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Sr. Research Manager, Design Research

BostonOn-siteFull-time

AI Summary

Lead and scale design research efforts at WHOOP Labs, shaping early-stage insights into product innovation and guiding hardware development through strategic research leadership.

About this role

At WHOOP, we’re on a mission to unlock human performance and healthspan. WHOOP empowers members to perform at a higher level through a deeper understanding of their bodies, behaviors, and daily lives.

WHOOP is hiring a Senior Research Manager, Design Research to lead and scale critical research efforts across WHOOP Labs. This role will oversee Design Research, shaping how early-stage insights inform product innovation. As a people-first leader, you will balance strategic direction, team development, and hands-on contribution—ensuring research rigor and impact across the hardware development lifecycle.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Provide strategic leadership across design research, ensuring alignment with hardware, product, and organizational priorities.
  • Scale early-stage research initiatives, working closely with cross-functional leaders to identify opportunities for research and set expectations for mixed-methods research, ensuring research is positioned as a critical input to decision-making.
  • Partner closely with Program Management and team members to intake research needs, assess tradeoffs, and guide prioritization and research direction.
  • Manage, coach, and develop a team of senior researchers, fostering strong research craft, clear communication, and professional growth.
  • Serve as a senior individual contributor on complex, high-impact research initiatives, particularly those adjacent to physical product and hardware development.
  • Own relationships with external research vendors, including scoping projects, defining success criteria, and ensuring high-quality execution.
  • Communicate research insights clearly and credibly to cross-functional partners and leadership, positioning research as a critical input to decision-making.

    • QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as human factors, design research, user experience research, design anthropology, psychology, or a related discipline.
  • 5+ years of experience conducting user research for physical products, ideally within hardware, health, or consumer product environments.
  • 2+ years of people management experience, including coaching, feedback, and performance development.
  • Strong mixed-methods research background, with demonstrated application of qualitative and quantitative approaches to real-world products.
  • Experience working within or alongside hardware development lifecycles (not software-only).
  • Experience managing or partnering with external research vendors, including project scoping and execution.
  • Ability to manage multiple workstreams, navigate ambiguity, and influence without direct authority across cross-functional teams.
  • Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate complex insights to executive audiences.
  • Strong commitment to embracing and leveraging AI tools in day-to-day tasks, ensuring AI-assisted work aligns with the same high-quality standards as personal contributions.

    • Skills

    AI ToolsExternal Research VendorsHardware Development LifecycleMixed-methods ResearchProduct ResearchQualitative ResearchQuantitative ResearchUser Research

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