Director, User Experience Research – Experience Design (XD)

Expedia Group; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Expedia Group is seeking a Research Director to lead research strategy across Partner Tools, spanning Hotel, Vacation Rental, APIs, and Partner Advertising. You will manage a small, senior team while remaining hands-on to ensure research informs product and business decisions.

Ideal candidates connect qualitative and quantitative methods, leverage AI in research workflows, and partner with engineering, design, product, and data science to drive impact at scale.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated expertise in qualitative research methodologies and integrating AI into research planning, execution, or delivery.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing research teams across locations and levels.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate insights into strategic decisions.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the research strategy across our Partner Tools portfolio.
• Operate as a player/coach for a small, senior research team—setting strategy and craft standards while remaining directly involved in research execution.
• Partner with engineering, design, product, and data science to translate insights into business impact.
• Champion AI-informed research methodologies and integrate AI tools into your workflow from planning through synthesis.
• Build scalable research frameworks and reusable insight systems across a multidisciplinary org.
• Integrate qualitative and quantitative research to deliver complete partner insights.

Skills

Qualitative research

AI in research

Leadership

Stakeholder influence

Research strategy

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s or advanced degree in HCI/Psychology/Anthropology/Cognitive Science

Tools

AI tools

Qualitative/Quantitative methods

Job description

At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business.

Here, you'll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.

Locations:

New York, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Jose, with potential flexibility on additional locations as approved by Leadership.

About The Team

Expedia Group's Product Team builds high-quality, end-to‑end experiences for travelers, partners, and Expedia Group itself. Our customer‑first mindset drives the products we build — the kind that earn loyalty and repeat business — and we partner closely across the company to turn that loyalty into growth.

Our Experience Design (XD) Research team sits at the center of that work. We bring clarity, curiosity, and connection to complex problems, translating human behavior and motivation — and increasingly, how people experience AI — into insight that shapes the future of travel. We challenge assumptions, ask the right questions, and stay close to the human experience even as the tools we use to understand it keep evolving.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Research Director to lead the vision, strategy, and execution of research across our Partner Tools portfolio — spanning Hotel and Vacation Rental Partner Experiences, APIs, and Partner Advertising, from established products to the newest AI‑powered, agentic experiences we're building today.

This is a player/coach role for someone who wants to lead a small, senior team of researchers while staying hands‑on with the work itself. You'll partner closely with engineering, design, and product to make sure research is a necessary component in the vision and execution of our partner facing tools. You'll hold both ends of the research spectrum at once: deep human understanding through methodological craft, and the technical fluency to guide how we evaluate agentic and non‑deterministic product experiences as they emerge.

You’ll thrive in this role if you find as much satisfaction in developing another researcher's career as you do in uncovering a pivotal customer insight, if you're comfortable working shoulder‑to‑shoulder with engineers, and if you're energized by the pace at which AI is changing what and how we research.

In This Role, You Will

• Define and lead the research strategy across our Partner Tools portfolio.
• Operate as a player/coach for a small, senior research team — setting strategy and craft standards while remaining directly involved in research execution.
• Partner closely with engineering, design, product, and data science teams, to translate partner insights into strategic, business‑impactful decisions.
• Champion rigorous, AI‑informed research methodologies, and bring direct, hands‑on examples of how you've integrated AI tools into your own research workflow, from planning through synthesis.
• Build scalable research frameworks and reusable insight systems that create durable value across a complex, multidisciplinary organization.
• Integrate qualitative and quantitative research to combine behavioral data with human‑centered depth and deliver complete partner insights.

Minimum Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant professional experience without an advanced degree, or 5–10 years with a suitable advanced degree; or equivalent related professional experience.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Human‑Computer Interaction, Psychology, Anthropology, Cognitive Science, or a related field; or equivalent related professional experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in qualitative research methodologies and integrating AI into research planning, execution, or delivery.
• Proven experience leading and developing high‑performing research teams across multiple locations and career levels.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate research insights into strategic,