Sr. Research Manager, Design Research

Job description

At WHOOP, we’re on a mission to unlock human performance and healthspan. WHOOP empowers members to perform at a higher level through a deeper understanding of their bodies, behaviors, and daily lives. WHOOP is hiring a Senior Research Manager, Design Research to lead and scale critical research efforts across WHOOP Labs. This role will oversee Design Research, shaping how early-stage insights inform product innovation. As a people-first leader, you will balance strategic direction, team development, and hands-on contribution—ensuring research rigor and impact across the hardware development lifecycle. **RESPONSIBILITIES:** - Provide strategic leadership across design research, ensuring alignment with hardware, product, and organizational priorities. - Scale early-stage research initiatives, working closely with cross-functional leaders to identify opportunities for research and set expectations for mixed-methods research, ensuring research is positioned as a critical input to decision-making. - Partner closely with Program Management and team members to intake research needs, assess tradeoffs, and guide prioritization and research direction. - Manage, coach, and develop a team of senior researchers, fostering strong research craft, clear communication, and professional growth. - Serve as a senior individual contributor on complex, high-impact research initiatives, particularly those adjacent to physical product and hardware development. - Own relationships with external research vendors, including scoping projects, defining success criteria, and ensuring high-quality execution. - Communicate research insights clearly and credibly to cross-functional partners and leadership, positioning research as a critical input to decision-making. **QUALIFICATIONS:** - 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 experience conducting user research for physical products, ideally within hardware, health, or consumer product environments. - 2+ years of people management experience, including coaching, feedback, and performance development. - Strong mixed-methods research background, with demonstrated application of qualitative and quantitative approaches to real-world products. - Experience working within or alongside hardware development lifecycles (not software-only). - Experience managing or partnering with external research vendors, including project scoping and execution. - Ability to manage multiple workstreams, navigate ambiguity, and influence without direct authority across cross-functional teams. - Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate complex insights to executive audiences. - 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. *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.* *WHOOP is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in E-verify to determine employment eligibility. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.* *The WHOOP compensation philosophy is designed to attract, motivate, and retain exceptional talent by offering competitive base salaries, meaningful equity, and consistent pay practices that reflect our mission and core values.* *At WHOOP, we view total compensation as the combination of base salary, equity, and benefits, with equity serving as a key differentiator that aligns our employees with the long-term success of the company and allows every member of our corporate team to own part of WHOOP and share in the company’s long-term growth and success.* *The U.S. base salary range for this full-time position is $120,000 - $160,000. Salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within each range, individual pay is based on factors such as job-related skills, experience, performance, and relevant education or training.* *In addition to the base salary, the successful candidate will also receive benefits and a generous equity package.* *These ranges may be modified in the future to reflect evolving market conditions and organizational needs. While most offers will typically fall toward the starting point of the range, total compensation will depend on the candidate’s specific qualifications, expertise, and alignment with the role’s requirements.*