UX Researcher

CivilGrid; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 119,000 - 161,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Early-stage equity

Medical insurance

FSA

Unlimited PTO

401(k)

Remote-friendly work environment

Job summary

CivilGrid is a rapidly growing civil design platform helping utilities, engineers, and municipalities plan, design, and build smarter and faster. As a UX Researcher, you’ll be the voice of the customer, turning field workflows into product direction by running interviews, usability tests, and synthesis with PMs and engineers.

You’ll work in a hybrid setup from Boston, MA or San Francisco, CA, collaborating with a small, mission‑driven team to shape a category‑defining product used by utilities

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of experience in UX research, at least some in a B2B or technical product environment.
• Ability to run a full study independently—recruiting, discussion guide, moderation, synthesis—with light oversight.
• Comfort turning messy, qualitative input into a clear point of view that a PM/engineer can act on.
• Able to talk to a civil engineer or field technician about their workflow and ask good follow‑ups, even without industry background.
• You default to fast, focused research; a handful of conversations this week beats a large study next quarter.
• Strong written and verbal communication—able to present findings to non‑researchers without jargon.

Responsibilities

• Plan and run qualitative research — interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing — to understand how customers plan, scope, and execute civil design projects.
• Partner with PMs and designers early to shape the right questions before design/engineering time.
• Synthesize findings into clear, actionable insights and share them to influence roadmap decisions.
• Run usability testing on in-progress designs and prototypes and iterate quickly based on learnings.
• Build a lightweight, repeatable research practice with templates, a shared repository, and regular customer conversations across the product team.
• Support quantitative research like surveys and usage data analysis to complement qualitative findings.

Skills

UX research

Qualitative research

Usability testing

Recruitment

Moderation

Synthesis

Communication

Job description

ABOUT CIVILGRID

CivilGrid is the trusted civil design platform powering affordable infrastructure renewal and growth. We give utilities, civil engineers, and municipalities a single, collaborative source of truth for what's underground so teams can plan, design, and build faster, smarter, and safer.

Our platform consolidates utility records, geotechnical and environmental data, paving moratoriums, and jurisdictional requirements directly from 3,000+ utilities, agencies, and municipalities with full chain-of-custody documentation. Teams at PG&E, Mark Thomas, and dozens of leading engineering firms use CivilGrid to cut research time by up to 88%, reduce project costs, prevent dig-ins, and accelerate delivery on the projects that keep communities running.

We're a venture-backed Series A startup tackling a $4.7T US infrastructure market that has been underserved by software for decades. Founded by industry insiders, each with 10+ years in utilities and civil engineering, we move fast, ship work that matters, and stay close to the customers and field teams we build for.

WHY THIS ROLE

As a UX Researcher at CivilGrid, you'll be the voice of the customer inside our product organization. Our users - civil engineers, GIS teams, and field crews - make high-stakes decisions based on what our platform shows them, and we need someone who can get close to those workflows and turn what they learn into product direction. You'll partner with PMs, designers, and engineers across the product org to plan and run research, and help the team build habits around talking to customers regularly, not just before big launches.

This role reports to the Head of Product. It is a hybrid role with expectations that you are working from our Boston, MA or San Francisco, CA office at least 2 days per week if hired.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Plan and run qualitative research - interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing - to understand how customers plan, scope, and execute civil design projects

• Partner with PMs and designers early in the process to shape the right questions before design and engineering time is spent

• Synthesize findings into clear, actionable insights and share them in a way that changes minds and shapes roadmap decisions

• Run usability testing on in-progress designs and prototypes, and help teams iterate quickly based on what you learn

• Build a lightweight, repeatable research practice, including templates, a shared research repository, and a regular cadence of customer conversations across the product team

• Support quantitative research where useful, such as surveys, usage data analysis, to complement qualitative findings

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• 3–5 years of experience in UX research, at least some of it in a B2B or technical product environment

• You can run a full study independently - recruiting, discussion guide, moderation, synthesis - with light oversight

• You're comfortable turning messy, qualitative input into a clear point of view that a PM or engineer can act on

• You can talk to a civil engineer or field technician about their workflow and ask good follow‑up questions, even without prior industry background

• You default to fast, focused research, knowing that a handful of good customer conversations this week beats a large study next quarter

• Strong written and verbal communication - you can present findings to non‑researchers without jargon

BONUS POINTS

• Bonus: experience researching for technical, spatial, or mapping/GIS-based products

• Bonus: prior industry experience in Utilities, Construction, or Civil Engineering

• Bonus: experience setting up a research practice or repository from scratch at an early‑stage company

HOW WE WORK

We're a small, but rapidly growing team that ships. Expect direct feedback, real ownership from day one, and proximity to customers — huge utilities, public agencies, and engineering firms whose work depends on what we build. We default to in‑person collaboration where it matters and remote‑friendly flexibility otherwise. We hire people who care deeply about their craft and the communities our customers serve.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The base salary range for this role is $119,000 - $160,984.

Base salary is only one part of your total compensation package at CivilGrid, which also includes meaningful early‑stage equity, comprehensive benefits, and the opportunity to shape a category‑defining company. The base salary range listed above may encompass various levels and/or geographic locations; final offers are determined based on the candidate's experience, skills, level, and work location.

In addition to base and equity, we offer:

• Company‑funded medical, dental, and vision insurance — including medical plans at no cost to the employee

• FSA (health and dependent care)

• Unlimited PTO and a culture that expects you to actually use it

• 401(k) plan

• Flexible, remote‑friendly work environment

• A high‑trust team, real ownership, and the chance to do the most meaningful work of your career

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

CivilGrid is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Employment decisions at CivilGrid are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please contact us — we’re happy to help.