Lead UX Researcher

Thomson Reuters•Eagan, MN

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position is open due to an existing vacancy to support our evolving business needs. Come and join the Tax UX Research Team as we work to transform Thomson Reuters into a truly Digital company. We are not just changing the way customers engage with us — we are transforming and re-imagining our business by focusing on the individual user. We are looking for curious, smart, self-driven UX professionals who love the challenge of turning complex problems and constraints into elegant solutions that meet our users’ needs. Our team promotes an agile, collaborative, supportive environment where diverse thinking, innovative design, and experimentation is welcomed and encouraged. Our work focuses on a large portfolio of transformational efforts as we work together to deliver on the promise of making it easy to do business with Thomson Reuters. In this Lead position, you will drive the end-to-end UX research practice for a complex, high-impact product portfolio. You will be expected to lead both strategic generative research and evaluative studies, shaping how the team uncovers and acts on deep user insights. As a Lead, you will go beyond execution — you will form key partnerships with product, engineering, and design to surface deeply impactful research opportunities, advocate for user-centered decisions in product roadmaps, and provide strategic and thought leadership on UX research practices and methods. You will support less experienced researchers on the team through coaching, peer review, and by continuously raising the bar for research quality and influence. You are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the end-to-end product development process, with a special emphasis on demonstrating the business impact of UX research and insights. You think beyond the click and ask: Why would anyone want to push this button in the first place? You are an experienced leader with experience working side by side with Product, Design, and Engineering leaders to solve the right problems at scale. You can write about research findings in a way that does not require voice-over — clear, compelling, and self-contained. You can sketch in a collaborative way to illustrate a flow or make a point. You bring deep knowledge and experience with a wide variety of research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, including: Qualitative analysis and reporting; interviewing and group facilitation techniques, Contextual Inquiries, Remote Usability Testing, Parallel Prototyping, Persona Development, Un-moderated feedback tools (e.g., UserZoom), Ability to triangulate data from many sources, Other User-Centered Design (UCD) methods to develop user insights. You have deep knowledge and practical experience structuring user needs through fundamental UX frameworks such as Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) and Customer Experience Outcomes (CXOs). You use these frameworks not just to describe user behavior, but to connect research insights directly to business and product decisions. You can keep pace with agile testing while maintaining the strategic perspective needed to give design teams long-term goals for hitting user objectives. You influence decisions and next steps with product and design partners, are comfortable navigating trade-offs, and advocate for user-centered outcomes in roadmap prioritization. AI & Research Acceleration: Experience building, using, or experimenting with AI tools (e.g., Claude and other AI platforms). Practical experience applying AI to accelerate. Experience building prototypes with AI tools that pull directly from a body of insights to illustrate recommendations. A mindset focused on responsible, thoughtful adoption of AI to raise the efficiency and impact of UX research. Lead Expectations in an Embedded Model: Proactive and self-directed — identifies opportunities and acts without waiting for direction. Provides strategic and thought leadership on UX research practices, methods, and the team’s overall research approach. Partner with other customer insight functions, including Product Marketing and Customer Experience teams to create a more wholistic research roadmap and triangulate data. Takes initiative to shape research strategy, not just execute studies. Forms key partnerships with product, engineering, and design to unearth deeply impactful research opportunities. Advocates for user-centered decisions in roadmaps and influences next steps with product and design partners. Navigates trade-offs thoughtfully and helps teams make informed, user-grounded decisions under constraints. Supports less experienced UX researchers through coaching, peer review, and mentorship. Continuously raises the bar for what “Lead level” research looks like in quality, influence, and outcomes. A strong team player who collaborates naturally while operating autonomously and owning results end to end.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a Social Science, or Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Interaction Design, Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, or a related field.
8+ years of experience applying research to high-volume, interactive B2B and B2C applications, rich web-based applications, or websites.
Strong analytical problem solving, decision-making, and leadership skills.
In-depth understanding of user-centered design principles and tools.
Familiarity with SharePoint and project management tools such as Jira.
Familiarity performing studies in a virtual lab environment.
Familiarity with data-logging tools and systems such as Tableau, Qualtrics, Adobe Analytics, or other BI analytic programs.
Experience building, using, or experimenting with AI tools (e.g., Claude and other AI platforms).
Practical experience applying AI to accelerate research.
Experience building prototypes with AI tools that pull directly from a body of insights to illustrate recommendations.
Previous experience with design or research projects involving complex workflows, visualization of large datasets, operating system-level tools, and both web and software environments is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own the full research lifecycle — from intake and scoping through execution to demonstrating measurable business impact.
Quickly synthesize business objectives and customer needs to define the right research scope.
Develop a UX research approach, schedule, and detailed test plan.
Plan, partner with Research Ops on developing strategies on how best to recruit our target audience, script, facilitate, collect, analyze, and document data.
Lead strategic generative research to identify unmet user needs and long-horizon product opportunities.
Identify and articulate user needs first, and then potential usability issues, both verbally and through documentation.
Transform data into prioritized, actionable recommendations within a short turnaround time.
Influence product and design decisions — not just report findings, but drive next steps.
Clearly communicate qualitative analysis, recommendations, and potential design solutions.
Create persuasive presentations for product owners, developers, visual designers, other UX team members, and C-level executives.
Facilitate internal meetings to triage and manage research findings.
Demonstrate the business impact of research through clear before/after framing, behavioral outcomes, or measurable product changes.

Benefits

Flexible vacation
Two company-wide Mental Health Days off
Access to the Headspace app
Retirement savings
Tuition reimbursement
Employee incentive programs
Resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing
Paid volunteer days off annually
Opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
Market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs
Competitive 401k plan with company match
Competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off
Paid holidays
Parental leave
Sabbatical leave
Optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee
Optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee
Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts
Fitness reimbursement
Access to Employee Assistance Program
Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee
Access to 529 Plan
Commuter benefits
Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance
Access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan