Staff Design Researcher

Twilio

7d • $141,520 - $208,000 • Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a visionary and entrepreneurial Design Researcher passionate about building the future, not just improving the present. In this role, you will lead Horizon 3 innovation—imagining, shaping, and validating breakthrough product concepts that could fundamentally transform the enterprise landscape over the next 3-5+ years.
As part of our team, your mandate is to look beyond current product lines and incremental enhancements. Your goal is to help imagine the future that will exist based on technological advances across AI/ ML, AGI, quantum computing, blockchain and more. Working side-by-side with world-class researchers, engineers, and product managers, you will take bold, unproven ideas from whiteboard to working prototype—navigating ambiguity, systematically de-risking concepts, and driving structured experimentation.
You will help us reimagine future experiences for our customers. Your success will be measured by your ability to identify and validate opportunities that can shape the next era of growth for Twilio—and the broader technology ecosystem.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in design research, user research, or a related field—preferably with time spent in innovation or new product development environments.
• Proven track record of leading ambiguous, zero-to-one research programs in fast-paced, high-growth tech companies.
• Mastery of a wide array of research methods, from ethnography and contextual inquiry to co-creation workshops and rapid concept validation.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative data, and ability to easily switch between big-picture thinking and tactical execution.
• Exceptional communication, storytelling, and influence skills—executive presence a must.
• Passion for working on highly cross-functional teams and an entrepreneurial, “builder” mentality.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in HCI, Design, Psychology, Anthropology, or a related discipline.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with AI ML technology and customer engagement platforms
• Experience working in trust, security, or fraud prevention
• Experience guiding innovation in a multi-sided platform environment
• Portfolio or case studies illustrating your impact on breakthrough product or business opportunities

Responsibilities

• Define & Lead Research: Lead end-to-end qualitative and quantitative design research across early-stage, exploratory projects; rigorously uncover customer needs, pain points, and emerging trends
• Strategy & Opportunity Framing: Provide thought leadership and frameworks that connect research findings to business and product strategy; help teams prioritize opportunities and guide decision-making
• Synthesize Insights and communicate effectively: Distill complex data into clear, actionable narratives and frameworks for senior executives, product managers, and engineers
• Drive Experimentation: Collaborate with Product and Design to rapidly test new hypotheses via concepts, prototypes, and MVPs
• Customer Advocacy: Represent the voice of the customer in every conversation. Inspire teams to build solutions that surprise and delight customers

Benefits

• Working at Twilio offers many benefits, including competitive pay, generous time off, ample parental and wellness leave, healthcare, a retirement savings program, and much more.
• This role may be eligible to participate in Twilio’s equity plan and corporate bonus plan.
• All roles are generally eligible for the following benefits: health care insurance, 401(k) retirement account, paid sick time, paid personal time off, paid parental leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees