Principal UX Design Researcher

Job Description Summary

You will be part of the product organization leading a UX team transitioning from engineering to drive a more research-focused, collaborative approach to user experience. As UX Director, you will apply your expertise in UX research, design methodologies, and team leadership to build, engage, and retain a high-performing team that delivers exceptional user experiences. You will work with product and engineering leadership to drive innovation, explore emerging technologies including AI, and transform how the team operates to better serve customer needs and business objectives.

Job Description

Roles and Responsibilities

In this role, you will:

• Lead the organizational transition of the UX team from engineering to product, establishing new workflows, processes, and collaborative frameworks that align with product-led principles.
• Draft a world-class UX org design with enhanced research capabilities including recommendations on hiring, onboarding, and developing UX researchers, designers, and content strategists.
• Drive excellence in user research practices including generative research, usability testing, and continuous discovery to inform product strategy and design decisions.
• Work with Product Management and Engineering leadership to understand barriers and new approaches to foster strong cross-functional partnerships, shared goals, and integrated workflows that put users at the center of product development.
• Develop and execute a strategy for integrating AI and emerging tools into the UX workflow to enhance productivity, enable rapid prototyping, and elevate design quality.
• Establish clear prioritization frameworks that balance user needs, business goals, and technical constraints while managing multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and advocate for UX excellence across product development initiatives.
• Ensure UX deliverables meet quality standards, accessibility requirements, and brand guidelines.

• Deep knowledge of UX research methodologies including research, user interviews, usability testing, survey design, and analytics interpretation.
• Proven ability to translate research insights into actionable design strategies and product recommendations.
• Strong understanding of design thinking, human-centered design, and Jobs-to-be-Done frameworks.
• Experience building and scaling UX research programs and establishing research operations.
• Understanding of how to integrate AI tools into UX workflows for tasks like synthesis, ideation, content generation, and rapid prototyping.
• Demonstrates mastery of cross-functional collaboration dynamics and how to embed UX effectively within agile product development.
• Guides product and engineering teams in adopting user-centered practices and continuously improving UX maturity.
• Experience with accessibility standards (WCAG) and inclusive design practices.
• Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to measure UX impact and ROI.

• Establishes frameworks for successful collaboration across product, engineering, and design with clear decision rights and accountability.
• Sets a compelling vision for UX excellence and charts the path to achieve it.
• Drives a team culture of ownership, curiosity, continuous improvement, and high-quality craft.
• Makes and communicates decisions with clear rationale and consideration of downstream implications.
• Leads through influence and builds credibility through demonstrated expertise and results.
• Champions change management during the organizational transition with empathy and transparency.

• Uses critical thinking and structured problem-solving to help teams navigate complex user and business challenges.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with ability to tailor messages for different audiences from executives to individual contributors.
• Embraces experimentation and learning from failure as essential parts of the design process.
• Proactively explores new tools, methods, and technologies (especially AI) to enhance team capabilities and output.
• Demonstrates resilience and optimism when facing ambiguity or organizational challenges.
• Takes on complex UX challenges and guides the team to deep understanding of user needs and contexts.

• Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Psychology, or related field with minimum 12-15 years of experience in UX design and research.
• 5-7 years of experience as a UX or product design leader managing teams.
• Proven track record of building and scaling UX teams and establishing research practices.
• Experience leading UX through organizational change or team transitions.
• Demonstrated success partnering with product management and engineering in agile environments.
• Portfolio demonstrating strategic thinking, research impact, and design excellence.

• Advanced education in UX, Cognitive Psychology, Design, or related field.
• Experience evaluating and implementing AI tools for UX workflows.
• Background working in [your industry/domain] with understanding of [specific user types].
• Experience establishing design systems and scaling design operations.
• Track record presenting at industry conferences or contributing to the UX community.