Principal UX Researcher

This position requires office presence of a minimum of 5 days per week and is only located in the location(s) posted. No relocation is offered. We are seeking an experienced Principal UX Researcher to shape the future of employee experiences across HR and workforce technology platforms. In this role, you will lead strategic research initiatives that uncover employee needs, inform product decisions, and drive measurable improvements in user experience, adoption, and business outcomes. What You’ll Do Define research strategies for complex HR technology initiatives, aligning research objectives to product roadmaps, business priorities, employee experience goals, and measurable outcomes. Develop and implement comprehensive research plans and methodologies to gather user insights that inform high-level design and product decisions across the organization. Identify critical knowledge gaps across employee journeys, workflows, systems, and user groups, and recommend the appropriate research approach to inform decisions. Lead research across the full product lifecycle, from early discovery and problem framing through concept validation, usability testing, launch readiness, and post-launch optimization. Determine the right mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to uncover user needs, validate assumptions, reduce delivery risk, and improve product adoption Development & Research Artifacts Develop research artifacts that clearly communicate user needs, pain points, behaviors, motivations, and decision drivers across key employee and HR personas. Translate research findings into journey maps, service blueprints, experience principles, opportunity areas, and actionable recommendations that guide product and design teams. Create reusable research assets and insight repositories that help teams make faster, more informed decisions across related products and employee journeys. Ensure research artifacts are clear, credible, and tailored to the needs of product teams, designers, technologists, HR stakeholders, and senior leaders. Advanced Data Analysis & Strategic Reporting Synthesize complex qualitative and quantitative inputs into clear insights, themes, and recommendations that inform product strategy and experience priorities. Connect research findings to business outcomes such as adoption, efficiency, satisfaction, reduced rework, improved task completion, and better employee experience. Develop executive-ready readouts that tell a clear story, highlight implications, and recommend practical next steps for decision-makers. Use research metrics, behavioral data, survey results, usability findings, and product analytics to evaluate experience effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities. Collaboration & Influence Partner with product, design, technology, HR, analytics, and change teams to ensure user insights are embedded throughout planning, prioritization, design, and delivery. Influence senior stakeholders by framing user problems, tradeoffs, risks, and opportunities in a way that supports better business and product decisions. Facilitate workshops, discovery sessions, research readouts, and alignment discussions that bring cross-functional teams around a shared understanding of user needs. Serve as a trusted advisor to product and design teams, helping translate research insights into experience direction, requirements, and measurable improvements Continuous Improvement, Innovation & Advocacy Advance research standards, methods, templates, and practices to improve consistency, quality, and impact across the UX and product organization. Stay current on emerging UX research methods, AI-enabled research tools, employee experience trends, and enterprise technology practices. Promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making by helping teams understand when research is needed, how to use insights, and how to measure experience outcomes. Maintain a repository of research findings, stay current with the latest UX research