Senior Human Factors Researcher

ŌURA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 147,900 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity packages

Health, dental, vision insurance

20 days paid time off plus holidays

Oura Ring and employee discounts

Job summary

Ōura in San Francisco is seeking a Senior Human Factors Researcher to significantly influence the design and comfort of Ōura rings. This role involves conducting extensive human factors research and collaborating across teams to ensure high usability and fit based on human modeling data.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in ergonomics, extensive research experience in wearable technology, and the ability to convert findings into practical design parameters.

The position offers a hybrid work setup, competitive salary, and excellent benefits supporting employee well-being.

Qualifications

• 5+ years conducting human factors research on physical hardware.
• Experience interpreting 3D anthropometric datasets.
• Strong command of ergonomic principles.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end research across product lifecycle.
• Collaborate with designers and engineers.
• Translate research data into design requirements.

Skills

3D anthropometric datasets interpretation

Experimental design

Usability testing

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in relevant field

Tools

CAD software

Digital human modeling tools

Job description

Our mission at Oura is to empower every person to own their inner potential. Our award-winning products help our global community gain a deeper knowledge of their readiness, activity, and sleep quality by using their Oura Ring and its connected app. We've helped millions of people understand and improve their health by providing daily insights and practical steps to inspire healthy lifestyles.

Empowering the world starts with living our values and empowering our team. As a quickly growing company focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives, we ensure that our team members have what they need to do their best work — both in and out of the office.

We're looking for a Senior Human Factors Researcher to join our Design Research team. This role is ideal for a researcher with a deep technical background in physical hardware and ergonomics who's ready to own end-to-end research for our next generation of wearable technology.

As a Senior Researcher, you'll be a key contributor to the design and development of Ōura rings, ensuring our devices deliver world-class comfort, fit, and usability. You'll work hands-on with Industrial Design and Hardware Engineering to translate complex human data into actionable design requirements, and you'll help non-technical teams reason about and apply that data in their own work, interpreting human modeling data to evaluate form factors, pressure-test fit and comfort hypotheses, and turn findings into concrete direction.

This is a hybrid position. You will be expected to be in the SF or Helsinki office 2-3 days a week depending on the schedule, potentially more days if running a study.

What You'll Do

• Own end-to-end research. Plan and conduct human factors and ergonomics evaluations across the full product lifecycle, focused on how users physically interact with wearable hardware and how form factor choices perform against the underlying human data.
• Collaborate deeply across functions. Work closely with industrial and product designers, fellow human factors researchers, electrical and mechanical engineers, and program management so that form factor evaluations answer the questions that matter most for the product.
• Translate data into design requirements. Convert anthropometric and human modeling findings into concrete, actionable parameters, sensor placement, sizing, geometry, and materials.
• Deliver insights that drive decisions. Produce high-impact findings that directly shape hardware decisions and support critical product validation milestones.
• Champion human factors and human modeling. Advocate for the value of human factors in the design and development process. Utilize human modeling data in form factor evaluations, sizing, and, helping non-technical teams interpret and apply it confidently to their workflows.
• Support quality and compliance. Contribute to the documentation required for quality assurance and future regulatory submissions.

What You Likely Have

• Education: A Master's or Ph.D. in a field related to the human body, measurement science, body modeling, statistics, design integration, or applied human factors e.g., Human Factors, Ergonomics, Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Biological Anthropology, Computer Vision, Geometric/Computational Modeling, Machine Learning, Statistics, Data Science, ME/EE, Physics, HCI, Cognitive Psychology, or Anthropometry/Kinesiology.
• Experience: 5+ years conducting human factors research focused on physical hardware, wearables, or body‑worn technology
• Working with human modeling data: Experience interpreting and applying 3D anthropometric datasets (e.g., from photogrammetry, laser scanning, or MRI) to inform product parameters and form factor decisions. Possess a strong fluency as both a consumer and an analyst of this data.
• Technical expertise: Strong command of ergonomic and anthropometric principles and how to apply them to hardware development, including evaluating comfort and fit across a diverse global population.
• Research methods: Mastery of experimental design, usability testing, physical interaction studies, and comfort assessments, plus a large toolkit you can adapt to novel situations that require balancing divergent goals and tradeoffs.
• Analysis: Proficiency analyzing and deriving insights from both qualitative and quantitative data, including analyzing human body data in Python, R, or MATLAB to support form factor evaluation and design recommendations.
• Tools: Familiarity with CAD and common digital human modeling tools, or a track record of close collaboration with hardware engineering to translate findings into form.
• Communication: Proven ability to communicate technical findings clearly to creative, engineering, and other stakeholders, teammates, and external partners.
• Judgment and organization: Sharp analytical judgment under pressure, with excellent organization and attention to detail across competing priorities.
• Excited (or at least willing) to work early hours PST, 7–8am is generally fair game, to collaborate across time zones.
• Able to read this full posting and share your favorite color, and why, during your first interaction with Ōura.

Bonus Points

• Experience with computational geometry or 3D analysis tools such as Rhino, Grasshopper, or Python geometry libraries.
• Familiarity with digital human modeling tools.
• Familiarity with CAD, 3D printing, or physical prototyping to iterate quickly on hardware concepts.
• Background in global user research and inclusive design practices.
• Knowledge of physiological monitoring or wearable sensor integration.
• Prior experience in health tech, consumer electronics, or fitness wearables.

At Oura, we care about you and your well‑being. Everyone here at Oura has a ring of their own and we are continually looking to improve employee health.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Health, dental, vision insurance, and mental health resources
• An Oura Ring of your own plus employee discounts for friends & family
• 20 days of paid time off plus 13 paid holidays plus 8 days of flexible wellness time off
• Paid sick leave and parental leave

• Region 1: $172,550 - $203,000
• Region 2: $158,950 - $187,000
• Region 3: $147,900 - $174,000

Oura is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals seeking employment at Oura are considered without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.