Player Research & Insights Lead (User Research Manager)

About Skillz

If you want to build, own, and see your impact — join Skillz and level up your career.

Skillz is the competition infrastructure platform that powers real-money, skill-based tournaments inside mobile games. We didn't just enter the competitive gaming market — we invented it. Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur and inventor Andrew Paradise, Skillz built the category from scratch: the patented matchmaking, identity, payments, fraud protection, and developer tools that make fair, real-stakes competition possible at scale.

Skillz hosts billions of casual mobile gaming tournaments for millions of players worldwide and is revolutionizing the gaming industry. By fostering social competition within games, the Skillz platform helps developers build multi-million dollar franchises by enabling real-money activity in their games and providing operational support while connecting players through fair, enjoyable, and meaningful competition.

Today, Skillz is part of FIRY — a global holding company operating at the intersection of gaming, AI-powered performance marketing, and developer infrastructure. Alongside RZR, our AI-driven ad network, and Beamable, our backend and LiveOps platform, Skillz sits at the center of a compounding data flywheel that no standalone competitor can replicate. 800,000+ daily tournaments. $7.5 billion in lifetime prizes paid to players. 90 million registered users.

We're a high-conviction team of builders who came from Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, X, Roblox, Zynga, Samsung, Lyft, EA, Riot, Nexon, Gameskraft, PlayStation, Unity, Scopely, Tinder, Intel, Deloitte, EY, Twitch, DraftKings, Wynn Resorts, and more. We operate like a startup, hold ourselves to high standards, and move fast with purpose. If you want to work on infrastructure that matters — and be part of a team that fights for what it builds — Skillz is the right place.

About the Role

Skillz runs mobile competitions where players go head-to-head in skill-based games for cash and prizes. We have a lot of data on what players do. We need someone to help us understand why : why they stay, why they spend, and especially why they leave.

You’ll build that research capability and lead it. This role reports to the Head of Player Experience and Customer Support. You'll be an an individual contributor to start while you build out a team of 1 - 2 analysts.

What you’ll own

Building the function. You’ll set up intake, prioritization, research standards and an insights repository that teams actually use. You’ll also hire and develop the researchers who run it.

Understanding churn. You’ll combine behavioral data with interviews, surveys and panels to explain why players lapse, spot early warning signs, and test retention ideas before we invest in them.

Running a Voice of the Player program. This includes recurring pulse surveys, player panels and segment-level research across new, core and VIP players.

Testing big changes before launch. You’ll work with Product, LiveOps, Analytics and VIP teams to test features, promotions, prize structures and player economics before they ship.

Turning research into decisions. You’ll make clear recommendations that shape roadmaps and retention strategy, and present them to executives.

What success looks like

By 90 days, intake is running, your research roadmap is agreed with Product and LiveOps leadership, and your first churn study is underway.

By 6 months, the Voice of the Player program is live and teams pull from the insights repository without asking you.

By 12 months, research shapes major roadmap and retention decisions, and your team is hired and working independently.

What you bring

7+ years in user research, player research or consumer insights on consumer (B2C) products, including 1+ years managing researchers or analysts

Experience building or scaling a research function or program, not just running studies inside one

Strong qualitative and quantitative skills, including judgment about which to use and how to combine them, and comfort working with analytics teams on behavioral data

Research that has shaped retention, engagement or churn decisions

Nice to have

Experience in gaming, real-money gaming, fantasy sports, sweepstakes, mobile apps or marketplaces

Research on monetization, in-game economies, promotions or reward structures

Total Starting Compensation including Base + Bonus + Equity: $160,000

Location: Onsite, Las Vegas, NV [Relocation assistance available]

Why Skillz

You're building infrastructure, not just features. Skillz is the competition layer for mobile gaming — the matchmaking, payments, identity, and fraud systems that make real-stakes competition trustworthy at scale. The work here compounds. Every improvement to the platform makes every tournament on it better.

Founder-led. Andrew Paradise founded Skillz in 2012 with a single conviction: that fair, real-money skill-based competition should exist at scale. Thirteen years later, he’s taken the company public on the NYSE, built a portfolio of three independent businesses, earned 90+ patents, and won the largest false advertising verdict in U.S. history. He is still here — still the founder, still the CEO, still building. That kind of long-term commitment and alignment is rare in any company. At Skillz, it defines the culture from the top down.

Part of a compounding ecosystem. Skillz is one of three businesses inside FIRY — alongside RZR, our AI-powered performance ad network, and Beamable, our developer backend platform. Your work spans gaming, ad tech, identity, payments, and ecommerce. The platform you build on gets smarter and more valuable with every player, developer, and advertiser that enters the ecosystem.

Comprehensive Benefits. 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision for you and your dependents. 401K matching, equity incentives, pre-tax benefit options, and more.

Wellness Support. Meditation and mental health resources, physical fitness coaching and classes, family planning assistance, health and parenting guidance, virtual therapy sessions, and more.

Time Off. Competitive PTO and company holidays.

Las Vegas Headquarters. Skillz operates in a five-day-a-week, collaborative office environment at our 36,000+ square foot Las Vegas HQ. Free daily catered lunch, snacks, a full-size gym with showers, commuter benefits, team events, and more.

Recognized Success. Skillz has earned recognition as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, CNBC's Disruptor 50, San Francisco Business Times' Best Places to Work, Forbes' Next Billion-Dollar Startups, and the #1 fastest-growing company in America on the Inc. 5000 list, and many more.

Join Skillz and Let's Redefine the Boundaries of Gaming!

Together, we'll create a world where skill, passion, and innovation thrive. We look forward to having you on board!

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Skillz embraces diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to diversifying our workforce, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status, and we operate in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance .