Director, User Experience Research – Experience Design (XD)

Uiuxtrend; New York (NY); On-site; USD 210,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Uiuxtrend seeks a Research Director to lead vision, strategy, and execution of research across our Partner Tools portfolio—including hotel and vacation rental experiences, APIs, and partner advertising.

This player/coach role combines hands-on research with mentoring a senior team, partnering with engineering, design, and product to embed research into strategy and product decisions, especially as AI-powered experiences emerge.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant experience without an advanced degree, or 5-10 years with an advanced degree.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Anthropology, Cognitive Science, or related field.
• 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, business-impactful 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 closely with engineering, design, product, and data science teams to translate partner insights into strategic decisions.
• Champion rigorous, AI-informed research methodologies and integrate AI tools into the research workflow from planning through synthesis.
• Build scalable research frameworks and reusable insight systems across a multidisciplinary organization.
• Integrate qualitative and quantitative research to deliver complete partner insights.

Skills

Qualitative research

AI in research

Leadership

Stakeholder influence

Cross-functional collaboration

B2B experience

Education

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

Job description

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.

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 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.

Required 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, business-impactful decisions.
• Experience building and scaling research programs across complex, multidisciplinary organizations and diverse product domains, ideally including specific experience in B2B.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Science, Statistics, Psychology, or a related field - or equivalent professional experience.
• A track record of working in close, day-to-day partnership with engineering - e.g., embedded in agile/scrum teams, contributing to technical scoping, or evaluating AI/ML model behavior directly alongside engineers.
• Experience researching B2B tools, APIs, or advertising/monetization products.
• Specific, demonstrable examples of creating research artifacts and workflows with AI platforms such as Cursor, Claude, GPT, or comparable tools.
• Demonstrated ability to safely integrate and operate AI/ML-enabled solutions that improve research outcomes while maintaining methodological rigor.
• Experience establishing scalable research practices for AI tools, products, and systems, including evaluating their impact on human behavior and customer experiences.