Principal UX Researcher

Autodesk•Novi, MI

6d•$117,000 - $210,540

About The Position

Our team is reimagining how customers connect design, make, and operate workflows into a continuous value cycle, improving how work gets done across complex operational environments. As a Principal Experience Design Researcher, you will lead research that helps shape this future, focused on how complex operational ecosystems function and come together to deliver measurable outcomes. This role operates at the intersection of products, platforms, and real-world operations, where owners, operators, engineers, contractors, and partners must coordinate across systems, workflows, and data. You will work in ambiguous, system-level problem spaces to uncover unmet needs, define future personas, and shape experiences that enable more efficient, resilient, and data-driven operations.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in UX, product, or experience design research
Expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods, with a strong mixed-method approach
Proven ability to lead research in complex, ambiguous, and cross-functional environments
Experience influencing strategy across multiple teams or product areas
Strong communication and storytelling skills, including experience engaging senior stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience working on platforms, ecosystems, or enterprise-scale systems
Background in operations, industrial workflows, or service design
Experience researching multi-stakeholder environments or complex user ecosystems
Familiarity with industries such as AEC, manufacturing, or facilities management
Experience defining personas, journeys, and systems-level experience frameworks

Responsibilities

Lead research to identify and define emerging and future personas across the operations lifecycle
Map how roles such as facility managers, production leaders, engineers, operators, contractors, and partners collaborate across systems and organizational boundaries
Clarify how work gets done today and how it should evolve to support more connected, outcome-driven operations across an ecosystem of stakeholders
Analyze how multiple stakeholders interact across tools, systems, and industry solutions throughout the lifecycle
Identify breakdowns caused by fragmented systems, siloed data, and misaligned workflows across teams and organizations
Define and drive end-to-end mixed-methods research programs across interconnected platforms and services, supporting the full product lifecycle
Apply a range of research methods, including foundational discovery, evaluative research, and longitudinal studies
Synthesize insights from research, analytics, and business data into clear, actionable recommendations
Adapt approaches to address multi-layered systems that span people, processes, and interdependent organizations
Translate insights into clear, actionable recommendations that influence product and platform strategy
Connect research to customer outcomes, such as efficiency, uptime, cost, resilience, and sustainability
Partner with product and business teams to identify opportunities and drive research-informed strategies that support adoption and long-term value
Identify opportunities for innovation in how Autodesk enables connected operations
Partner with leaders across design, product, engineering, go-to-market, and sales to shape product vision, design direction, and key business decisions
Influence decisions across platforms, products, and domains through compelling storytelling
Design and facilitate workshops that support ideation, alignment, and strategic decision-making with stakeholders
Establish and scale research frameworks and best practices for complex, system-level work
Mentor others and help teams adopt evidence-driven, human-centered approaches
Increase the visibility and impact of research across the organization