User Experience Researcher

Strata Decision Technology•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Strata is driven by its people solving problems together, embracing learning, collaboration, and continuous career growth to uplift customers, products, company, and community. As a UX Researcher, you will collaborate directly with the user experience team to assist leading hospitals, universities, and financial institutions in making informed decisions using their financial, operational, and strategic data, ultimately benefiting their communities. This role focuses on partnering with Product Managers and UX Designers to address complex challenges by identifying user needs and pain points, then translating these insights into actionable solutions and product decisions. A typical day involves brainstorming research questions with team members, collaborating with product managers and design partners to identify knowledge gaps for research, reviewing findings and recommendations with design partners, staying updated on research trends, and guiding the team through research plans and decision-making processes. The company also fosters a culture of inclusion, equity, and belonging, driven by core values such as positive intent, helpfulness, ownership, continuous improvement, and humility.

Requirements

Relevant research experience within an agile team
2+ years of professional user research experience on product teams
Ability to navigate both clear and ambiguous problem spaces, selecting appropriate research methods and adapting approach based on project constraints
Ability to synthesize findings into clear, actionable insights and recommendations that inform product decisions
Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage and prioritize work and independently drive research projects forward
A body of past work that showcases strong core research skills including generative research, evaluative research, analysis, and generating actionable insights
Experience incorporating quantitative data into research (e.g., product analytics, surveys, or behavioral metrics) to complement qualitative insights
Familiarity with product analytics tools (e.g., Pendo or similar) and an interest in leveraging usage data to inform research
Interest in incorporating AI tools into research workflows (e.g., synthesis, analysis, or operational efficiency), while maintaining research quality and rigor

Nice To Haves

SaaS, finance, or healthcare experience

Responsibilities

Conduct generative and evaluative research to uncover user needs, behaviors, and motivations, guiding the product team through all stages of product development
Be the voice of the user in cross-functional team discussions, advocating for user needs while balancing business objectives and constraints
Help foster a user-centric culture by refining unclear questions into clear research opportunities, sharing insights across teams, and ensuring those insights help shape product decisions from discovery through launch
Share your expertise, offering research advice in group settings, growing into a trusted research partner to your stakeholders and team members
Dig into existing research and new research you generate to understand our users’ needs
Contribute to problem discovery activities, with your design and product manager peers, while learning how to refine ambiguous questions into clearer goals
Create research plans, coordinate recruitment, talk to our users, share relevant insights with stakeholders, connect insights across studies and teams, with support from senior researchers
Become an expert in our research repository and help maintain it so our product teams have a source of truth to influence their decisions
Ask tough questions, identify assumptions, discuss new ideas, and remain open to opposing viewpoints
Actively contribute to the growth and development of the research function
Show initiative in end-to-end ownership of research studies, while seeking feedback and guidance from senior team members as you stretch into strategic work
Brainstorm research questions with other research team members
Work with your product manager and design partners to uncover where there are gaps in knowledge that you can contribute to
Review findings and recommendations with your design partner
Geek out over the latest trends in research and actively share your learnings with the team to spark discussion
Guide your team through the pros and cons of your research plan and questions along with your decision-making process