[Hiring] Community Research Specialist @Fandom

Role Description

We are seeking a Community Research Specialist to join our team. This role is dedicated to bridging the gap between community sentiment and product development. You will be the primary person responsible for formalizing how we analyze user feedback, investigate community needs, and translate those insights into actionable recommendations for our teams.

This role informs decision-making through structured community research and insights, but does not directly own product prioritization, roadmap decisions, or frontline community support operations. Your work will directly support our 2026 North Star goals, specifically in creating a formal feedback framework and identifying growth opportunities across our 250,000+ wikis. You’ll partner directly with Product, Community Operations, Data Science and Analytics to shape the community strategy through robust, repeatable research.

You should have a "data-first" mindset, a passion for fan culture, and the ability to turn qualitative conversations into quantitative trends.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience understanding fan bases and online communities.
• Proven ability to design and analyze surveys and lead qualitative research discussions or focus groups.
• Strong understanding of online community dynamics, social platforms, and the nuances of fandom culture.
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to "tell a story" through data for non-technical audiences.
• Hands-on experience managing feedback loops, prioritizing requests, and coordinating with teams.
• Ability to work independently, managing multiple research threads with high flexibility.
• Experience with data visualization and analytical tools.
• Experience with SQL or basic data querying.
• Genuine passion for Fandom, gaming, or pop culture.

Requirements

• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to identify user behaviors, motivations, and unmet needs.
• Organize and facilitate community discussions, focus groups, and roundtables to gather deep feedback on specific product themes or platform updates.
• Design, deploy, and analyze targeted user surveys to validate hypotheses and measure sentiment on specific initiatives.
• Analyze recurring themes in community discussions to categorize "voice of the customer" trends.
• Map end-to-end user journeys to identify friction points and opportunities for better platform engagement and support.
• Manage the Community Zendesk feedback queue, ensuring that user ideas, concerns, and feedback are acknowledged, categorized, and synthesized.
• Help segment our user base (from core contributors to casual visitors) to provide tailored insights for different platform experiences.
• Collaborate with the Community Managers and others to identify "high-potential" communities for growth and retention.
• Act as the bridge for insight visibility; ensure feedback and feature requests are clearly captured and communicated through Zendesk and JIRA.
• Work closely with Product and Community teams to provide data-backed solutions for detected community pain points.
• Contribute to the creation of a unified community database that tracks previous decisions, tools, power users, and user feedback.
• Suggest and help implement AI-powered or automated tools to streamline community reporting and sentiment tracking.

Benefits

• Laptop and all the gear you need for work.
• Free access to a multitude of popular online courses and books sponsored by our company.
• Training (unlimited Udemy + more).
• Company stock options.
• Company swag packages.
• Private Medical and Dental Insurance.
• Life insurance, critical illness insurance, and income protection insurance.
• Company pension 5% ER, 5% EE.
• VTO (Voluntary Time Off) - a day off every quarter for volunteering non-profit.
• Frequent team bonding events.
• Flexible work hours & time-off.
• Employee Interest and Hobby Groups supported by our company.
• Open, energetic and fan-focused, international work environment.