Director, Qualitative Research and Survey Science , PXT Central Science (PXTCS)

Amazon; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon is seeking a Director of Qualitative Research and Survey Science within the PXT Central Science group. You will own the qualitative research practice, set research strategy, and deliver findings directly to senior leadership on a tight timeline.

This role partners with quantitative leaders to fuse qualitative insights with survey data into one actionable narrative that informs talent strategy at scale.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading mixed-methods research that informs senior leadership decisions.
• Strong leadership experience managing scientists and researchers.
• Ability to design integrated research strategies across qualitative and survey methods.
• Exceptional communication with executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Identify workforce challenges not yet named by leaders and align with quantitative science.
• Develop creative, rigorous qualitative and survey approaches to measure unobserved changes.
• Represent work in senior leader forums and translate findings into actionable decisions.
• Maintain and elevate the science behind the employee survey program with cross-team coordination.
• Provide guidance on qualitative and survey methods to ensure consistency across PXT.
• Run the practice like an operation, prioritizing high-impact questions.
• Lead through managers and develop a team of qualitative researchers and survey scientists.

Skills

Mixed-methods leadership

Executive communication

Research strategy

People leadership

Job description

Description

PXT Central Science (PXTCS) builds the analytical foundations that shape how Amazon attracts, develops, and retains talent at a scale no other company operates. Our models and research directly influence decisions affecting over a million employees worldwide, from compensation and attrition strategy to employee engagement and workforce planning

PXT Central Science (PXTCS) builds the analytical foundations that shape how Amazon attracts, develops, and retains talent at a scale no other company operates. Our models and research directly influence decisions affecting over a million employees worldwide, from compensation and attrition strategy to employee engagement and workforce planning
The Director of Qualitative Research and Survey Science owns the qualitative user research practice for People eXperience and Technology Central Science (PXTCS) and leads the science behind Amazon's state-of-the-art employee surveys, setting the standard for how Amazon measures what its employees are experiencing. The questions that matter most in this role are the ones numbers alone cannot settle, and that often run ahead of demand — identifying the challenges leaders will face before they ask, and building the methods to address them. How is the culture changing as the company evolves? What are employees experiencing that no metric on a dashboard captures? Where are employee concerns emerging that have not yet shown up in any data? These factors drive business outcomes, resist clean quantification, and require creative, mixed-methods approaches to address.
Doing this well starts with knowing what Amazon's leaders are contending with. You will be a voice in senior leader forums, learning firsthand which people problems are hardest and judging which of them research can move. From there, you will design the approach, working in close partnership with the quantitative research leaders in PXTCS, so that qualitative work, survey measurement, and quantitative analysis combine into one answer rather than three separate ones. You will deliver findings directly to senior leadership, on the timeline the decision requires, framed as actions those leaders can take. You will be a strategic advisor to PXT leaders on what aspects of the employee experience Amazon can and should measure, how much.

• Identify the workforce challenges senior leaders have not yet named, and partner with quantitative science leaders to build a mixed-methods research agenda that addresses them.
• Develop and apply creative, technically rigorous qualitative and survey approaches that measure changes in the workforce that are not captured by quantitative data.
• Represent this work in senior leader forums, translating findings into decisions leaders can act on.
• Maintain and raise the bar on the science behind Amazon's employee survey program, coordinating with senior leaders across Amazon so survey content delivers actionable insights for their businesses.
• Provide guidance on qualitative and survey methods to teams across PXT, so employee research across Amazon meets a consistent standard.
• Run the practice as an operation — set the intake and prioritization mechanisms and manage a stakeholder portfolio across PXT, so the team's capacity goes to the questions that matter most.
• Lead through managers, building and developing a team of qualitative researchers and survey scientists.

About The Team

PXT Central Science is Amazon's people-science R&D organization. We develop causal inference methods, predictive models, and decision-support tools that operate at the intersection of economics, machine learning, and organizational science. Our work spans employee experience, workforce planning, compensation, talent acquisition, and employee relations — always grounded in rigorous methodology and always aimed at real-world impact.

Basic Qualifications

• Demonstrated track record of leading mixed-methods research that directly influenced senior leadership decisions.
• 10+ years of qualitative and/or survey research experience, including 5+ years leading research organizations.
• Working knowledge of both qualitative and survey research methods, with the depth to set research strategy, design integrated mixed-methods approaches, evaluate the rigor of the team's work, and know when to bring in deeper expertise.
• Experience leading through managers, and managing or mentoring senior scientists and qualitative researchers.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience owning a recurring measurement or survey program in production, with results delivered to business decision-makers.
• Depth in survey science — questionnaire design and validation, sampling, and the measurement properties of survey instruments — sufficient to judge whether a survey supports the conclusions drawn from it.
• Experience in people analytics, labor economics, employee relations, or HR-adjacent research domains.
• Comfort operating in highly ambiguous environments where problem definition is part of the work.
• Thought leadership in how organizations measure themselves, whether through publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences or through shaping the measurement practice of a large organization.

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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