Lead Researcher, Enterprise Growth Initiatives

Enterprise Growth Initiatives (EGI) Lead Researcher
Exempt
May 2023

As a Fortune 50 company with more than 350,000 team members worldwide, Target is an iconic brand and one of America's leading retailers. ​

Working at Target means the opportunity to help all families discover the joy of everyday life. Caring for our communities is woven into who we are, and we invest in the places we collectively live, work and play. We prioritize relationships, fuel and develop talent by creating growth opportunities, and succeed as one Target team. At our core, our purpose is ingrained in who we are, what we value, and how we work. It’s how we care, grow, and win together. 

Our Insights, Strategy, and Growth team helps run the business today, while also focusing on the growing the business for the future. We do this by anticipating and effectively responding to challenges and fueling Target's growth—today, and into the future—regardless of the changes ahead. Here, you will work with internal partners and external agencies in a wide variety of roles. You will also have the opportunity to develop skills across our team superpowers, including consumer & industry insights, strategic problem solving, strategy activation, experimentation, and scaling new businesses. Do you love the idea of helping to shape Target’s long-term strategy grounded in guest and industry insights? Are you a champion for rigor and process to ensure successful strategic planning? Can you bring your energy and big ideas to the table in order to build momentum for new business opportunities? Then, bring your talent to the game and join us as we move Target forward.

A role within Enterprise Growth Initiatives means helping Target build beyond the core and create future focus for the organization. You will be part of a team of hybrid thinkers, actively leveraging each other’s skills and knowledge, with a bias to deliver timely business impact. From exploration to activation, you will accelerate and prove new concepts that differentiate the guest experience and generate new revenue streams. Whether exploring new business models designed to meet guest needs, engaging with startups with an aim on testing and accelerating their products or commercializing and integrating new growth back into the organization…you will ensure success by rapidly applying your expertise and fostering an entrepreneurial culture while leveraging the benefit of a large organization’s knowledge and resources. 

In this role, you will lead exploratory and generative human-centered research on Growth projects throughout the research life cycle – recommending appropriate methodology, creating research plans, facilitating in-field research, and post-research synthesis. You will be hands on conducting, and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data including, but not limited to the following: remote moderated & unmoderated interviews, diary studies, concept testing, online & in-store intercepts, and quantitative surveys. You will lead and follow through on synthesis and analysis of research findings – activating the insights gleaned through observations and interviews and identifying key insights and opportunity areas for growth. You will collaborate on democratizing our evaluative research and teaching team members to do interviews and synthesis. You will continue to grow and innovate in the use of current and emerging research techniques and tools. A Portfolio of research work is required for this role.

Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

About You:

• Four- year degree or equivalent work experience

• Master's degree or PhD in Anthropology, Sociology, Cognitive Science, Psychology or similar field, preferred

• 6 years of work experience in an innovation or growth research setting conducting both qualitative and quantitative research

• Ability to lead human-centered research in Exploratory, Generative, and Evaluative phases

• Strong ability to synthesize data and craft research insights

• Understanding of the strengths and shortcomings of different research methods, including when and how to apply them

• Ability to work cross-functionally and influence team direction, team members, and executive leaders

• Can teach and mentor team members to improve their evaluative research skills

• Hybrid only

• Travel <25%

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Target will provide reasonable accommodations (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with the application process upon your request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance in this application process, please visit your nearest Target store or Distribution Center or reach out to Guest Services at 1-800-440-0680 for additional information.