Associate Director of Design Research

Join WHOOP, a company dedicated to unlocking human performance and healthspan. As the Associate Director of Design Research, you will lead and scale the Design Research practice, shaping how user feedback and experiences inform product innovation. You will provide strategic leadership for the design research team, evangelize the importance of user insights, and manage relationships with external research vendors. This role offers a competitive salary, flexible vacation, paid parental leave, stock options, and a complimentary WHOOP membership.

• Strategic leadership for the design research team, ensuring alignment with key stakeholders and organizational priorities.
• Scaling research impact by working closely with cross-functional leaders to identify opportunities for research and set expectations for mixed-methods research.
• Managing, coaching, and developing a team of design researchers, fostering strong research craft, clear communication, and professional growth.

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate complex insights to executive audiences
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams, navigate ambiguity, and influence without direct authority across cross-functional teams
• 5+ years of experience conducting user research for physical products, ideally within hardware, health, or consumer product environments
• Experience working within or alongside hardware development lifecycles (not software-only)
• 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
• 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 people management experience, including coaching, feedback, and performance development
• Experience managing or partnering with external research vendors, including project scoping and execution
• Strong mixed-methods research background, with demonstrated application of qualitative and quantitative approaches to real-world products
• Interested in the role, but don’t meet every qualification? We encourage you to still apply! At WHOOP, we believe there is much more to a candidate than what is written on paper, and we value character as much as experience. As we continue to build a diverse and inclusive environment, we encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply