VP, Team Lead, User Experience Research, Group Design, Consumer Banking Group

DBS · Singapore

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Role Overview

We are looking for a Research Manager with 10+ years in research, including 3+ years in people leadership, to own research for Consumer Banking’s retail portfolio.

As a Research Manager within Group Design, Consumer Banking Group (CBG), you will lead a team of talented researchers responsible for delivering high-quality customer insights that shape the future of DBS's digital products and services across multiple markets.

You will build and develop a high-performing research organization, partner closely with Design, Product, Data, Technology, and Business stakeholders, and ensure customer insights are embedded throughout the product development lifecycle. Beyond delivering research, you will champion research excellence, influence strategic decisions, develop talent, and advance the practice of research through innovation, operational rigor, and thought leadership.

Your team

You will join the Research & Insights team, reporting to the Head of Research. You will lead a team of 4 to 5 researchers covering Consumer Banking’s retail portfolio, alongside a co-lead who runs research for Wealth. Together, you will set the bar for how research is done across CBG journeys.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Research Excellence

Develop High-Performing Teams

• Build and maintain strong technical and leadership capabilities across the research team.
• Create clear career development pathways spanning research craft, stakeholder management, strategic thinking, and people leadership.
• Develop future leaders and subject matter experts within the team.

Lead Cross-Functional Partnerships

• Partner with Design, Product, Data, Engineering, and Business leaders to ensure research drives meaningful outcomes.
• Influence prioritization, product strategy, and experience direction through evidence-based insights.

Drive Research Excellence

• Establish and uphold high standards of research quality, rigor, ethics, and impact across all projects.
• Ensure research findings are actionable, influential, and effectively translated into product and business decisions.
• Define standards, frameworks, and best practices that elevate the overall maturity of the research practice.

Build a Research-Driven Culture

• Advocate for customer-centric decision-making across product, design, and business teams.
• Increase research literacy and adoption through education, coaching, and stakeholder engagement.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and growth-oriented team environment.

Talent Development & Performance Management

Coach and Mentor Researchers

• Conduct regular one-on-one sessions focused on performance, career growth, capability development, and wellbeing.
• Provide hands-on coaching in research design, execution, synthesis, storytelling, and stakeholder management.
• Create opportunities for researchers to take on larger and more strategic responsibilities.

Drive Performance and Growth

• Develop and maintain individual growth plans aligned to business and career aspirations.
• Set clear expectations, provide timely feedback, and support continuous learning and improvement.
• Recruit, onboard, and retain top research talent.

Research Strategy & Thought Leadership

Define Research Strategy

• Establish and execute a research roadmap aligned to business goals, customer needs, and product priorities.
• Balance short-term product needs with longer-term strategic and generative research initiatives.
• Identify emerging customer, market, and technology trends that may influence future opportunities.

Apply the Right Research Methods

• Demonstrate strong methodological judgment by identifying and applying the most effective research approaches for business and customer problems.
• Leverage a broad range of methodologies, including generative, evaluative, behavioral, attitudinal, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches.
• Guide teams in selecting methodologies that maximize business value and decision confidence.

Align Research to Business Outcomes

• Partner with business, platform, and product teams to ensure research investments address strategic priorities.
• Translate customer insights into actionable recommendations that drive measurable business and customer outcomes.

Advance the Research Practice

• Collaborate with Design and Research leaders to shape the future of research at DBS.
• Drive adoption of emerging capabilities, including AI-assisted research workflows, automation, knowledge management, and insight democratization.
• Establish and maintain scalable research repositories, knowledge systems, and institutional memory.
• Develop innovative approaches to participant recruitment, customer engagement, and insight generation.
• Represent DBS research internally and externally through thought leadership, case studies, communities of practice, and industry engagement.

Research Operations & Delivery

Lead Complex Research Programs

• Oversee high-impact research initiatives across multiple products, journeys, segments, and markets.
• Ensure quality, consistency, and operational excellence throughout the research lifecycle.
• Balance competing priorities while maximizing team effectiveness and research impact.

Vendor & Partner Management

• Select, manage, and develop strategic partnerships with research agencies and specialist vendors.
• Ensure research quality, consistency, and value for investment across all engagements.
• Drive vendor innovation and capability development in support of evolving business needs.

Research Operations & Governance

• Establish scalable processes, governance standards, and operational frameworks for research excellence.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, privacy, risk, and ethical requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement in research tools, workflows, and operating models.

Resource & Capacity Planning

• Forecast, allocate, and optimize research resources across initiatives.
• Conduct regular capacity planning and portfolio reviews to support business demand and strategic priorities.
• Monitor team utilization, project health, and delivery effectiveness.

Here Are the Experience and Skills We'd Love You to Have

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in UX Research, Design Research, Customer Experience Research, Market Research, Behavioral Research, or related disciplines.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience managing and developing research teams.
• Proven experience leading research programs that have influenced product strategy, customer experience, and business outcomes.
• Experience operating in complex, cross-functional environments involving Product, Design, Data, Engineering, and Business stakeholders.
• Experience managing external research agencies and multi-market research programs.
• Experience working in digital product organizations, preferably within banking, fintech, technology, or e-commerce industries.
• Experience leveraging AI, automation, or emerging technologies to improve research effectiveness is highly desirable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors), or equivalent practical experience. A Master's or PhD in a related discipline is welcome but not expected
• Evidence of research that changed strategic decisions and researchers you've grown.

Research & Technical Skills

• Deep expertise across qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
• Strong understanding of generative, evaluative, strategic, and continuous discovery research.
• Ability to design research programs that connect customer insights to business outcomes.
• Strong synthesis, storytelling, and insight communication skills.
• Familiarity with modern research operations, repositories, knowledge management systems, and research governance.
• Demonstrated ability to translate ambiguity into structured research approaches and actionable recommendations.

Leadership & Professional Skills

• Strong people leadership skills with the ability to coach, mentor, and develop talent while nurturing a collaborative, customer-centric, and people-focused culture.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills across all organizational levels.
• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Ability to balance long-term vision with executional excellence.
• Exceptional collaboration and relationship-building skills.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, highly ambiguous environments.
• Passion for developing future-ready research capabilities and cultivating a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

What Success Looks Like

• A high-performing and engaged research team with strong technical and leadership depth.
• Research is engaged in early phase of product development and embedded in key product and business decisions across CBG.
• Clear evidence of research impact on customer experience and business outcomes.
• Strong partnerships with stakeholders across Design, Product, Data, Technology, and Business teams.
• Continuous evolution of research capabilities, including AI-enabled research practices, knowledge management, and operational excellence.
• DBS is recognized as a leader in customer-centered innovation and evidence-based decision-making.

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