Director, Product Research & Content

DailyPay•New York, NY

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

As the Director of Product Research, you will be the primary architect of our user insights strategy, ensuring that every Product decision at DailyPay is grounded in a deep understanding of our users' needs. As a player/coach, you will lead, mentor, and scale a high-performing research and content team, to provide the strategic "so what" that shapes our long-term roadmap. This is a high-impact leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of human behavior, business strategy, and financial innovation. This role is based in our New York City office, this hybrid position blends remote focus with high-energy, on-site collaboration. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with our UX and Product teams to solve complex problems and turn raw insights into a world-class user experience

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree and Equivalent Experience: 8+ years of experience in product/UX research, with at least 3+ years in a leadership or management capacity.
Pragmatic Problem Solving: A proven ability to balance rigorous research standards with the "need for speed" in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
Strategic Thinking: Experience moving from "finding" to "recommendation," with a track record of influencing executive-level product strategy.
Full-Stack Methodological Skills: Mastery of qualitative and quantitative methods, with the ability to coach others on when to use "scrappy" vs. "deep-dive" approaches.
UX Strategy: Extensive experience validating complex digital interactions and UI patterns, providing the design-centric insights necessary to evolve a world-class fintech interface that is both intuitive and high-performing.
Fintech or Complex Marketplace Experience: A deep appreciation for the complexities of financial data, regulated industries, or multi-sided marketplaces.
Exceptional Communication: The ability to distill complex human behaviors into clear, compelling narratives that move stakeholders to action.
Collaborative Spirit: A "player-coach" mentality with a passion for building inclusive team cultures and working across functional boundaries.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership: Partner with the VP of UX & Product Design to align research initiatives with the 12-to-24-month product vision and business goals.
Team Development: Recruit, mentor, and manage a small team of researchers, fostering a culture of rigorous inquiry, professional growth, and high impact.
Methodological Excellence: Oversee the end-to-end research lifecycle—from foundational, generative studies to rapid evaluative testing—ensuring high-quality, actionable insights.
Cross-Functional Influence: Act as a strategic advisor to Product, Engineering, and Marketing, using storytelling to socialize insights and drive a unified understanding of our users.
Research Operations: Scale our research infrastructure, including participant recruitment, insight repositories, and the "democratization" of self-serve tools for the broader team.
Business Impact: Quantify the ROI of research by connecting user insights to key business metrics like retention, conversion, and financial wellness outcomes.
Market Advocacy: Stay at the forefront of the fintech landscape, ensuring our research methods account for the unique nuances of earned wage access.