Who You Are

As Justworks transforms into a multiproduct company that supports small businesses worldwide, we’re looking for a Director of Research to build and lead our Research function. Reporting to the Head of Strategy and Corporate Development, we are seeking a leader with a demonstrated track record of building world-class, high-performing teams. In collaboration with your team, you will help define Justworks’ strategy and drive innovation across the organization.  In this role, you will partner closely with a wide variety of stakeholders, including senior leadership, Product, Design, Data Science, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Support. The ideal candidate will guide us to an expansive, unique view of what a research function can achieve and contribute, and will advocate for the role of research across the organization.

Your Success Profile

What You Will Work On

• Define, oversee and scale the centralized Research function at Justworks, which includes research for Product, Design, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Voice of the Customer, and Customer Support functions
• Identify, along with your team, opportunities for Justworks to innovate and better support small businesses. Influence Justworks’ vision and strategy, inform new growth opportunities, and enhance customer satisfaction through insights and expertise that you and your team provide. 
• Act as a trusted advisor to the business’s executive leadership team and relevant stakeholders during strategy formulation, development, and execution
• Shape the Justworks research practice across disciplines, guiding our approach to research systems and operations that support our scaling, global, multi-product organization
• Advocate for research and support a culture of high quality research across the organization
• Mentor researchers and foster a culture of continuous learning and high performance across the team
• Experience leading international research preferred

How You Will Do Your Work

As a Director of Research, how results are achieved is paramount for your success and ultimately results in our success as an organization. In this role, your foundational knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes are anchored in the following:

• Strategic Mindset - anticipates future trends and implications accurately; articulates credible pictures and visions of possibilities that will create sustainable value.
• Customer Focus - builds strong customer relationships and delivers customer-centric solutions.
• Plans and Aligns - break down objectives into appropriate initiatives and actions; stage activities with relevant milestones and schedules.
• Initiative and Motivation - identifying what needs to be done and doing it before being asked or before the situation requires it.
• Influence and Leadership - Fostering a community of knowledge-sharing, collaboration, mentorship, and forward-thinking.

In addition, all Justworkers focus on aligning their behaviors to our core values known as COGIS. It stands for:

• Camaraderie - Day to day, you can be seen working together toward a higher purpose. You like to have fun. You’re an active listener, treat people respectfully, and have a strong desire to know and help others.
• Openness - Your default is to be open. You’re willing to share information, understand other perspectives, and consider new possibilities. You’re curious, ask open questions, and are receptive to thoughts and feedback from others.
• Grit - You demonstrate grit by having the courage to commit and persevere. You’re committed, earnest, and dive in to get the job done well with a positive attitude.
• Integrity - Simply put, do what you say and say what you’ll do. You’re honest and forthright, have a strong moral compass, and strive to match your words with your actions while leading by example. 
• Simplicity - Be like Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years experience working in a leadership role in research and insights
• Previous experience growing and managing a high-performing research team
• Built and/or scaled research functions, including setting strategy, developing operational structures, and building practice culture 
• Deep experience influencing company-wide strategy and innovation using research and insights
• Experience interacting with and influencing senior leadership through an informed point of view and Executive Presence
• Experience working with other data disciplines such as Data Science and Business Intelligence preferred
• Must be a passionate team-builder who can work well with multi-functional teams, be a strategic and creative thinker, have a positive can-do attitude, and work well in a constantly evolving environment
• Superb analytical skills and communication skills, with an aptitude for data-driven storytelling
• Highly collaborative and can work closely with others to get the best collective outcome

The base wage range for this position based in our New York City Office is targeted at $210,000 to $231,000 per year.

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