Senior Researcher & Taxonomist

Handshake • Remote, Remote

7d • $85 - $105

About The Position

We are looking for a highly analytical and research-driven Senior Researcher & Taxonomist to help us understand, categorize, and map the intricate landscape of user jobs and tasks. In this role, you will be the architect of a comprehensive taxonomy that defines the wide range of roles and careers across many domains and subdomains, along with the specific tasks required within them. You will lead both qualitative and quantitative research initiatives to uncover deep user insights and translate them into a structured, prioritized framework. If you are passionate about the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework, comfortable leveraging cutting-edge AI research tools, and skilled at using data to rank users’ actions and behaviors, we want you on our team.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in UX Research, Information Architecture, Taxonomy, Applied Economics, Human Computer Interaction or a closely related field focusing on user behavior.
• Proven ability to independently design and run rigorous qualitative and quantitative research studies.
• Strong understanding of classification systems, hierarchical modeling, and frameworks like Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD). Previous experience building taxonomies specifically for B2B software, HR tech, or professional tooling.
• Solid understanding of foundational statistics necessary for quantitative user research. You should be comfortable designing surveys and analyzing data to objectively rank and prioritize user tasks.
• Experience with, or a strong willingness to master, AI-moderated user research platforms to scale qualitative data collection.
• Exceptional analytical and communication skills, with the ability to present complex architectural concepts to stakeholders simply and effectively.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with advanced prioritization frameworks or willingness to develop your own framework.
• Experience with advanced scripting techniques used for data analysis.
• Bayesian statistics

Responsibilities

• Taxonomy Development: Design, build, and continuously refine a scalable taxonomy of jobs, sub-domains, distinct user tasks, tools, and data used across various job roles.
• Mixed-Methods Research: Plan and execute both qualitative (interviews, observational studies) and quantitative (surveys, behavioral data analysis) user research to inform and validate the taxonomy.
• AI-Moderated Research at Scale: Leverage AI-moderated user research tools to conduct, synthesize, and extract qualitative insights from large user cohorts efficiently.
• Task Prioritization & Ranking: Apply basic statistical methods (e.g., MaxDiff, forced ranking, opportunity scoring, weighting, and imputation) to evaluate, rank, and prioritize tasks based on user importance, frequency, and current pain points.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product, Design, AI Research, Operations and Engineering to ensure the job and task taxonomy directly informs product strategy and feature development.
• Insight Synthesis: Translate complex, multi-layered research data into clear, actionable frameworks, user models, and documentation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed