Director, UX Research & AI-Driven Experience Design

Expedia, Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 242,000 - 339,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellness & travel

Travel discounts

IATAN membership

Medical/dental/vision

Job summary

Expedia Group's Experience Design Research team seeks a Research Director to lead vision and execution of research across Partner Tools, including Hotel and Vacation Rental Partner Experiences, APIs, and Partner Advertising. This player/coach role blends strategic leadership with hands-on research, partnering with engineering, design, product, and data science to ensure research informs the roadmap.

You'll mentor a senior team across locations, champion AI-informed methods, and build scalable

Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant professional experience without an advanced degree, or 5–10 years with an advanced degree, or equivalent experience.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in HCI, Psychology, Anthropology, Cognitive Science, or related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in qualitative research and integrating AI into research planning/execution.
• Proven experience leading high-performing research teams across locations.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate insights into strategic decisions.
• Experience building scalable research programs across complex organizations, ideally in B2B.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the research strategy across our Partner Tools portfolio.
• Operate as a player/coach for a small, senior research team.
• Partner with engineering, design, product, and data science to translate insights into decisions.
• Champion AI-informed methodologies across research workflows.
• Build scalable research frameworks and reusable insight systems.
• Integrate qualitative and quantitative research to deliver complete partner insights.

Skills

Qualitative research

AI in research

Leadership

Stakeholder influence

Cross-location coordination

Education

Bachelor's or higher in HCI/Psychology

Master's or PhD preferred

Tools

Cursor

Claude

GPT

Job description

Expedia Group's Experience Design Research team seeks a Research Director to lead vision and execution of research across Partner Tools, including Hotel and Vacation Rental Partner Experiences, APIs, and Partner Advertising. This player/coach role blends strategic leadership with hands-on research, partnering with engineering, design, product, and data science to ensure research informs the roadmap.

You'll mentor a senior team across locations, champion AI-informed methods, and build scalable