Staff User Experience Researcher

Ancestry; United States; Hybrid; USD 128,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

Ancestry is seeking a Staff UX Researcher to drive end-to-end research strategy across key product domains. You will collaborate with Product, Design, Analytics, and Engineering to uncover user needs, reduce friction, and steer roadmap decisions through rigorous, mixed-method insights.

You will own foundational and strategic studies, guide research roadmaps, and advocate for data-driven design choices while advancing a privacy‑conscious, inclusive user experience.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of UX research in consumer software teams.
• Proven mixed-methods research with qualitative and quantitative studies.
• Experience incorporating AI into research workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end research roadmaps for key product spaces and tie research objectives to domain success metrics.
• Drive generative, exploratory research during early discovery to define product direction.
• Lead or delegate tactical research such as usability testing and concept validation with product and design partners.
• Design and execute qualitative (interviews, usability testing, diary studies) and quantitative (surveys, card sorts, tree tests) studies as a mixed methods researcher.
• Incorporate AI into research workflows to accelerate and augment insights.
• Act as an embedded strategic product partner with Product, Design, and Engineering to shape feature roadmaps.

Skills

UX research

Mixed methods

AI in research

Data analytics

Cross-functional collaboration

Ambiguity navigation

User interviews

Job description

About Ancestry

When you join Ancestry, you join a human-centered company where every person’s story is important. Ancestry®, the global leader in family history, connects everyone with their past so they can discover, preserve, and share their unique family stories. With our unparalleled collection of more than 65 billion records, over 3.5 million subscribers, and over 27 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. Over the past 40 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving, and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families. We are committed to our location flexible work approach, allowing you to choose to work in the nearest office, from your home, or a hybrid of both (subject to location restrictions and roles that are required to be in the office- see the full list of eligible US locations HERE). We will continue to hire and promote beyond the boundaries of our office locations, to enable broadened possibilities for employee diversity. Together, we work every day to foster a work environment that's inclusive as well as diverse, and where our people can be themselves. Every idea and perspective is valued so that our products and services reflect the global and diverse clients we serve.

We encourage applications from minorities, women, the disabled, protected veterans and all other qualified applicants. Passionate about dedicating your work to enriching people’s lives? Join the curious. As a Staff UX Researcher, you will lead research strategy and execution for a product domain at Ancestry. Functioning as a strategic partner to Product, Design, and Analytics leads, you will drive product discovery, eliminate user friction, and shape product direction, proactively guiding the thinking of your team. You will bring deep expertise as a mixed methods researcher, balancing lean research agility and methodological rigor, translating raw behavioural observations into structured, actionable insights that directly influence team metrics.

What you will do

• Domain Research Strategy: Own end-to-end research roadmaps for key product spaces, identifying unaddressed user needs and tying research objectives to domain success metrics.
• Foundational Research & Product Discovery: Drive generative, exploratory research during the early product discovery phase to deeply analyse problem spaces, uncover unmet user needs, and define product direction before design and execution.
• Tactical Research: Lead or delegate more tactical research to product and design partners (such as usability testing and concept validation), ensuring methodological rigor while freeing up time to focus on strategic initiatives.
• Methodological Execution & Triangulation: Design and execute qualitative (interviews, usability testing, diary studies) and quantitative (surveys, card sorts, tree tests) studies as a mixed methods researcher, triangulating findings with product analytics behavioural data, member services and social feedback, and external trend sources for a holistic user perspective.
• AI Integration & Experimentation: Incorporate AI into research workflows to streamline processes, demonstrating a strong desire to continuously experiment with new tools to accelerate and augment insights.
• Strategic Product Partnership: Act as an embedded strategic product leader--not just a research executor--working alongside Product, Design, and Engineering leads to co-own domain strategy, challenge product assumptions, and directly shape feature roadmaps.

Who you are

• Experience: 7+ years of UX research experience, ideally embedded in cross-functional software development teams delivering large-scale consumer applications.
• Comfort Navigating Ambiguity: Proven ability to thrive in ambiguous environments, taking undefined or complex product spaces and breaking them down into structured, actionable research plans.
• Mixed Methods Expertise: Proven track record as a mixed methods researcher with proficiency in both qualitative and quantitative research execution, demonstrating a high degree of comfort with triangulating diverse data sets including behavioural data, member services and social feedback, and external and trend sources.
• AI Workflow Experience: Practical experience incorporating AI into research workflows and a proven desire to continuously experiment with emerging methodologies.
• Methodological Flexibility: Expertise in knowing when to deploy rapid, lean usability checks versus foundational, longitudinal studies based on project risk and timeline constraints.
• Data Literacy: Strong fluency in product analytics; comfortable partnering with analytics to validate qualitative hypotheses at scale using behavioural data.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to break down functional silos, working seamlessly alongside Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Marketing leads.

Why Ancestry?

Join a dedicated team working to connect millions of people with their past and enrich their futures. At Ancestry, you will play a role in pioneering legal solutions that shape the consumer genomics industry. Your contributions will help protect the privacy and stories of our customers while supporting a brand recognised and trusted around the world.

We offer a collaborative workplace, competitive compensation, and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

Compensation

We are pleased to share the base hourly range for this position: $128,000 - $152,000 with eligibility for bonus, equity and comprehensive benefits including health, dental and vision. The actual salary will vary by geographic region and job experience.

Additional Information

Ancestry is an Equal Opportunity Employer that makes employment decisions without regard to race, colour, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, military or veteran status, citizenship, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. In addition, Ancestry will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

All job offers are contingent on a background check screen that complies with applicable law.

For candidates who live in San Francisco, CA, pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Ancestry will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Ancestry is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Ancestry via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of Ancestry. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Ancestry as a result of the referral or through other means.

Let’s write the next chapter of history together. Our employees are fueled by our inquisitive nature and united by our shared commitment to help people discover, craft, and connect their family history. Whether you’re a natural problem solver, a strategic builder, an inspired creative, or something in between— we invite you to share your story and join us in making history.