Director, Research Infrastructure

Our UX Research team is positioned to define the path in how people work at Meta, which requires us to deeply understand the behaviors and outcomes of the product experiences we build within Meta's Infrastructure. Meta UX researchers tackle some of the most complex challenges to gain deeper insights into how people interact with each other, the tools and products that power the company to connect the world as well as work collaboratively to contribute new ideas to products that impact the experiences of billions of people on a global scale.

We employ a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to accomplish our goals, including surveys, focus groups, foundational & field studies, usability tests, and 1:1 interviews. We value a diverse range of perspectives and stem from many different backgrounds- geographically, culturally, educationally, philosophically. We come from industry and academia, with roots in anthropology, design research, economics, HCI, human factors, market research, political science, sociology, social computing, and social psychology, among others.

Meta is looking for an experienced research leader with seasoned research, communication and people management skills. The successful candidate has a proven track record of translating research into product decisions. It's not enough to answer interesting questions about user behavior; our team focuses on impact.

You will oversee a team of world-class researchers across multiple research disciplines. The successful candidate must be an expert researcher who can generate and socialize insights that impact the strategy and product roadmaps of complex and diverse products. The role also requires a proven track record of building and managing high-performing teams, preferably with researchers of different disciplines.

Candidates must be able to articulate the vision of the team to cross-functional partners and be a strong advocate for the role of research in product development. We enable building better infrastructure and world class tooling, to unlock, deliver, and maintain state-of-the-art Developer, Data and AI tools. In service of this vision we partner with countless cross-functional partners across dozens of tools, services and frameworks.

It's our role as designers and researchers to ensure the solutions we create are deeply thoughtful, human and responsible. As a research leader this means leveraging your craft and skills as a proven leader to lead an organization of researchers who can produce insights that teams can take action on; and stories that our range of partners can comprehend. We take extra care and attention into our research methods, research execution, and synthesis - because in the end, these insights guide action that support our bottom line and impact billions of users lives.

Director, Research Infrastructure Responsibilities

• Manage a research area with broad scope in size and complexity

Manage multiple research managers and ICs across multiple broad initiatives

Identify ways to elevate and uplevel Research with product leadership

Influence and drive strategy

calls out risks and opportunities across multiple teams

Consider factors beyond your immediate team to innovate, take appropriate risks, and balance short, medium, and long-term needs

Identify gaps and solutions for future growth and scale within the org, including system, product, function, partnership, culture and/or organization opportunities

Responsible for the quality of the team, including coaching, growing ICs and managers and addressing under-performance

Responsible for developing a cohesive and strong leadership team of managers

Be a role model for inclusive behaviors and build a diverse organization that values, respects and taps into different backgrounds and perspectives

Understands org health (engagement, retention, feedback)

effectively diagnose and make recommendations to solve complex issues that may span multiple teams

Communicate team purpose, contribution, and how it fits in with the broader mission of the company

Make the company better through engaging in cross-company efforts like recruiting, XFNs, diversity & inclusion, or site initiatives

Actively recruit and close top tier talent to fill strategic open positions for both IC and management roles beyond your immediate organization

Drive team execution, culture, and process across the FB research community, broader FB community and/or externally

Form internal partnerships, influence, resolve conflict, build alignment, and work effectively across teams and disciplines throughout the company to execute the strategy

Proactively identify the largest problems impacting your team's execution and effectively resolve and manage dependencies

Identify relevant metrics and track trends to report progress relative to goals. (E.g., team health, research impact, product goals)

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or significant experience conducting UX research with meaningful business impact
  18+ years of experience conducting and/or studying research post-Bachelor's degree

8+ years directly managing, coaching and developing full-time researchers

5+ years experience managing managers

Have directly managed across different research methodologies

Experience directly conducting primary research (either qualitative or quantitative) end-to-end (i.e., designing, fielding, analyzing and reporting out data)

Experience building teams over time through hiring, growing, and retaining high-performing researchers

Experience building and setting research strategy that connects with business strategy

Track record of translating research into business impact

Experience working with a variety of cross-functional peers and stakeholders (e.g., product managers, data scientists, designers, engineers, policy, communications, marketing)

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree

Experience with consumer products, consumer insights, or product development

5+ years of UX research experience

An understanding of developer tooling and the software development process

AI/ML foundational knowledge, both in tooling and model management

Locations

About Meta

Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect.

Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. People who choose to build their careers by building with us at Meta help shape a future that will take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today-beyond the constraints of screens, the limits of distance, and even the rules of physics.

Meta is committed to providing reasonable support (called accommodations) in our recruiting processes for candidates with disabilities, long term conditions, mental health conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require pregnancy-related support. If you need support, please reach out to accommodations-ext@fb.com.

$239,000/year to $308,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits

Individual pay is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity or sales incentives, if applicable.

In addition to base salary, Meta offers benefits. Learn more about benefits at Meta.