Research Lead, New AI Products & Platforms

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for.

Mission Overview & Responsibilities:

We are looking for a Research Lead with a passion for ensuring that reader-centric insights are at the heart of the product development process. You will lead a variety of end-to-end research projects that drive strategy for the New A.I. Products and Platforms (NAPP) Mission. You will work with a cross-functional digital product team, including Product, Design, Editorial, Engineering and Marketing. You will report to the Managing Director of News Products and Audience Insights at The New York Times.

The mission of the New York Times Audience Insights team is to help The Times grow by understanding our audience. The Audience Insights team is centralized team of researchers working with teams across The New York Times. We utilize product, human-centered design, innovation, market and UX research, and we draw from principles in the social sciences (Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology and Behavioral Economics).

This is a hybrid role based in our New York City office.

Responsibilities:

• Lead a human-centered design approach for Products teams, inspiring colleagues to build innovative product features grounded in user needs to drive NAPP and company goals.

• Use research-based insights and GenAI tools for rapid prototype iteration.

• Own evaluation for quality and editorial integrity: Create frameworks to assess the success of A.I. prototypes and products.

• Build innovative solutions using AI tools to support certain parts of the research process.

• Champion A.I. innovation and ethics: Stay up to date with industry trends, new research methodologies, LLM advancements, and emerging technologies. Champion the ethical and responsible use of AI, ensuring our tools uphold our standards of accuracy and objectivity.

• Complement research with behavioral data, proprietary and industry research, and A/B testing results to provide a holistic view of our users.

• Work with Audience Insights researchers across News Product, Marketing, Cooking, Wirecutter, The Athletic and Games to identify opportunities to collaborate and avoid duplicative product work.

• Manage external research vendors to support moderation, fieldwork, and analysis, ensuring high-quality and efficient project execution.

• Contribute to the collaborative culture of Audience Insights and the NAPP Mission; help The New York Times understand, and build empathy for, our audiences.

• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.

Basic Qualifications:

• 8+ years of research and insights experience.

• Experience researching chat interfaces or GenAI search tools and using a range of GenAI tools and features in your work.

• Experience moderating qualitative research and facilitating brainstorms and workshops with cross-functional partners.

• Mastery of a range of research methods . These methods include participatory design, in-person and remote interviews, ethnographies, co-creation, and user-initiated feedback tools. Additionally, surveys, card-sorting, and usability studies are also part of the range.

• Experience executing qualitative and quantitative research and selecting the right approach based on the problem to be solved.

• Experience synthesizing complex findings into compelling narratives and visualize insights for diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience conducting research for early-stage 0-1 product development, helping teams identify opportunities, validate concepts, and shape new product experiences.

• Experience working in rapid prototyping environments, using research to inform iterative product development and experimentation.

• Experience building alignment among cross-functional stakeholders, including Product, Design, Engineering, Editorial, and Marketing partners.

• Experience presenting to stakeholders, senior management, and fellow researchers.

• A deep curiosity about the role of AI in shaping the future of information, media, and journalism.

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The annual base pay range for this role is between:

$140,000—$155,000 USD

For roles in the U.S., dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.

For roles outside of the U.S., information on benefits will be provided during the interview process.

We’re excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process.

If you’re an Engineering candidate, we’ll let you know what specific GenAI tools you are permitted to use for your technical assessment.

The New York Times Company is committed to being the world’s best source of independent, reliable and quality journalism. To do so, we embrace a diverse workforce that has a broad range of backgrounds and experiences across our ranks, at all levels of the organization. We encourage people from all  backgrounds to apply.

We are  an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics.  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s Know Your Rights Poster is available here.

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