Head of Insight & Innovation - Sonder
Sonder is looking for a leader in Human Centered Design to develop the future of hospitality. Taking a stance that design is one of the key features of a stay in one of their spaces, this team member will be responsible for the research and development behind Sonder’s newest built environment projects. Click here to apply or read more about the position below:
About The Job
A better way to stay
Sonder is on a mission to revolutionize hospitality, through design and technology, and make a world of better stays open to all. Our idea was born from the simple belief that hotels are unremarkable, homeshares are unreliable, and that there’s a better way to stay. A way that provides better choice, freedom, and reliability, powered by boundless creativity, and breathtaking technology.
Founded in 2014, we now operate thousands of spaces across 35 cities, 8 countries and 3 continents, with each space purposefully selected, tastefully designed and painstakingly managed by Sonder. Whether your stay is two days, two months or two years, in one of our rooms, suites, or apartments, we ensure a unique, yet consistent experience. Our innovative app empowers guests by making self-service features and 24/7 on-the-ground support just a tap away. From simple self check-in to boutique bathroom amenities, we bring the best of a hotel without any of the stuffy formality. And by innovating away the friction of traditional hospitality, we’re able to pass the savings onto our guests to make a world of better stays open to all.
Design & Experience At Sonder
The Design and Experience group at Sonder are responsible for the strategy and design execution of all elements of our guest and staff experience—from the physical (e.g. IRL collateral) to the digital (e.g. our websites and apps), and inclusive of brand identity and marketing collateral.
While research has existed within other functions at Sonder, the creation of this role marks the beginning of a centralized team within the Design & Experience group. Combining both qual and quant research with design thinking and strategy, this team will become an insight engine that will help set the vision, and drive the development of our products, services and experiences. They will work in partnership with design, product, brand, engineering, analytics, marketing, and CX, and will be committed to these partnerships as the foundational prerequisite for knowledge creation.
Head of Insight & Innovation
We are looking for a passionate design leader to join our diverse global team to establish an inhouse insight & innovation function. You will have a builder mindset, and have experience successfully evangelizing for the power of data-driven insight with a diverse set of stakeholders across the company.
You will become an authority on (and voice of) our guest, owning segmentation and sponsoring research studies that will provide strategic insights into their lives and experiences that will help us better understand needs and wants. You thrive on interdisciplinary teams and can pose high-level strategic questions and guide research and insight generation at all stages of the market & product lifecycle.
As a talented mentor, you are curious about how people work together and want to empower your team to create, share, and collaborate better together. You believe that research has the greatest impact when influencing product, design, marketing, and executive business decisions. You help your team transform research results into actionable insights for our guests and our business.
This role will report into the VP of Design & Experience.
At Sonder you will…
Establish research and strategy as an essential contributor to Sonder, and enabler of design and experience innovation
Work cross-functionally with product, design, marketing, and business to identify research needs and priorities
Set research priorities and design research plans combining state of the art methods to uncover meaningful insights
Hands-on execution of insight initiatives with minimal outsourcing to 3rd party vendors
Run research programs on budget and time from large and extensive to small and nimble
Support product and design team to uncover opportunity spaces and implied strategies
Support marketing team with understanding new markets and how to position and talk about our offering
Support product design and brand creative teams to gain ongoing feedback on design concepts
Manage and prioritize research projects across a wide array of research needs i.e. ethnographies, segmentations, user testing, etc.
Represent the voice of customer and inspire across the company with user insights
Facilitate Human Centered Design (‘HCD’) workstreams, including journey mapping and concept prototyping
Cultivate user centeredness across the organization
What we look for…
Extensive relevant experience in a professional environment, preferably in a startup and/or scale up company (with extra points for hospitality experience)
Well versed in taking an empathetic, human-centered approach to research and interpretation thereof
Knowledgeable in a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods
Experienced in driving a HCD approach
Instinct for minimum research methods to cut back from the ideal best practices if needed
Strong at analysis to derive findings and synthesis / interpretation towards relevant insights
Strong and inspiring storytelling, data visualization, and presentation skills
Passionate about all types of ‘users’—from ‘guests’ to internal staff who we also design for
Self driven and organized with attention to detail
Experienced in people management and training on design research best practices
Experienced directing outside vendors
We proudly offer…
Competitive salary
Generous stock option plan
Medical, dental and vision insurance
Unlimited vacation
Annual free credits and discounts to stay in Sonders
A company with a huge vision, a dynamic work environment, and a team of smart, ambitious and fun to work-with colleagues!