Principal, Researcher

Position Summary

At Sam’s Club, we’re committed to being the membership you love the most. The Sam's Club Experience Strategy and Innovation team crafts compelling experiences wherever we meet our members and associates—from our clubs to their businesses, and to their homes. We deliver impact for the business through the web, apps, in-club experiences and associate-facing tools.

In this role, we need your strategic Design Research expertise and leadership to shape, inform, and support key initiatives throughout the Sam’s Club organization while growing organizational empathy and research capability. From day one, you will rely on your interpersonal strengths and your ability to lead with creativity, strategic and systems thinking. You are the right fit if you have experience mentoring and coaching a team of cross‑functional stakeholders and junior researchers in developing the art and science of research design and high‑quality insight creation.

You are a compelling storyteller and communicator, with the skillset of turning data and insights into a captivating narrative to guide decision makers and influence direction. Principal level researchers balance hands‑on research with stakeholder engagement and are accountable for ensuring their research drives meaningful value and measurable impact.

As a Principal Design Researcher, you will deliver high‑impact, actionable insights that shape a holistic experience strategy for our members and associates. You are a master storyteller—transforming complex data into clear, compelling narratives. You will facilitate workshops to help teams define the right problem to solve, frame opportunity areas, and collaborate with stakeholders to define research goals. You are an expert at selecting the right research methodologies, making sense of the data, and translating findings into actionable‑frameworks, narratives, and engaging research presentations (bonus if you have video editing skills).

You will partner closely with interdisciplinary teams, including business stakeholders to influence decisions, build aligned visions, and drive measurable business outcomes. Your work will connect strategic opportunities—anticipating needs and aspirations of our associates and members—to the creation and deployment of future‑state experiences  are a great fit if you have a passion for applied research—blending qualitative and quantitative approaches to inform strategy across every phase of design, from discovery to implementation and optimization.

• Research Strategy & Problem Framing:
  Identify opportunity spaces, define research priorities, and shape initiatives by connecting business needs, user insights, and future trends.
• End-to-End Research Leadership:
  Lead complex research efforts from design through execution—applying the right mix of qualitative and quantitative methods across discovery, evaluation, and optimization.
• Synthesis & Insight Development:
  Translate data into clear frameworks, narratives, and actionable insights that inform product, service, and experience strategy.
• Storytelling & Influence:
  Communicate research in compelling, business‑relevant ways that drive alignment, guide decision‑making, and connect insights to outcomes and KPIs.
• Stakeholder Partnership & Alignment:
  Collaborate with cross‑functional teams and senior leaders to define direction, influence strategy, and ensure research is embedded throughout the design process.
• Human‑Centered Design Leadership:
  Champion human‑centered design, systems thinking, and service design—facilitating workshops and co‑creation sessions that bring teams closer to member and associate needs.
• Research Craft & Standards:
  Elevate research quality by defining best practices, ensuring methodological rigor, and mentoring others in the art and science of research.

• Deep Research Expertise: 8+ years of experience in UX, CX, or Service Design Research, with a strong command of mixed methods across the full product and experience lifecycle.
• Strategic & Systems Thinking:
  Ability to connect research insights to broader business strategy, identifying patterns, opportunities, and long‑term…