In December 2020, Airbnb launched Airbnb.org, a new nonprofit organization that builds on a long history of connecting people in times of crisis to safe, comfortable places to stay. This work began at Airbnb in 2012, when a Host named Shell reached out wanting to offer her home for free to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy in New York City. Since then, Airbnb—and now Airbnb.org—has partnered with Hosts, nonprofit organizations, emergency management agencies and governments to provide stays to people around the world in times of crisis. After 8 years of learnings and experience providing temporary housing to 75,000 refugees, asylum seekers and people displaced by disaster or other crises across 104 countries, Airbnb.org also announced a series of commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion in April 2021 .

As the UX research lead at Airbnb.org, you will be collaborating closely with a team of designers, engineers, product operations specialists, partnership managers and other cross-functional partners to support the development, scaling and impact of our emergency housing program. Your research will be focused on both the online and offline experiences of the product among a wide range of stakeholders including non-profit partners, hosts, and guests. 

Responsibilities will include

• Lead and mentor a team of UX researchers in planning and coordinating the execution of research projects.
• Lead foundational studies to identify product opportunities and shape decisions from definition to post-launch evaluation and iteration, working at both a strategic and tactical level.
• Identify potential research ideas in an ongoing fashion in order to design for product and program improvements.
• Bring insights about our various stakeholders and users to the team by using a variety of methods including ethnographic field research, surveys, interviews, participatory design, diary studies, usability studies, and others.
• Partner with Design, Product, Engineering, Data Science, Programs, Community, and Customer Support teams to build in research at multiple stages of the product and policy development process.
• Lead purposeful relationship-building with a wide array of partners and other research teams.
• Facilitate the participation of non-research team members to be active members of your research process.
• Share findings by leveraging storytelling, visualizing data, telling stories, and creating experiences.
• Bring together qualitative and quantitative approaches, ensuring a data-driven approach to strategic decision making.
• Ensure Airbnb.org research is represented to Core Research Organization through roadmaps, research meetings, and other relevant touch points.
• Manage research budget and access to research tools.

Qualifications

• 5+ years industry experience or equivalent experience
• Passion working with or for non-profit or humanitarian causes
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis
• Experience managing projects involving cross-functional teams
• Record of discovering, synthesizing, and socializing actionable insights that have influenced products
• Experience with SQL, ETL, data analysis

The starting base pay for this role is between $124,000 and $156,000. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: education, experience, and skills. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, benefits, and Employee Travel Credits.