Senior Staff Researcher

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Who we are:
Shape a brighter financial future with us.
Together with our members, we're changing the way people think about and interact with personal finance.
We're a next-generation financial services company and national bank using innovative, mobile-first technology to help our millions of members reach their goals. The industry is going through an unprecedented transformation, and we're at the forefront. We're proud to come to work every day knowing that what we do has a direct impact on people's lives, with our core values guiding us every step of the way. Join us to invest in yourself, your career, and the financial world.
The Role
Join our impactful team at SoFi as a Senior Staff Researcher, a senior-level position with the opportunity to drive research strategies that shape our product, design, and business decisions. As a trusted advisor and influential leader, you will take ownership of high-profile, complex research initiatives spanning multiple product areas and workstreams. You will partner closely with design, product, marketing, and engineering leaders to ensure we build solutions that prioritize our members' needs and deliver meaningful outcomes.
In this role, you'll plan and lead strategic, cross-functional research initiatives that address ambiguous, large-scale challenges. You are a principle-based problem solver with a mastery of research methodologies, enabling you to guide teams toward innovative, user-centered solutions. You have a demonstrated ability to influence leadership, set strategic priorities, and foster collaboration across organizational boundaries.
At SoFi, you'll become part of a new kind of finance company whose ambition is to help our members achieve financial independence and reach their goals. We aim to be at the center of our members' financial lives, and to help every member get their money right. To deliver that we have created a suite of products and services including credit score monitoring, banking, investing, credit cards, personal loans, student loans, home loans and more.
What you'll do:

• Lead complex research projects: Drive end-to-end research initiatives that address large-scale, ambiguous member needs and inform strategies across product areas.
• Collaborate cross-functionally: Partner with design, product, engineering, and marketing teams to prioritize research, align on objectives, and integrate findings into roadmaps.
• Communicate actionable insights: Deliver clear, impactful presentations to stakeholders and leadership, directly influencing priorities and decision-making.
• Develop reusable tools: Create durable artifacts like personas, journey maps, and frameworks that enable teams to consistently apply research insights.
• Mentor researchers: Provide guidance to team members, foster skill development, and play a key role in hiring and onboarding.
• Enhance alignment: Build trust with stakeholders, proactively aligning goals and ensuring shared accountability for outcomes.
• Drive organizational impact: Expand the influence of research across product areas by identifying opportunities, standardizing practices, and fostering a user-centric culture.

What you'll need:

• 10+ years of experience in applied product or design research, or a combination of advanced degrees (Master's or Ph.D.) with 8+ years of experience.
• Expertise in leading research across multiple product areas and workstreams, with demonstrated success in addressing ambiguous, complex challenges.
• Command of a wide range of research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative, with mastery in 1-2 areas.
• Proven ability to influence senior leadership and align cross-functional teams on strategic priorities.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to deliver insights in engaging and actionable ways for diverse audiences.
• Strong technical acumen and experience with advanced research tools (e.g., Qualtrics, Snowflake, SQL).
• Experience creating scalable research frameworks, assets, and artifacts (e.g., personas, journey maps).
• Bonus: Deep understanding of personal finance domains.

Compensation and Benefits
The base pay range for this role is listed below. Final base pay offer will be determined based on individual factors such as the candidate's experience, skills, and location.
To view all of our comprehensive and competitive benefits, visit our Benefits at SoFi page!
SoFi provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion (including religious dress and grooming practices), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, breastfeeding, and conditions related to breastfeeding), gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age (40 or over), physical or medical disability, medical condition, marital status, registered domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military and/or veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable state or federal law.
The Company hires the best qualified candidate for the job, without regard to protected characteristics.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
New York applicants: Notice of Employee Rights
SoFi is committed to embracing diversity. As part of this commitment, SoFi offers reasonable accommodations to candidates with physical or mental disabilities. If you need accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, please let your recruiter know or email [email protected].
Due to insurance coverage issues, we are unable to accommodate remote work from Hawaii or Alaska at this time.
Internal Employees
If you are a current employee, do not apply here - please navigate to our Internal Job Board in Greenhouse to apply to our open roles.