Principal UX Researcher

athenahealth; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 153,000 - 259,000; Full time

Job summary

athenahealth seeks a Principal UX Researcher for its Mobile UX team in Boston. The role guides left-diamond discovery work and early concept testing, with occasional domestic travel to shadow clinicians using our products.

You will partner with UX designers, product managers, and engineers to translate research into strategy, prototypes, and actionable plans that drive product outcomes.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional UX research experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience applying qualitative and quantitative methods to complex product questions.
• Ability to translate research into product strategy and actions.
• Willingness to travel domestically for onsite research.

Responsibilities

• Own discovery research and experience measurement initiatives.
• Understand clinician workflows to inform strategy.
• Define research questions, hypotheses and success metrics.
• Plan and conduct research across product lifecycle and on-site shadowing.
• Synthesize findings into insights and present to stakeholders.
• Create artifacts to communicate research concepts and outcomes.
• Develop long-term research vision tied to business outcomes.
• Partner with designers, PMs, and engineers to translate findings into strategy.

Skills

8+ years UX research

Effective communication

Mixed-methods research

Analytical thinking

Travel for onsite research

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Design, HCI, Cognitive Psychology, CS, Biz

Tools

UX research tools

AI tools exposure

Job description

Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Position Summary

We are looking for a Principal UX Researcher to join athenahealth's Mobile UX team, someone who can inform our forward-facing strategy through "left-diamond" discovery work and occasionally extend feature teams' capacity for early-stage concept testing. This role will also be expected to travel domestically a handful of times per year for onsite research with our customers, shadowing clinicians who use our products. This is a hybrid role based in Boston, MA, and it reports to the UX Design Senior Manager within Clinicals.

About The Team

The Mobile UX team within athenahealth Clinicals leads the user experience design for many of our company’s clinician-facing iOS and Android mobile apps—including the #1 rated mobile EHR on the App Store! Our team also designs experiences for ambient and several AI- or voice-based experiences, as well as any relevant (desktop) workflows within our web application to ensure a cohesive cross-platform user experience. This team and surrounding departments are based in India.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Own discovery research and experience measurement initiatives.
• Build deep understanding of healthcare and clinician workflows in order to inform product and design strategy.
• Define research questions, hypotheses, success measures, and appropriate qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method approaches to evaluate opportunities and experiences. Navigate ambiguity with expert problem framing and thoughtful consideration of risks, dependencies, and business constraints.
• Plan and conduct research across the product development lifecycle, including strategic discovery, concept evaluation, experience measurement through a variety of metrics, onsite customer shadowing, and early-stage feature research.
• Synthesize research findings into clear insights, recommendations, models, and narratives that support evidence-based product and design decisions. Present research findings to varying audiences.
• Create frameworks, prototypes, models, or other artifacts that communicate research insights and experience concepts.
• Develop a long-term vision backed by user research evidence and outline practical, phased plans that connect research questions to user and business outcomes.
• Partner with UX designers, product managers, engineering teams, and other stakeholders to translate research findings into product strategy and continued action.

Additional Job Responsibilities

• Lead onsite customer research from planning through insight delivery: Identifying research needs, coordinating participant recruitment, conducting contextual observation, synthesizing findings, and presenting results.
• Advance research practices across the Mobile UX team by sharing methods, coaching partners on research approaches, improving processes, and contributing expertise on emerging UX research practices/industry trends.
• Apply AI tools thoughtfully to research planning, synthesis, analysis, and problem definition; evaluate where AI can improve research workflows while applying appropriate human judgment to findings, limitations, and implications.
• Support product teams with early-stage concept research when additional research capacity or expertise is needed.
• Plan and facilitate workshops that help teams interpret research, define opportunities, and align on next steps.
• Build effective working relationships across multidisciplinary teams and organizational boundaries.

Expected Education & Skills

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Business, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of professional experience in user experience research, product strategy, or a related function.
• Extensive experience selecting and applying qualitative user research methods and UX frameworks to complex product and workflow questions.
• Advanced knowledge of UX research tools, technologies, and services, with the ability to select appropriate methods and tools for different research needs.
• Hands-on experience with and/or exposure to emerging AI tools. Ability to dive into new tools independently and apply them.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, attention to detail, strong analytical thinking, ability to think through a problem from multiple perspectives.
• Preferred: Quantitative research or analysis skills, including experience with behavioral analytics, SQL, or data visualization
• Preferred: Knowledge of healthcare industry trends, workflows, regulatory considerations, or related healthcare technology topics

Expected Compensation

$153,000 - $259,000

The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates. Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.

About Athenahealth

Our vision:

In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients — powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Our company culture:

Our talented employees — or athenistas, as we call ourselves — spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.

Our DEI commitment:

Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.

What We Can Do For You

Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative workspaces — some offices even welcome dogs. We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment, full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth enables employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation. In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.

Learn more about our culture and benefits here: athenahealth.com/careers

https://www.athenahealth.com/careers/equal-opportunity