The Product Researcher plays a pivotal role in identifying new product opportunities through direct user engagement, field-based research, and quantitative and qualitative analysis. This position is dedicated to pinpointing unaddressed needs, inefficiencies, and difficulties in trade workflows—translating those insights into actionable mentorship for product, design, engineering, and go-to-market teams.
The ideal candidate brings experience in mixed-methods research, thrives in hands-on, real-world environments, and has a track record of connecting research findings to tangible product outcomes. Collaborating with different departments, this team member mentors colleagues to integrate standard methodologies in research organization-wide. A willingness to travel for on-site observation, customer interviews, and jobsite studies is critical.
Emerson’s global Professional Tools business is an equal opportunity employer, offering the broadest portfolio of reliable tools and technologies for those working in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades! With unparalleled expertise from RIDGID, Greenlee, and Klauke, we deliver trusted products to handle the industries’ toughest challenges.
In This Role, Your Responsibilities Will Be: Design and implement end-to-end research projects across new product development, dedicated to uncovering product opportunities through direct user engagement and deep field understanding. Ensure that research methodologies align with standard processes for product discovery. Conduct qualitative research, including job site visits, customer interviews, and observational studies. Analyze trade workflows to identify inefficiencies, difficulties, problems, and struggles that inform product development. Design and complete quantitative research studies (e.g., surveys, usage data analysis, conjoint analysis) to validate hypotheses, size market opportunities, and inform product decisions. Partner with product managers to refine and validate early-stage product concepts. Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure that found opportunities align with technical feasibility. Synthesize research findings into clear, compelling narratives and presentations for a wide range of collaborators. Mentor and advise teammates and colleagues across the organization on standard methodologies, methods, and tools. Develop lightweight resources—like playbooks, templates, guides—to scale research knowledge and capability.Who You Are: You gain insight into customer needs. You break down objectives into appropriate initiatives and actions. You effectively communicate in various settings: one-on-one, small and large groups, or among diverse styles and position levels. You create teamwork allowing others across the organization to achieve shared objectives.
For This Role, You Will Need: Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Marketing, Engineering, Human Factors, Design Research, Business). 3+ years of experience in product discovery, user research, or related fields. Experience conducting quantitative and qualitative research including field research and customer observations. Demonstrated capability in converting customer difficulties into actionable product insights. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to tell a compelling story through research findings. Experience working cross-functionally with product and engineering teams. Strong problem-solving skills and ability to recognize patterns across research findings.
Preferred Qualifications That Set You Apart: Master’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field. Experience conducting research for industrial tools, connected devices, or IoT products. Familiarity with trade professions (e.g., plumbing, electrical, mechanical) and their unique challenges. Understanding of user-centered design methodologies and their application to physical products. Ability to travel as needed for customer visits and field research.
Our Culture & Commitment to You:
At Emerson, we prioritize a workplace where every employee is valued, respected, and empowered to grow. We foster an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and diverse perspectives—because we know that great ideas come from great teams. Our commitment to ongoing career development and growing an inclusive culture ensures you have the support to thrive. Whether through mentorship, training, or leadership opportunities, we invest in your success so you can make a lasting impact. We believe diverse teams, working together are key to driving growth and delivering business results.
We recognize the importance of employee wellbeing. We prioritize providing flexible, competitive benefits plans to meet you and your family’s physical, mental, financial, and social needs. We provide a variety of medical insurance plans, with dental and vision coverage, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k), tuition reimbursement, employee resource groups, recognition, and much more. Our culture offers flexible time off plans, including paid parental leave (maternal and paternal), vacation and holiday leave.
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