UX Research Manager

Retool; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 194,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) matching

Medical, dental, vision

Hybrid work location

Job summary

Retool is seeking a Senior UX Researcher to shape product strategy and design in the era of AI. You will lead a small, strategic research team, collaborating with designers, engineers, and product managers to uncover opportunities and elevate our products.

You will own research end-to-end, balancing speed and rigor, and help embed user-centered thinking across the org. This is a hybrid US-based role with equity and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in UX/product/related field, enterprise SaaS background ideal.
• Own research end-to-end from scoping to analysis.
• Strong synthesis and storytelling for diverse audiences.
• Experience shaping product direction via early research and usability testing.
• Comfort in ambiguity and bias toward action.

Responsibilities

• Own research initiatives to inform product strategy and design.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver insights.
• Identify knowledge gaps and questions to prioritize opportunities.
• Plan, conduct and analyze qualitative and quantitative studies.
• Distill insights into clear, actionable narratives for teams.

Skills

UX research

Qualitative methods

Quantitative methods

Synthesis

Storytelling

Usability testing

Product research

Collaboration

Communication

Prioritization

Education

Bachelors in HCI/related field

Job description

About Retool

Nearly every company in the world runs on custom software for critical operations like tracking performance metrics, handling support workflows, building admin dashboards, and countless processes you might never have thought of. But most companies don't have the resources to properly invest in these tools, leading to a lot of old, clunky internal software, or worse, teams still stuck in manual and spreadsheet workflows.

About Retool

Nearly every company in the world runs on custom software for critical operations like tracking performance metrics, handling support workflows, building admin dashboards, and countless processes you might never have thought of. But most companies don't have the resources to properly invest in these tools, leading to a lot of old, clunky internal software, or worse, teams still stuck in manual and spreadsheet workflows. AI has changed who gets to build software. The definition of “developer” now includes analysts, operators, and domain experts creating solutions directly—and the tools they reach for are multiplying by the week. That's both an opportunity and a challenge: as more people build with more AI tools, the risk of shipping ungoverned software into production grows just as fast. At Retool, we’re building the platform that makes all of it safe to ship. Build with any AI tool you want, then deploy into one place that connects to your real business data, enforces enterprise policies automatically, and lets teams create once and reuse everywhere with shared, trusted components. The cost of building software has collapsed. The cost of governing it hasn't—and that's the problem we solve. Developers and domain experts have already automated over 100 million hours of work on our platform, freeing them to focus on creative problem-solving and strategic work that drives real business value. The people closest to the problem can now build the software to solve it, safely, and within enterprise guardrails. Let’s build the future together.

Why We’re Looking For You

We’re looking for a Senior UX Researcher to inform our product and design strategy, we’re reimagining how software gets built in the era of AI, and your research will light the way. You’ll be a foundational leading member on a small, strategic research team, with an opportunity to shape the culture of research at Retool, and define how insights drive impact across the organization. Though a new function, research is already deeply valued across the organization, informing key strategic designs and guiding our expansion into new customer segments and AI-powered experiences. You’ll collaborate with a curious and customer-centric group of designers, engineers, and product managers who are eager to partner with research to uncover new opportunities to elevate our products.

What You’ll Do

In this role, you’ll own research initiatives to inform product strategy and design, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to deliver insights that shape Retool’s future. You will:

• Work with stakeholders to identify knowledge gaps, latent assumptions, and open questions to prioritize opportunities for impactful research.
• Plan, conduct, and analyze studies leveraging a range of qualitative and quantitative methods—from tactical usability tests, to in-depth interviews, in-product surveys, and more—to generate actionable learnings.
• Balance speed with research rigor, creatively leveraging research methods to work within constraints.
• Triangulate insights from across user research, product usage, support, and market signals, to surface meaningful patterns.
• Distill complex data into clear, compelling stories for teams across the org, from product, design, and engineering peers to executive stakeholders.

As an early member of the research team, you’ll also collaborate with your teammates to shape our research practice, evolve our processes, and help embed user-centered thinking across everything we do.

The Skillset You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in UX research, product research, or a related field, ideally in Enterprise Saas or technical platform environments
• Proven ability to own research projects end-to-end, from scoping through to execution and analysis, leveraging a range of qualitative and quantitative methods
• Strong synthesis and storytelling skills, with an ability to distill ambiguity into clarity and make insights resonate with diverse audiences
• Experience shaping product direction through early-stage generative research and iterative usability testing
• Comfort working in ambiguous problem spaces and a bias toward action—you're as strategic as you are scrappy
• Deep curiosity about how complex systems work, especially technical workflows or developer tools
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with an understanding for how to bring others into the process and rally teams around user insights
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, scope projects appropriately, and deliver high-quality work on time

Additional Nice-to-haves

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Human Factors, Computer Science, or similar field
• Experience working on AI products, along with an understanding of how these technologies work and implications for how users interact with them
• Familiarity with design thinking frameworks, usability evaluation techniques, and A/B testing
• Interest and excitement in leading and growing our small UXR team

For candidates based in the United States, the pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents base salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings (OTE) for commissionable roles. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Retool and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors such as (but not limited to), scope and responsibilities, the candidate’s experience and qualifications, and location.

Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered. Retool provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

The base pay range for this role is $194,000 – $260,000 per year.

Retool offers generous benefits to all employees and hybrid work location. For more information, please visit the benefits and perks section of our careers page!

Retool is currently set up to employ all roles in the US and specific roles in the UK. To find roles that can be employed in the UK, please refer to our careers page and review the indicated locations.