations. Your research will help the organization situate emerging technologies within a deep understanding of enduring and emerging human needs, cultural trends, and broader systems (e.g., STEEP analysis). Our work begins at the start of the design process, identifying insights and opportunities to drive humanity-centered innovation throughout. We collaborate with a variety of teams and functions in our work, driving efforts that are at times embedded within futures concept explorations or independent of them.
We recognize that the combination of skills and experience required to do this work can take many forms. Maybe you're a design ethnographer, cultural anthropologist, futures researcher, strategic foresight analyst, design strategist, or user experience researcher with deep experience in the 0-1 product space? Either way, we'd love to hear from you if this role sounds exciting.
Key job responsibilities
- Plan and execute global, in-field research programs on topics of strategic relevance to the organization, leading the output and activities of the project's lifecycle (e.g., screener development to final insight reports)
- Help the Futures Insights team build and scale mechanisms for collecting, synthesizing, and communicating strategic cultural insights on human needs and motivations, and sociocultural trends
- Collaborate with product, brand and design teams across the org to translate emerging insights and trends into next-gen or net new capabilities, devices experiences, value propositions, or innovation pathways
- Help leadership determine the right research questions to ask, informing long-term research roadmaps that align with business strategy and goals
A day in the life
In this role, you'll dive deep into understanding human needs, behaviors, motivations, and sociocultural trends to inform futures design explorations or broader organizational strategy. Your work will consist of two major types: 1) driving independent cultural and futures research programs around themes of strategic relevance to the organization and 2) working with product and design partners to translate and activate futures research in near-term product design workstreams.
To that end, your day-to-day might consist of:
- Closely partnering with the Devices & Services Design teams to shape concept development and experience roadmaps.
- Leading in-home customer interviews in Brazil, talking to academic experts about social robotics, or exploring the fringes of cultures for emerging signals and trends.
- Creating the artifacts necessary to plan and deliver insights (e.g., screeners, discussion guides, insights reports), as well as artifacts and activities necessary to help activate them.
- Planning and facilitating workshops to help teams immerse in and design with the insights surfaced by your work.
About the team
The Futures Insights team is a research team within a larger design research team inside Amazon's Devices and Services Experience Design organization. Our team is split across our New York and London studios. We draw on a variety of methods and disciplines to inform our work: strategic foresight, cultural analysis, ethnography, and design research methods.
The Devices and Services Design Research team is a collaborative group of ethnographers, psychologists, human factors researchers, and research scientists dedicated to providing deep insights into customer motivations and behaviors. The broader team's research supports multiple time horizons, with product line research teams influencing existing roadmaps and Futures Insights shaping the furthest out time horizons. Collectively, we work closely with business and design partners to clarify opportunities, inspire innovation, and translate insights into operational outcomes.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Have a portfolio demonstrating past work experience and deliverables (e.g., study plans, reports, personas)
- 7+ years of proven success leading Design Research projects with demonstrated impact experience
- Working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods, with deep expertise in ethnographic, semiotic, co-design, and design research methods
- BA/BS in Anthropology, Design Research, Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies, or a related field
- Experience in the field of research with a focus on early, generative design research that informs long-term business strategy, ideally in the digital products and services industry
- Experience translating and creatively activating insights via design principles, strategic frameworks, scenarios, design provocations, and immersion workshops
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Excellent written communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization
- Ability to travel internationally to conduct in-context, in-person (e.g., home, workplace, office) research
- Strong design acumen and comfort working with design tools to create research outputs (e.g., Figma-based presentations, trend reports) and activation materials (e.g., scenarios, design prompt cards)
- MA/MS in Anthropology, Design Research, Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies, or a related field
- Experience with more futures or foresight-focused methodologies and frameworks, like STEEP analysis, the Futures Triangle, Scenario development, Causal Layer Analysis, etc.
- Ability to independently drive multiple concurrent projects in an agile environment
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company's reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you're applying in isn't listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.
The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.
USA, CA, San Francisco - 167,400.00 - 226,500.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 167,400.00 - 226,500.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 152,200.00 - 205,900.00 USD annually