Motional is looking for a Senior Human Factors Researcher to help us deliver a superior product and user experience for our robotaxi service. You will apply a deep understanding of human factors principles and experimental study design to measure and improve user and system performance.

Topics you will explore may include, but not be limited to, motion comfort, vehicle behaviors, and other aspects of our robotaxi passenger experience.

You should be comfortable leveraging secondary research and experimental design best practices to innovate and apply new methods, as well as identifying, applying, or developing measures for key aspects that will work within the Motional use case. You should be able to identify and articulate what stimuli is needed to conduct a study and, at times, create/build it yourself.

In addition to conducting forward-looking, metrics-based research, you will lead the planning and facilitation of concept and usability testing, in a fast-paced agile environment. The latter will involve a mix of simulation, track, and on-road testing, primarily at our offices in Boston and Las Vegas.

We are open to hiring remotely in the United States. Please note that this position may require 20-30% travel per year (primarily to Las Vegas and Boston).

Please submit your resume, and at least 3 projects that best represent your capabilities, skills and interests.

The Motional global headquarters are located at 100 Northern Avenue in Boston, MA. Nestled in the bustling Seaport district with sweeping views of Boston Harbor and downtown Boston, the offices are located close to major transit lines and a quick walk to various restaurants and popular attractions.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead human factors research activities across one or more product spaces (e.g. motion comfort, vehicle behaviors, passenger HMI) and topics (e.g. human task performance, experience design and validation, cognitive or physical ergonomics)
• Partner with Engineering and Product teams to design and develop experiments to test hypotheses, iterate and implement changes in new and existing products to improve performance and reduce risk
• Communicate the methods, findings, and data-motivated design and engineering recommendations to stakeholders at the project, organizational, and leadership level
• Partner with qualitative user researchers to help quantify their insights and develop new ones
• Leverage biometrics and other tools to gain insight into user behavior and performance
• Create and execute quarterly research roadmaps that demonstrate a deep understanding of user needs and organizational priorities
• Deliver detailed and actionable research findings to help shape our product strategy, vision, and roadmap
• Partner closely with designers, engineers, and product managers to develop research questions, deliverables, and design recommendations
• Apply strong problem solving, prioritization, and project management skills
• Analyze current product processes to continually identify areas for efficiencies and improvements
• Foster the growth & development of more junior researchers as our team grows and expands
• Help define how users will interact with the future of mobility!

What we're looking for:

• Master's in Human Factors, Human Computer Interaction, Experimental Psychology, Statistics, or related field
• 8+ years professional experience in an quantitative and/or behavior-focused research role
• Demonstrated ability delivering results in a fast-paced, agile environment, within a cross-functional team of product managers, designers, engineers, etc.
• Deep knowledge of experimental design and human performance measurement
• Exceptional communication, relationship building, and data storytelling skills
• Ability to explain and justify recommendations to different levels within an organization, including c-level executives
• Strong understanding of UX research and design, as well as hardware/software engineering processes
• Ability to be flexible and inventive, using non-traditional approaches to conduct research, given our product space

Bonus points (not required):

• Ph.D. in Human Factors, Human Computer Interaction, Experimental Psychology, Statistics, or related field
• Experience working in the autonomous vehicle or automotive industry

Why you should join us:

This role offers the opportunity to work on extremely challenging problems that haven't been solved at scale. We're looking for someone excited to tackle problems such as – how do we make a person feel comfortable with riding in a car that's driving itself? How can we manage a fleet of robotic vehicles moving around a city? How do we make vehicles accessible without a human to help? Our team is driven, not afraid, to solve problems like this.

Motional's Product Team, where this role sits, is at the forefront of setting the vision for our products – from the experience of riding in an autonomous vehicle, to how to manage a fleet, to how roads are mapped, and more. We lead with a user-focused mindset, and as a Quantitative Researcher, you'll have a direct impact in shaping the strategic direction of our company, and the future of mobility as a whole.

Lastly, while autonomous vehicles have been around for years, we are finally bringing this technology to market at scale. With over 100,000 public autonomous rides, and partnerships with major ride hailing players, a role at Motional offers the chance to drive the next revolution in mobility.

Work Environment:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to convey and
  detect communication
• The employee is occasionally required to remain stationary at times for up to 50% of working
  time, move in designated working areas; & operate and use office equipment
• The employee must occasionally move up to 50 pounds