Senior User Research Analyst - Port of San Francisco (9976)

City and County of San Francisco • San Francisco, CA

18h

About The Position

The Port of San Francisco is undertaking a significant multi-year project to modernize its legacy enterprise business applications by implementing a new, unified platform built on Salesforce. This initiative aims to replace end-of-life enterprise technologies with modern systems that enhance the department's business capabilities. The project emphasizes the creation and implementation of integrated systems that are data-rich and focused on constituents and users. As a Senior User Research Analyst, you will be responsible for conducting research with Port staff and stakeholders, and translating these findings into actionable insights for the product team. You will plan, organize, perform, deliver, direct, and/or control highly complex technology-related work products, ensuring the new platform meets business needs without simply replicating existing workflows. This role involves developing and conducting workshops, brainstorming sessions, and other interactive activities with end-users (employees, partners, tenants) to identify user needs and apply them to business capabilities. You will also evaluate the impact of incremental improvements, suggest course corrections, and lead the development and delivery of technology-oriented organizational change management, including establishing relationships with change champions, developing training materials, and driving user adoption.

Requirements

• Possession of an associate degree in Business, Information Technology, Product Design, Industrial Design, Multi-Media Arts, or closely related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in terms of total course credits/units [ i.e., at least sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter credits/units with a minimum of twenty (20) semester or thirty (30) quarter credits/units in computer science or a closely related field].
• Two (2) years of recent and verifiable experience working as a product manager, product designer, implementation manager, technology trainer, UX designer, service designer user researcher, or another closely related field.

Nice To Haves

• Is a highly independent thought leader that is ready and capable of identifying user experience needs and providing an evidence-based defense of those needs to leadership in prioritization discussions.
• Has experience with both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Has strong ability to define research questions and choose the right methodology.
• Has extensive experience conducting usability testing (remote and in-person).
• Demonstrates proficiency with research tools (e.g., UserTesting, Optimal Workshop, surveys).
• Has strong storytelling and communication skills—can translate insights into product direction.
• Has experience synthesizing data (affinity mapping, journey mapping, personas).
• Has a history of ability to work autonomously and manage multiple research projects.
• Has experience with rapid or iterative research in fast-paced environments.
• Has proven experience designing end‑to‑end services across digital and offline channels, ideally in a government or regulated environment.
• Shows ability to map complex service ecosystems, including people, processes, policies, technology, and channels.

Responsibilities

• Plans, organizes, performs, delivers, directs and/or controls highly complex technology-related work products requiring industry or product expertise in broad areas of information technology.
• Ensures the Port’s modern platform meets the business needs of the Port and doesn’t just replicate the existing workflows.
• Develop and conducts workshops, brainstorming sessions, and other interactive activities with end-users, including employees, partners, and tenants, as applicable, to identify user needs and apply them to business capabilities.
• Evaluates the impact of the incremental improvements in the Port’s platform and suggests course correction and incremental improvement to maximize its effectiveness.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining system requirements for all Port Modernization projects.
• Collaborates closely with product, technology, and business stakeholders to ensure user research findings inform requirements, prioritization, and product decisions throughout the Port Modernization program.
• Directly contributes, as the voice of the end-users, in project and work prioritization discussions with the technology project management and leadership team, ensuring that user needs are always considered up-front.
• Leads the development and delivery of technology oriented organizational change management, including establishing relationships with and elevating change champions across the organization, developing training materials, and leading user adoption.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree