Principal Researcher, Product Research & Insights -Slack

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.Job CategoryUser ExperienceJob DetailsAbout SalesforceSalesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.What You'll Be Doing & Why It MattersSlack is seeking a Principal Researcher to help us understand how AI agents are changing the way people work together—and what that means for the future of workplace collaboration.In this role, you will investigate how people and teams adopt, collaborate with, and delegate work to AI agents. You will explore not only individual experiences with AI, but also how agents affect shared context, coordination, communication, trust, and accountability across teams. Your research will help identify where agents create meaningful value, where they introduce friction or risk, and how Slack can better support collaboration among people and agents.As a Principal-level individual contributor, you will independently shape and execute a research agenda with a primary focus on Slack's Ecosystem, understanding how AI agents affect the future of workplace collaboration. You will pair foundational research on emerging work practices with practical evaluation of product experiences, translating evidence into clear recommendations that influence product strategy and development. You will also mentor researchers and strengthen how the team conducts and applies research.Core Responsibilities & ScopeLead research scoping, prioritization, and roadmapping across multiple teams focused on AI agents and workplace collaboration, turning ambiguous questions into focused, actionable research programs.Study real-world workflows to understand how people discover, adopt, delegate to, supervise, and collaborate with agents—and how those behaviors affect team coordination, shared understanding, trust, and accountability.Design and conduct rigorous foundational and evaluative research using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, balancing depth, speed, and the limits of what each approach can establish.Partner with Product, Design, Engineering, Data Science, and other insights functions to connect customer evidence with product decisions and triangulate findings across studies, behavioral data, and customer feedback.Build compelling narratives and reusable frameworks that synthesize multiple lines of inquiry, identify new product opportunities, and make the user and business consequences of decisions clear.Influence senior stakeholders through practical, evidence-based recommendations; help teams distinguish emerging signals from assumptions and prioritize the most important uncertainties.Mentor colleagues and collaborate with Research Operations to improve research practices, tools, documentation, and the team's ability to deliver high-quality work efficiently.Minimum Requirements10+ years of user or product research experience, or equivalent demonstrated experience delivering research at comparable scope and impact. A track record of independently leading ambiguous research across multiple product teams is more important than tenure alone.Expertise in multiple research approaches, with strong qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis skills and sound judgment about methodological trade-offs.Demonstrated experience translating research into product strategy, roadmap priorities, or consequential product decisions in a fast-moving product organization.Strong synthesis, storytelling, and communication skills, including experience partnering with senior stakeholders and creating frameworks that help teams understand and act on evidence.Strong cross-functional collaboration and mentoring skills, along with working fluency in AI assistants and agents and curiosity about their effects on real workplace behavior. You do not need to be an ML engineer.Preferred QualificationsResearch experience with AI assistants, agents, automation, or human–AI interaction, including questions of delegation, oversight, trust, explainability, or recovery from errors.Experience studying workplace collaboration, enterprise SaaS, knowledge workers, or multi-person and organizational workflows.Experience with longitudinal studies, diary studies, contextual inquiry, or field research that captures how emerging tools become part of everyday work.Experience partnering with Data Science to connect observed behaviors and customer needs with usage data and product evaluation.Experience researching enterprise adoption, administrator needs, governance, or adoption barriers for emerging technologies.We welcome researchers with a range of professional and educational backgrounds. If you can demonstrate the scope, research judgment, and impact described here, we encourage you to apply even if your experience does not map neatly to every qualification.Unleash Your PotentialWhen you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.AccommodationsIf you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates’ resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see our Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.Posting StatementSalesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. 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The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions. The typical base salary range for this position is $197,300 - $313,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $237,700 - $344,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.SummaryLocation: California - San Francisco; New York - New York; Georgia - Atlanta; Washington - SeattleType: Full time