Lead Researcher, Tableau

Lead Researcher

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.

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.

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 Dream force.

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.

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 scope and focusing on end goals and outcomes.
• Shepherd the integration of AI tools (e.g., Claude, Gemini) to accelerate the research lifecycle. You'll be responsible for separating "AI noise" from meaningful signals, validating AI-generated outputs for accuracy, and crafting interactive prototypes, dashboards, and research workflows with AI tooling.
• Ethical Stewardship:
  Maintain the highest data integrity and ethical research standards, particularly as we navigate the complexities of AI bias, privacy, and "ethical imagination" in product development.
• Contribute to our broader Research & Insights organization through mentorship, cultivating and teaching craft and methodology, and facilitating deep collaboration across individuals and teams

Minimum Requirements

• 7+ years of hands-on experience in UX, product design, or technology research, with at least 2 years in a large, matrixed organization.
• AI Fluency: A working grasp of how AI systems fail and learn. You know when to deploy AI for efficiency and when the "human in the loop" is non-negotiable.
• Advanced understanding of research methods (qualitative and quantitative) and best practices, and familiarity with a broad range of user research tools
• Proven track record influencing product direction and strategy with actionable insights
• Ability to plan, design, execute and communicate both strategic and tactical research engagements
• Ability to structure and lead internal and external workshops and analyze the outcomes to provide insight for stakeholders
• Experience working in…