Research Associate Jobs in Minnesota

As the Experience Design Research Associate II, you will lead research projects of moderate complexity, from planning through execution and analysis, ensuring that insights directly inform product development. You will collaborate with design and product teams, utilizing a variety of research methodologies to generate actionable recommendations. The Experience Design Research Associate II also plays a key role in mentoring junior team members and contributing to the continuous improvement of research processes and methodologies. You will be positioned to help translate research into structured, reusable design guidance like principles, criteria, and constraints that scale across an AI-forward design practice.

This role is remote eligible, which means you would work virtually from home or other non-Best Buy location.

What you'll do

• Leads planning and execution of medium‑to‑large research studies that integrate user and business goals.
• Embeds research into product development through close collaboration with cross‑functional teams.
• Guides junior researchers in defining objectives, selecting methodologies, and aligning work to strategy.
• Leads rigorous, end‑to‑end data collection using advanced methods for medium‑to‑large projects.
• Creates comprehensive, impactful deliverables and tailors insights for various stakeholders.

Basic Qualifications

• 3 or more years of experience conducting research for experience design or a related field.
• 1 or more years of experience working in ecommerce or multi-channel environments.
• Experience translating research findings into clear, actionable deliverables for diverse audiences.
• Experience planning and guiding medium-to-large research studies that integrate user and business goals.
• Experience synthesizing research into reusable outputs that can apply beyond a single study, such as principles, frameworks, or design guidelines.
• Experience in systems thinking to define terms, categories, and relationships and applying them consistently across products or experiences.
• Working knowledge of how AI systems are built, trained, and evaluated to inform research workflows and measurement strategies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, Operations Management, Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), UX Research, Market Research, Product Design, Interaction Design, Graphic Design, Information Architecture, AI/ML Design, or a related field.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining strong alignment with cross-functional partners.
• Hands-on experience applying AI within a research or design practice, such as developing AI-assisted analyses, tools, or prototypes.
• Experience designing or running evaluations of AI/model performance or output quality
• Experience with AI-driven prototyping or experimentation, including A/B testing
• Technical background in software engineering, analytics, data science, design technologist, cloud data environments (e.g., Google Cloud Platform, BigQuery), or experience researching technical products.

What’s in it for you
We’re committed to helping our people thrive at work and at home. We offer generous benefits that address your total well-being and provide support as you need it, especially key moments in your life.
Our benefits include:

• Competitive pay
• Generous employee discount
• Physical and mental well-being support

Best Buy provides different types of leaves of absence (LOA) and potential pay sources to employees based on eligibility. The length of your LOA depends on your situation, where you live, your full-time or part-time employment status, and federal and state regulations. Intermittent or reduced-schedule leave is also available for certain medical or family care leaves. Paid time off (vacation or PTO) is offered to full-time and part-time employees based on work location, employment status, salary or hourly status (exempt/non-exempt), and years of continued or bridged service.

Certain roles, where market norms demand it, are eligible for various forms of incentive pay to drive performance and offer recognition for achieving financial and strategic results. For more information about our incentive pay plans, including eligibility, please refer to our Incentive Programs Summary.

For more information about benefits, LOA and paid time off, please refer to our Benefits Guide.

About us
As part of the Best Buy team, you’ll help us fulfill our purpose to enrich lives through technology. We bring that to life every day by humanizing and personalizing tech solutions for every stage of life — in our stores, online and in customers’ homes.

Our culture is built on deeply supporting and valuing our amazing employees who make it all possible. We’re committed to being a great place to work, where you can unlock unique career possibilities. Above all, we aim to provide a place where you can bring your full, authentic self to work now and into the future. Tomorrow works here. ™

Best Buy is an equal opportunity employer