Senior User Experience (UX) Researcher

Vacances Air Canada / Air Canada Vacations; Montreal (administrative region); On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Air Canada Vacations, part of the Air Canada group, is seeking a Senior UX Researcher to lead research initiatives that illuminate how travelers discover, compare, and book vacation packages online. You will design studies, conduct customer interviews, and test prototypes to ensure a booking experience that is intuitive, trustworthy, and engaging.

You will collaborate with product owners, UX/UI designers, and marketing stakeholders to translate insights into practical recommendations that

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in UX or design research.
• Experience in Tourism/Travel online booking industry.
• Expert in conducting research using a wide range of qualitative and quantitative UX research methods (field studies, usability test, card sorting, surveys, analytics, A/B testing).
• Strong communication, storytelling, and stakeholder facilitation skills.
• Bilingual written and spoken.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute a UX research plan focused on understanding how travelers research, evaluate, and purchase vacation packages.
• Identify key traveler segments, behaviors, motivations, and decision-making factors.
• Define research goals, methodologies, and timelines aligned with product and business objectives.
• Select appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Plan, recruit, and conduct in-depth customer interviews with travelers and potential customers.
• Facilitate discovery interviews to understand trip planning behaviors, booking preferences, and pain points in the travel planning process.
• Analyze qualitative data to identify patterns, insights, and opportunities to improve the travel booking experience.
• Develop data-driven traveler personas representing key customer groups (families, couples, solo travelers, deal seekers).
• Document motivations, goals, behaviors, and pain points when searching for and booking vacation packages.
• Ensure personas are actionable and usable across product, design, and marketing teams.
• Create end-to-end user journey maps that illustrate how travelers discover destinations, compare packages, and complete bookings.
• Map key touchpoints across the website and other digital channels.
• Identify friction points and opportunities to improve the booking and trip planning experience.
• Plan and conduct usability testing of wireframes and interactive prototypes.
• Evaluate how easily users can search for destinations, compare packages, and complete bookings.
• Gather feedback to validate design decisions and identify usability issues early in the design process.
• Provide actionable recommendations to improve prototypes and user flows.
• Translate research findings into clear, strategic insights and recommendations.
• Present research outcomes through reports, workshops, and presentations.
• Collaborate closely with UX designers, product managers, and marketing teams to ensure research informs product design and feature prioritization.

Skills

UX research

Customer interviews

Personas

Journey mapping

Prototype testing

Stakeholder collaboration

Data analysis

Communication skills

Bilingual

Education

Degree in HCI / Cognitive Science / Psychology

Tools

Qualitative methods

Quantitative methods

A/B testing

Surveys

Job description

Senior User Experience (UX) Researcher

Department / Team

Digital Product & Design

Position Status

Permanent

Location

YUL

We are seeking an experienced Senior UX Researcher to support the design and improvement of Air Canada Vacations website.

In this role, you will lead research initiatives to better understand how travelers discover, compare, and book vacation experiences online. You will identify key traveler segments, develop actionable personas, map end-to-end booking journeys, and conduct qualitative research including customer interviews. You will also help validate design solutions by testing prototypes with users to ensure the booking experience is intuitive, trustworthy, and engaging.

You will collaborate closely with product owners, UX/UI designers, and business stakeholders to translate research insights into practical recommendations that improve the traveler experience and drive bookings.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Customer Discovery & Research Strategy

• Design and execute a UX research plan focused on understanding how travelers research, evaluate, and purchase vacation packages.
• Identify key traveler segments, behaviors, motivations, and decision-making factors.
• Define research goals, methodologies, and timelines aligned with product and business objectives.
• Select appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Customer Interviews & Qualitative Research

• Plan, recruit, and conduct in-depth customer interviews with travelers and potential customers.
• Facilitate discovery interviews to understand trip planning behaviors, booking preferences, and pain points in the travel planning process.
• Analyze qualitative data to identify patterns, insights, and opportunities to improve the travel booking experience.

Personas & Customer Segmentation

• Develop data-driven traveler personas representing key customer groups (e.g., families, couples, solo travelers, deal seekers).
• Document motivations, goals, behaviors, and pain points when searching for and booking vacation packages.
• Ensure personas are actionable and usable across product, design, and marketing teams.

User Journey Mapping

• Create end-to-end user journey maps that illustrate how travelers discover destinations, compare packages, and complete bookings.
• Map key touchpoints across the website and other digital channels.
• Identify friction points and opportunities to improve the booking and trip planning experience.

Prototype Testing & Design Validation

• Plan and conduct usability testing of wireframes and interactive prototypes.
• Evaluate how easily users can search for destinations, compare packages, and complete bookings.
• Gather feedback to validate design decisions and identify usability issues early in the design process.
• Provide actionable recommendations to improve prototypes and user flows.

Insights & Stakeholder Collaboration

• Translate research findings into clear, strategic insights and recommendations.
• Present research outcomes through reports, workshops, and presentations.
• Collaborate closely with UX designers, product managers, and marketing teams to ensure research informs product design and feature prioritization.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM

• Post-secondary degree in in HCI, Cognitive Science, Psychology, or any related field.
• 5+ years of experience in UX research, customer research, or design research
• Experience in the Tourism/Travel online booking industry.
• Expert in conducting research using a wide range of qualitative and quantitative UX research methods (field studies, usability test, card sorting, surveys, analytics, A/B testing).
• Strong communication, storytelling, and stakeholder facilitation skills.
• Strong analytical skillswith the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Experience creating personas, journey maps, and research synthesis.
• Attention to detail and ability to work independently, while also being a collaborative team player.
• Ability to work closely with a diverse group of executives, managers, and subject matter experts.
• Bilingual written and spoken.