Lead User Experience Researcher

UKG • Atlanta, GA

72d • $145,600 - $209,300

About The Position

UKG is hiring a Lead UX Researcher to guide development of Frontline Worker Network, a UKG-owned, 0-to-1 network delivering mobile experiences that connect shift and hourly employees with curated services, including financial wellness, health, and everyday essentials. The role leads high-impact research from problem framing through post-launch evaluation, translating customer evidence into product direction and identifying experiences that support business and customer success.

The researcher defines and carries out research across a multi-sided market involving workers, employers, and service partners. They independently conduct and activate mixed-methods research amid competing priorities and ambiguity, balance speed with rigor, identify knowledge gaps, and communicate findings through narratives that help stakeholders make decisions. The role also contributes leadership and methodological guidance within the UX Research team, reports to the head of UX research, and advises senior stakeholders on strategic direction.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in HCDE, Cognitive Psychology, Human Factors, or a related field.
• At least 7 years of proven success leading User Research projects with demonstrated impact.
• Experience conducting research with participants in multi-sided marketplace ecosystems and understanding competing needs among stakeholder groups.
• Expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods, including usability testing, interviews, surveys, contextual inquiry, field studies, behavioral analytics, segmentation, and A/B testing.
• Excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Experience researching across multiple interaction paradigms, such as web applications, conversational interfaces, or AI-powered experiences.
• Experience leveraging AI or critically considering how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving.
• Proven ability to lead research initiatives, influence product decisions, and mentor researchers.

Nice To Haves

• B2B, marketplace, e-commerce, or enterprise software research experience.
• Experience researching with deskless or hourly worker populations.
• Fintech, financial wellness, or sensitive-domain research experience, particularly involving trust and adoption in employer-embedded financial products.
• Subject matter expertise in frontline workforce, workforce management, human resource management, or talent management.
• Experience building 0-to-1 products or bringing new offerings to market, particularly within enterprise software companies.
• Experience building AI systems and addressing trust, transparency, and mental model formation.

Responsibilities

• Define the research strategy and roadmap for a multi-sided market program spanning discovery, usage, and retention, with research involving workers, employers, and service partners.
• Design and execute generative and evaluative research using methods suited to the research question, including interviews, usability studies, surveys, diary studies, and contextual inquiry.
• Develop recruiting and research approaches for deskless, hourly, mobile-only frontline workers, taking account of their constraints and contexts.
• Synthesize qualitative research, survey data, telemetry, and business context to build a coherent understanding of customer behavior.
• Translate findings into actionable insights and decision frameworks that drive product adoption and conversion metrics.
• Evaluate new service categories, including credit, insurance, and whole-worker support, by assessing market viability, user needs, and integration opportunities to inform category expansion.
• Establish customer-centered quality measures for emerging experiences and evaluate whether shipped products meet expectations.
• Influence product strategy and design using deep understanding of users, markets, and competitors.
• Drive alignment through insight narratives, working sessions, and presentations to senior leaders.
• Lead cross-functional partners in ideation and reviews, translating research findings into product strategy and roadmap priorities.
• Mentor User Research team members in behavioral science methods, experimentation, data interpretation, and behavioral frameworks.
• Use AI-assisted research tools thoughtfully to accelerate analysis while maintaining rigor and human oversight.
• Develop and socialize strategic points of view on key topics, provide thought leadership, and advise senior stakeholders.

Benefits

• Employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan.
• Employees may be eligible to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation.
• UKG describes its benefits and rewards as part of its employee offering; specific benefits are not listed in the posting.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior