Ethnographer, Jigsaw

Minimum qualifications:

+ Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Statistics, Psychology, Anthropology, related field, or equivalent practical experience

+ 5 years of academic, UX, or applied research experience

+ 5 years experience with designing and executing research using various methods, including but not limited to ethnography in-depth interviews, focus groups, and other forms of qualitative analysis.

+ Experience conducting research with online populations such as subcultures and communities.

Preferred qualifications:

+ PhD in Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, or related fields.

+ Experience publishing academic papers and ethnographies.

+ Experience navigating ambiguity and developing multi-phase research strategies that anticipate how interdisciplinary research or product efforts may build on foundational ethnographic findings.

+ Ability to apply research to inform a diverse set of practical applications including products, which may draw on a mix of academic and industry experience.

+ Familiarity with conducting niche recruits for qualitative research and cultural competency engaging sensitively with a range of respondents.

+ Research interest and comfort with studying online user harms, adversarial online actors, misinformation, or other controversial content.

At Google, we follow a simple but vital premise: "Focus on the user and all else will follow." User Experience Researchers (UXRs) make this possible.

Google User Experience (UX) is made up of multi-disciplinary teams of UX Designers, Researchers, Writers, Content Strategists, Program Managers, and Engineers: we care deeply about the people who use our products. The UX team plays an integral part in gathering insights about the needs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors of people who use our products to inspire and inform design. We collaborate closely with each other and with engineering and product management to create industry-leading products that deliver value for the people who use them, and for Google’s businesses.

As a User Experience Researcher (UXR), you’ll help your team of UXers, product managers, and engineers understand user needs. You’ll work with stakeholders across functions and levels and have impact at all stages of product development. You’ll play a critical role in creating useful, usable, and delightful products. You’ll explore user behaviors and motivations by conducting primary research such as field studies, interviews, diary studies, participatory workshops, ethnography, surveys, usability testing, and logs analysis.

The UXR community at Google is unique and will help you do your best work. You’ll have the opportunity to work with and learn from UXRs across Google through regular meetups, mentor programs, and access to internal research tools.

The role will focus on qualitative research that informs products, policies, and peer organizations. You will scope and build research efforts with Jigsaw and Google teams, often in close partnership with academics, civil society, and representatives from affected communities.

Jigsaw (http://jigsaw.google.com/) is a unit within Google that explores threats to open societies and builds technology that inspires scalable solutions. Our team addresses a range of global security challenges including defending against digital attacks, mitigating the rise of online hate and harassment, countering extremism, and fighting censorship. Jigsaw offers mission-driven work within a nimble interdisciplinary team, connections to academia and civil society, and a quick path to taking technology public.

Because we believe the genAI era creates both an opportunity and an imperative to rethink our digital public square, we’re increasingly invested in technology to support democratic discourse.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $142,000-$211,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google (https://careers.google.com/benefits/) .

+ Develop research plans to gain deeper understanding of individuals involved in online harms (e.g., harassment, disinformation, extremism) as well as those involved in building more participatory, cohesive spaces online (e.g., peer correction, community moderation, and democratic deliberation).

+ Utilize various qualitative research methods, including but not limited to ethnography, in-depth interviews, focus groups, task-based exercises, or other forms of experimental qualitative analysis.

+ Design and execute original research, maintaining a commitment to research ethics with appropriate documentation, privacy safeguards, and, where relevant, external IRB and peer review.

+ Manage both original and commissioned research, including identifying partners, contracting, managing the budget, and overseeing deliverables with third-party experts and Google collaborators.

+ Drive Jigsaw’s storytelling by communicating research findings effectively to diverse audiences through written articles, peer-reviewed papers, and presentations.

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also https://careers.google.com/eeo/ and https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/OFCCP_EEO_Post.pdf If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form: https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2.