UX Senior Design Rearcher

Aquent; Toronto; On-site; CAD 69,000 - 73,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Subsidized health plans

Vision and dental plans

Paid sick leave

Retirement plan with matching

Job summary

Aquent, a leading talent and workforce solutions firm, is seeking a UX Senior Researcher in Toronto, Canada to drive generative and exploratory research for high impact, strategic initiatives. You will work autonomously, framing complex problems and prioritizing opportunities across client-facing digital advice and advisor tooling domains.

Lead workshops, present insights to senior stakeholders, and coach design peers while partnering with enterprise AI tools to elevate research speed and

Qualifications

• 6–10 years of dedicated UX/Design Research experience (exceptional candidates under 6 years considered).
• Ability to lead independently, drive research programs, and manage projects with strong organizational skills.
• Strong expertise in generative, discovery, and exploratory research methods beyond evaluative testing.
• Proven track record presenting to and collaborating with senior leadership and external vendors.
• Fluent English communication, with excellent storytelling and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end strategic and generative research across complex initiatives.
• Frame problems, prioritize opportunities, and guide product roadmaps with insights.
• Collaborate with designers and senior stakeholders to translate research into strategy.
• Coach peers in evaluative practices while guiding research-informed decision making.
• Leverage enterprise AI tools to accelerate synthesis and insights delivery.

Skills

UX Research

Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research

Stakeholder Management

Leadership

Cross-functional Collaboration

Storytelling

Tools

Maze

Alida

Mural

Confluence

Figma

Job description

We are seeking a UX Senior Researcher to drive generative and exploratory research for complex, highly ambiguous, and strategic initiatives. This role requires an autonomous researcher who can operate with high confidence, take initiative, and bring clarity to ill-defined problems within a complex enterprise environment.

You will lead research across two main domains:

• Client-Facing Digital Advice: Digitizing financial advice, creating bite-sized personalized advice nuggets, interactive calculators, and personalized educational video experiences.
• Advisor Tooling: Streamlining and automating workflows for financial advisors to eliminate repetitive tasks and increase operational efficiency.

Rather than running day-to-day evaluative testing, you will focus on high-impact generative research, strategic problem framing, and opportunity prioritization. You will work alongside a Staff Researcher while leading your own body of work, partnering with designers primarily to guide them on usability testing and evaluative practices.

Key Responsibilities & Focus Areas

• Lead Strategic & Generative Research: Drive end-to-end qualitative and quantitative generative studies. Bring structure and clarity to complex, ambiguous business and user problems.
• Facilitate Framing & Prioritization: Lead workshops and sessions with cross-functional teams to frame problem spaces, define opportunities, and prioritize product roadmaps.
• Cross-Functional & Vendor Collaboration: Build strong relationships and regularly present insights to senior stakeholders—including Senior Business Representatives, former advisors, Subject Matter Experts (financial planners who supervise advisors), Senior Product Directors, the Design Director, and external 3rd-party vendors (e.g., financial planning tool partners).
• Compelling Storytelling: Synthesize complex user data and translate insights into persuasive, high-impact narratives that influence product and business strategy across diverse executive and technical audiences.
• Empower & Coach Design Peers: Partner with product designers to guide them on evaluative research/usability testing best practices, fostering a research-inclusive culture without having to conduct routine usability studies yourself.
• Leverage Enterprise AI: Utilize internal enterprise-wide AI tools and explore emerging AI research methodologies to elevate research speed, synthesis, and workflow efficiency.

Qualifications & Key Requirements

• Experience Level: 6-10 years of dedicated UX/Design Research experience (open to exceptional candidates under 6 years who demonstrate advanced mastery and leadership).
• Autonomy & Proactivity: Demonstrated ability to lead independently, drive research initiatives forward proactively, and manage projects with strong organizational skills.
• Generative Expertise: Strong mastery of foundational, generative, and discovery methodologies rather than solely evaluative/usability testing.
• Stakeholder Management: Proven track record of presenting to, managing, and collaborating with senior leadership, subject matter experts, and third-party vendors.
• Collaboration & Openness: An open, communicative approach- actively involving partners and soliciting peer feedback throughout the research lifecycle.
• Languages: Must be fully proficient in English (written and verbal).

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Financial Domain Knowledge: Experience in financial services, wealth management, or adjacent regulated industries (e.g., insurance, government).
• Digital Product Teams: Direct experience embedded within or partnering closely with digital product design teams.
• Coaching & Mentorship: Experience coaching designers in research methodologies and best practices.
• Emerging Tech & AI: Experience using AI tools or exploring AI-driven research methodologies.
• Analytics & Visualization: Familiarity with data visualization, experience metrics, and analytics tools.

Tooling

• Primary Research Tools: Experience with platforms like Maze, Alida, Mural, and Confluence.
• Prerequisite: Figma proficiency is not required for this role.

What Sets a Candidate Apart?

• Strong Business Acumen: Ability to connect user insights directly to core business objectives, operational efficiency, and financial growth.
• Investment & Financial Knowledge: Familiarity with investment concepts, advice models, and financial planning workflows.
• Storytelling with Impact: A portfolio that clearly shows how they involved partners in decision-making and turned complex insights into clear, strategic business directions.
• Confidence & Leadership: The ability to challenge assumptions, ask tough questions, and push initiatives forward autonomously in a matrixed organization.

The target hiring compensation range for this role is C$50 to C$53 hr. Compensation is based on several factors including, but not limited to education, relevant work experience, relevant certifications, and location.

Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match.

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We’re about creating an inclusive environment- one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.