UX Designer

Smarsh•Atlanta, GA

8d•$180,000 - $200,000

About The Position

Smarsh is seeking a Senior UX Researcher to join our product organization. This is a research-focused role where you will spend most of your time generating and evaluating user insights to influence product direction. You will also contribute to our design system at a code level and communicate findings effectively. This role is ideal for individuals who excel at understanding human behavior, are proficient in both discovery and validation research methods, and can translate research into actionable decisions.

Requirements

5+ years of UX research experience with a demonstrated mixed-methods practice covering generative and evaluative approaches.
Deep fluency in qualitative methods (interviews, contextual inquiry, diary studies) and strong working knowledge of quantitative methods (surveys, behavioral analytics, A/B test interpretation).
Experience recruiting and managing research participants across diverse populations.
Proven ability to design research that drives product decisions.
Familiarity with research operations, including managing vendors, tools, panels, and research repositories.
Ability to produce polished, well-structured synthesis artifacts (journey maps, mental model diagrams, opportunity frameworks) that designers and PMs can act on.
Proficiency with Figma or equivalent tools for creating research communication materials and lightweight prototypes.
Understanding of interaction design principles sufficient to critically evaluate design decisions and contribute to design reviews.
Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build and modify interactive prototypes for research.
Comfort contributing to an existing component library by reading documentation, following established patterns, and making targeted changes.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with a track record of influencing product direction through research.
Experience facilitating workshops, alignment sessions, and research readouts with cross-functional teams.
Comfort operating with ambiguity and the ability to independently scope and prioritize research in a fast-moving environment.
Mentorship experience or a genuine interest in developing junior researchers.

Nice To Haves

Experience embedding in or contributing to a design system team.
Background in a domain with complex or technical user needs (e.g., enterprise software, developer tools, financial products).
Familiarity with accessibility research practices and inclusive design principles.
Experience with unmoderated research platforms (UserTesting, Maze, Lyssna) and synthesis tools (Dovetail, EnjoyHQ, Aurelius).
Familiarity with design systems concepts (tokens, component patterns, variants).

Responsibilities

Plan and execute generative research, including user interviews, contextual inquiry, diary studies, and ethnographic observation, to identify unmet needs and opportunities.
Design and conduct evaluative research, such as usability studies, concept testing, prototype reviews, and survey-based validation, at critical product stages.
Collaborate with product, design, and engineering teams to define research questions and manage execution from recruitment to synthesis.
Develop and maintain a research repository to ensure insights are accessible and actionable across teams.
Communicate research findings clearly to diverse audiences, including senior leadership, adapting the depth and format as needed.
Advocate for the user in roadmap and prioritization discussions, supported by evidence.
Contribute to the development and evolution of team research standards, tools, and practices.
Create clear and structured deliverables, such as journey maps, synthesis artifacts, storyboards, annotated findings decks, and opportunity frameworks, to translate research into action.
Collaborate with product designers to ensure research insights inform design decisions and interaction patterns.
Facilitate participatory design activities and co-creation sessions with users and internal stakeholders.
Make targeted contributions to the design system using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, primarily for research prototypes and interactive stimuli.
Work within existing component library patterns, focusing on supporting research prototypes rather than building production features.
Collaborate with design engineers to ensure research prototypes accurately represent intended interactions.