Lead Experience Researcher, Wealth Services, Vice President

Overview

We are building Experience Research as a strategic capability within the organisation and are looking for an experienced researcher to become the research lead for our Wealth Services business. You will help teams make better decisions by bringing a deep understanding of the needs of client, advisor, and operations staff into product and business conversations. Working closely with cross-functional stakeholders, you will ensure important decisions are grounded in evidence rather than assumptions. You will be expected not only to answer questions, but also to identify the questions that matter most. While most of your time will focus on Wealth Services, you will also help strengthen the foundations of the Experience Research practice through standards, governance, and scalable ways of working. This is a senior individual contributor role requiring strong research expertise, autonomy, and the ability to build credibility through insight, partnership, and delivery.

What you'll do

• Lead end-to-end research across the wealth management lifecycle, including client acquisition, onboarding, financial planning, investment management, advisor interactions, retirement planning, and mid- to back-office operations
• Develop a deep understanding of client, advisor, and operations staff experiences
• Generate evidence and insight to inform product, service, and business decisions
• Identify unmet needs, pain points, risks, and opportunities across customer and employee journeys
• Translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations that improve trust, engagement, digital experiences, and business outcomes
• Partner with product, design, engineering, and business stakeholders to shape priorities and challenge assumptions
• Contribute to research standards, governance, and other foundational elements of the Experience Research practice
• Champion ethical and responsible research practices appropriate for a regulated environment

Impact you'll have

• Research informs key product and business decisions across Wealth Services
• Stakeholders engage research earlier when defining problems and opportunities
• Teams develop a deeper understanding of client, advisor, and employee needs
• Research findings lead to measurable improvements in experiences, products, services, or ways of working
• Research standards and ways of working are adopted across teams and projects

What we value

• Curious and evidence-driven, motivated by influencing decisions and outcomes
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and leading research independently
• Strong business awareness and sound judgement, balancing user needs, business goals, and organisational constraints
• Pragmatic about where research creates value
• Confident challenging assumptions with evidence
• Excellent synthesis, storytelling, communication, and facilitation skills
• Interest in emerging technologies, including Agentic AI and Generative AI, and their impact on user experiences within financial services

Experience & preferred qualifications

• Significant experience conducting user, customer, product, service, or experience research in complex organisations
• Experience working within financial services or another regulated industry
• Experience conducting research for complex financial, enterprise, or data-intensive applications is a plus

Nice to have

• Familiarity with research governance, ethics, compliance, and risk requirements
• Exposure to service design, journey research, or experience strategy
• Experience using AI-enabled research tools responsibly

Equal Opportunity Employer. State Street is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We value a diverse workforce and inclusive culture.