Sr. Researcher - Mixed Methods

Sr. Researcher

Kiavi, formerly known as LendingHome, is one of the largest lenders to real estate investors in the United States. With Kiavi’s technology platform and innovative financing solutions, real estate investors are empowered to make informed decisions, close deals faster, and realize the full potential of their real estate investment strategies.

The Team 

Founded in 2013, Kiavi is committed to helping customers revitalize approximately $25 trillion worth of aged U.S. housing stock and provide move-in ready homes and rental housing for millions of Americans across the country.  We have funded $7.8 billion dollars worth of loans across about 35,000+ projects, becoming one of the nation's largest bridge loan lenders. 

Combining our technology and industry expertise, Kiavi has grown to a team of over 400 and has won many awards over the years including Forbes Fintech 50, Finovate Awards: Best Digital Mortgage Platform, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and many more. 

 

Loans funded: More than $7.8 billion

Geography: Lends in 27 states plus Washington, D.C., which account for more than 80% of the nation’s real estate market

Homes financed: About 35,000

Principal and interest returned to investors: More than $5.18 billion

Employees: Over 400 employees

This position can be based anywhere in the United States—remote or in-office. Our hybrid distributed workforce philosophy allows us to find the best talent in the country and build diverse teams, while allowing our colleagues to work from the location that works best for them. For those who prefer to work in-office, we have locations in San Francisco and Pittsburgh. We also plan to use these spaces to bring together teammates to drive creativity and innovation.

The Role

Kiavi is looking to hire our first multidisciplinary researcher who will help define the future direction and growth of the research organization and company while working to shape the future of real estate investing. You’ll own the entire research process from end to end, working remotely but closely with a collaborative and highly driven team who obsess over our customers, support each other, and get work done. We’re looking for someone who is dedicated to leading our research efforts across user experience and marketing while creating and owning the research roadmap for both areas. You'll work closely with Marketing, Design, Product Management, Strategy, and Engineering teams to help define our customers, educate our organization, refine designs, and uncover issues.

As our first research hire, you will be the founding team member of our research organization. Reporting to the Head of Product or the Chief Marketing Officer (depending on your experience) you will be working alongside designers, marketing managers, and product managers you'll plan and conduct qualitative and quantitative research studies, synthesize findings, and share those findings with partners. This role requires deep functional expertise, excellent leadership skills, and the ability to hit the ground running. You will help the team solve complex problems that will scale for multiple customer targets.

Responsibilities

• Take the lead for research tasks; develop and own the research roadmap for our internal and customer-facing products.
• Understand customers’ needs and mental models through UX research, market analysis, metrics, and feedback mechanisms.
• Lead insights across the customer journey focused on informing marketing and product strategy for both current and new product/service/go-to-market innovation
• Own the NPS measurement for the company in order to establish a comprehensive understanding of themes at key moments in the customer journey, ensuring the company keeps a pulse on customer pain points and needs
• Generate ongoing brand tracking, quantitative, qualitative, and competitive insights, in partnership with Analytics, Product, Design and Product Marketing that translates into actionable business plans
• Partner with Product Marketing to inform both positioning and messaging used to shape product and external partnerships
• Partner with cross-functional teams (including Marketing, Product Management, Design, Customer Support, Data Science, Brand, and Communications) to proactively identify, prioritize, plan, and execute high-impact research initiatives.
• Synthesize and communicate your findings and recommendations across the company using innovative and creative approaches.
• Drive the research process for internal teams and present research findings that drive product and marketing decisions.
• Advocate for UX research and educate internal teams to better understand our customers’ needs.

 Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in, user experience research, or marketing research, with hands-on experience with qualitative & quantitative research methods and research roadmap planning
• 4+ years of experience as a researcher with a demonstrated ability to choose the right methodologies to translate data and insights into strategy and direction in collaboration with cross-functional partners. 
• Proven ability to work in direct collaboration with product, product marketing, UX designers, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience or a portfolio that illustrates end-to-end research (e.g. user interviews, remote 
• usability testing, surveys, card sorts, tree tests, etc) with a focus on defining new customer experiences and using research to fuel decision-making across multiple teams. 
• Proficiency with research tools for remote user testing, surveys, tree testing, and analytics
• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in a relevant field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong organizational skills, able to act independently, and able to switch quickly between different projects, even within a day
• Solid understanding of the product development cycle and the relationship between business, UX, technology, and the role of user research.
• Demonstrated success influencing product and design decisions with research insights.
• Experience implementing and using the Design XM Qualtrics platform. 

Benefits and Perks 

• Product Ownership: All employees think like an owner because all employees own equity in the company and play a critical role in making our business great.
• Health Insurance: Our medical, dental, and vision plans are completely free for employee-only coverage, and the company pays 80% of the total premium for dependents.
• Whole-Person Wellness: Anyone can schedule no-cost unlimited virtual therapy sessions, use a monthly subsidy for fitness facilities, and access reimbursements for fertility services.
• Retirement Savings. Employees who participate in our “no fee” 401(k) receive an immediately-vested 
• employer match on 100% of contributions up to 3% of compensation. 
• Career Growth: We foster an environment that encourages opportunities to use your voice, do better for our customers and each other, and support your career journey.
• Flexible Time Off: With no cap on the number of days of PTO each year, employees are encouraged to enjoy a well-rounded lifestyle with work, travel, and family.
• Paid Leaves: You’re immediately eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave each year to bond with a new child (mothers & fathers) and up to 8 weeks for medical or caregiver leave so you come back ready to deliver high-impact results.
• Remote-First: We win together while still being fully remote, and each employee receives a stipend for 
• their home office setup and a monthly allowance to help with the cost of internet/phone.

 

Kiavi in the News:

Forbes: The Future Of Real Estate: Fintech 50 2019 and Real Estate on a Threshold of a “Moneyball” Moment

HousingWire:  2019 HW Tech100 Winner: LendingHome

Pittsburgh Business Times: Voted a “2019 Best Places to Work” and won first runner-up in large company category

Mortgage Professional America: LendingHome surpasses $5 billion in loans in five years

Pittsburgh Business Times: San Francisco fintech aggressively expands, looks to hire in Pittsburgh

Curbed: How Wall Street, Silicon Valley Institutionalized Home Flipping