Lead Researcher, Tableau

Salesforce; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Lead Researcher to support Tableau, the world's leading AI-powered analytics platform. You will distill complex problems into insights that inform product, design, development and business decisions, with domain expertise in analytics and data storytelling.

You will work cross-functionally across engineering, product, and go-to-market teams, manage a customer advisory board, and contribute to events like Tableau Conference and Dreamforce.

Qualifications

• Experience distilling complex problems into actionable product insights.
• Familiarity with enterprise software and SaaS models.
• Proven ability to manage customer advisory boards and events.
• Experience with cross-functional research across product, design, development, and success teams.
• Knowledge of analytics topics: data prep, semantics, governance, storytelling.

Responsibilities

• Scope and drive full research initiatives from planning to execution.
• Synthesize findings into narratives that highlight business value.
• Partner with senior management across teams to align product strategy with insights.
• Manage externally-facing feedback programs and events with customers.
• Conduct strategic and evaluative research using mixed methods.
• Handle fast-paced projects with meticulous attention to timelines.

Skills

Mixed-methods research

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Data storytelling

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Generative AI understanding

Analytics domain knowledge

Job description

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.

Job Category

User Experience

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

Research & Insights (R&I) is a core function within the Experience organization, and a strategic partner to User Experience (UX) designers, product management, engineering, and go-to-market teams across Salesforce. We are passionate about understanding and solving our customers’ issues, using data-driven insights to create experiences that delight. We balance big-picture thinking with detailed craft, and we shape the future of Salesforce for the benefit of millions of end users.

Job Description

We are seeking a Lead Researcher to support Tableau, the world's leading AI-powered analytics platform. Tableau offers intuitive data experiences to help everyone see, understand, and act on their data. This role will shape the next generation of analytics capabilities and tackle complex challenges that our customers face with unlocking the value of data.

The researcher will distill complex problems into insights that inform product, design, development and business decisions. The ideal candidate will have domain expertise in analytics and one or more related topics such as semantics, data prep, data visualization, governance, and data storytelling. Candidates should also have some experience and understanding of Generative AI and related technologies.

This role will work cross-functionally across highly technical teams, helping to root strategy in action; manage collaborative efforts across multiple research initiatives; and focus on customer value above all else. This role will also manage a customer advisory board program, as well as our research presence at Salesforce events such as the Tableau Conference and Dreamforce.

We require familiarity with enterprise software, particularly “as-a-service,” and its evolving personas (e.g., Admins, Developers, Data Analysts, Business Users, CIOs, CDOs, CTOs). Candidates must have mixed-methods expertise, understanding how to leverage qualitative and quantitative approaches to distill complex problems into clear insights driving product and business strategy.

Sound like you? Then you're someone we want to work with! Join our amazing team and you'll get to work with some of the best and brightest. You'll find a culture focused on innovation, and the opportunity to deliver great experiences to millions of end-users. And, by the way, you’ll work for a company that has been named – 10 years running – in Fortune 100 Top Places to work.

Your Impact and Responsibilities

• Scope and drive full research initiatives, including planning, developing, and executing studies, managing stakeholders, triangulating data, and translating insights into actions.
• Synthesize research findings into actionable insights by creating narratives to frame problems and highlight the business value of recommended solutions.
• Proactively partner with senior management across cross-functional teams, including product, design, engineering, and customer success to identify and advocate for product strategy rooted in data and customer insights.
• Scope and drive externally-facing feedback programs and event activations with leaders from our customer organizations.
• Conduct strategic, generative, and evaluative research using the appropriate mix of research methods, from large-scale survey design to in-depth interviews.
• Work on fast-paced and oftentimes ambiguous projects and programs, requiring attention to detail and working within constrained timelines, by staying true to