Experience Researcher & Strategist

Employment Type: Open to full-time or contract work

Location: Negotiable within the U.S. We are open to remote work from various locations within the U.S., preferably in Eastern or Central time zones. 

We are committed to creating a diverse workforce which is why we have invested in a third-party blind recruiting solution that removes personal identifiers from CVs & cover letters. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Salary: We will consider applicants for Experience Researcher & Strategist and Senior Experience Researcher & Strategist commensurate with experience. Range across these positions is $90,000 - $115,000.

About Echo&Co:    

Echo&Co specializes in identity, experience, product, and service research, strategy, and design for education and social change. We help organizations use human insights to make more effective decisions about digital technology. We design and scale digital products for awareness, education, advocacy, fundraising, and service delivery. We inspire new ways of working across content, data, design, and technology. We help organizations learn and practice human-centered design.

Echo&Co is a certified B Corp dedicated to advancing social and environmental benefits through our work. Promoting equity and inclusion is reflected in our core values and our team, who are equally passionate about their creative disciplines, doing good in the world, and building a community where everyone has access to the same opportunities and feels respected and valued. This is the foundation of our company and community, and extends to each team member, with utmost respect for individual experiences and contributions across race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, and/or ability.

You can learn more at echo.co/about-us.

About this role:

The Experience Researcher & Strategist is a passionate research and strategy lead who loves helping social sector organizations — nonprofits, foundations, museums, universities, social ventures — strengthen their relationships with constituents and attract new members, donors, activists, and supporters. The Experience Researcher & Strategist also has a passion for helping social sector organizations build their capacity for identity, content, product, service, and experience design maturity; improve their digital literacy, accessibility, and sophistication; and expand their work using design thinking methods and human-centered insights.

This requires:

• Deep experience leading strategy and research formulation and articulation on large-scale website and/or web application projects. Gathering client needs and designing experience strategy and research engagements, including 3-5 year strategic digital roadmaps, to help them succeed.
• Conducting and guiding market/audience/user research to inform organizational goals and user needs. Creating unique, custom identity, content, product, service, and experience strategies and implementation roadmaps out of audience/product research, organizational strategic planning and objectives, analytics data, stakeholder interests, as well as myriad unfocused organizational insights. 
• Designing and facilitating engaging and productive meetings and workshops for large and small groups. This includes initiating projects with energy, enthusiasm, and momentum in order to build excitement among clients and teams and trust in our partnership, process, and work.
• Confidence in leading client stakeholder and executive meetings to gain insights into the organization’s strategic objectives, and in designing interview and discovery methods to fit client needs and project goals.
• Supporting project managers in maintaining and strengthening high-level client relationships by working with client stakeholders and leading them through decision-making and change management.

You’ll also need    
        

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communication, psychology, business, library science, industrial design, or a related field. Master’s degree in design, human computer interaction, human factors, business administration or a related field a plus.
• 8+ years of experience leading identity, experience, product, service, and/or content strategy within an agency, with a focus on design thinking, human-centered research, strategic planning, and identity, experience, service, and product strategy.    
• Deep expertise applying best-in-class human-centered research, and design-thinking methodologies; defining objectives and key results (OKRs) at the business-strategic and product-level; and identifying sources and uses of key data and insights to drive decision-making.
• Ability to quickly understand and empathize with a client’s organizational culture, politics, operations, and stakeholders, and help them collaborate across functional silos to develop a shared definition of success.
• To contribute to business growth by nurturing and expanding existing client account relationships, identifying and cultivating new opportunities, conducting market research, and participating in proposals, presentations, and contract development.
• To participate on project teams as a subject matter expert and discipline lead on research and product development, collaborating with the content, user experience, creative, technology and client engagement teams. 
• To lead collaboratively and be an advisor, thought partner, coach and/or mentor, capacity-builder, and friend to the Echo&Co team and professionals within the nonprofit, educational, and social impact sectors.
• To extend Echo&Co’s expertise and brand footprint in the industry through networking, writing, and speaking engagements.
• A desire to be a part of a team and culture centered on inclusion, collaboration, shared values, continuous learning, compassion, candor, and humor. Enthusiasm for small business life and teamwork, with a desire to work in a fast-paced environment focusing equally on big picture strategy and day-to-day implementation.
• A background of successful consultation and strategy leadership with nonprofit organizations, grassroots campaigns, education organizations and institutions, and/or cultural institutions and an understanding of their internal operations.
• Possess excellent strategic thinking, analytical, and user experience skills and be able to provide leadership and strategic direction inside the agency and with clients.
• A communication, consulting, and presentation style that is savvy, engaging, thorough, well-organized, action-oriented, focused on building relationships, and highly responsive.
• Success in leading nonprofit and educational client engagements and nurturing client relationships experience in strategic advising of client stakeholders, including executives; able to assist client organizations in managing project and organizational change.
• Must be a dynamic team leader, strong communicator, and proactive decision-maker within a fast-paced environment.
• Conversant in nonprofit digital, content management, member management, and learning and asset management platforms and technologies, and how they integrate in order to facilitate successful member, donor, participant, advocate, voter, and supporter experiences. Advising clients on the effective integration of different digital experience platforms (learning, member, advocacy, fundraising, etc.) to advance their mission and work.
• Ability to organize and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Ability to work both collaboratively as well as independently.
• Understanding of marketing, fundraising, advocacy, and member engagement strategies and best practices. 
• Must be active in the experience research, strategy, and/or design fields, with an understanding of industry best practices and trends, particularly in the nonprofit sector.
• User experience, accessibility, design thinking, or related credentials and/or certifications a plus.
• A social good orientation with an interest in working for mission-driven clients. Nonprofit management experience a plus.
• A commitment to developing knowledge and skills in equity, inclusion, antiracism, and belonging practices.
• Willingness and ability to travel occasionally, most commonly to Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Echo&Co is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and antiracism. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.