UX Researcher (Mixed Methods)

Tailscale

4d • $146,000 - $183,000 • Remote

About The Position

Tailscale is seeking a UX Researcher (Mixed Methods) to join their team. This role is a hybrid of UX research and research operations, focusing on conducting research, primarily usability and quality-validation testing, and maintaining the systems that make research repeatable and scalable. The position reports to the design manager and works closely with the current UX researcher, who will remain the team's strategic research lead. Day-to-day, the researcher will collaborate with product designers, product managers, and engineers. Initially, the focus will be on handling a backlog of studies, with a significant emphasis on one large ongoing project. Over time, the role will evolve to owning the research direction for one or more product areas with increasing autonomy. The researcher will have significant autonomy in prioritizing their work, with support from the staff researcher and design leadership. The role requires flexibility as the organization evolves, with initial work being more reactive and operations work offering more autonomy on longer-term initiatives.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in UX research or a related applied research field
• Strong usability testing skills across both qualitative and experimental approaches
• Proficiency with survey design and ability to learn and deploy higher-precision quantitative methods
• Solid grounding in structured and semi-structured qualitative interviewing
• Mixed-methods fluency — can move between qualitative and quantitative approaches and knows when each is appropriate
• Clear, effective communicator who can tailor research findings for different audiences and advocate for insights in cross-functional settings
• Experience independently managing research logistics — recruiting, scheduling, compensation, and study operations
• Experience working in developer tooling, enterprise, security, or networking

Nice To Haves

• You can synthesize user feedback into underlying problems, identify which ones matter, and articulate why.
• You can move from what you've learned to a clear recommendation, and you're comfortable putting forward a point of view rather than only presenting findings.
• You see the connections between research operations and research practice, and you enjoy building the infrastructure that makes research more effective.
• You think about what research the organization needs, not just what's next on the study plan.
• You can ramp up quickly to a technical domain you don't already know.
• You're comfortable coaching others through research and building tools that help the team's research quality scale beyond what one person can cover.
• You've worked at a scale where wearing multiple hats felt like the job, not a limitation, and you're comfortable in an environment where the product surface and assumptions are still shifting.
• You have built your own tooling.
• You have built or scaled research operations.

Responsibilities

• Run and scale usability research, including usability and quality-validation testing.
• Evaluate shipped features, validate design assumptions, and expand testing capacity.
• Own the full study lifecycle: recruiting, scoping, analysis, communicating results, and identifying/collaborating on opportunities.
• Grow from testing identified issues to owning research direction for product areas.
• Enable product teams to understand user experiences and identify problems.
• Coach designers and PMs on study design, reviewing approaches, interpreting results, and deciding on next steps.
• Build reusable enablement assets like templates, reference guides, and research skills/workflows.
• Maintain research infrastructure, ensuring underlying systems support multiple researchers.
• Maintain and improve the research library, standardizing documentation, and ensuring findability of past research.
• Manage and maintain the research tool stack, including tools, templates, and guides.
• Work with staff and other researchers to review continuous feedback and track issues.
• Manage research logistics, including participant panel maintenance, invitations, and cleanup.
• Process study compensation, file receipts, and track budget utilization.
• Handle vendor renewals and procurement coordination with legal, finance, and senior researcher.

Benefits

• Competitive total compensation package (base salary, equity incentive plan)
• Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period (health, vision, dental, etc.)
• Remote-first company with flexibility in work location
• Employer-funded retirement contributions (Tailscale matches up to 0.75% of eligible compensation)
• Opportunities for in-person connection (annual company retreat, team off-sites, team travel)
• Support for personal and professional development ($1500 USD annually for professional development, mentorship, coaching, internal promotion opportunities)
• Flexible, paid time off program
• Home office setup (company-owned laptop, monthly home internet reimbursement, $500 USD for customization)
• Paid parental leave program (20 weeks for birthing parents, 16 weeks for non-birthing parents)

What This Job Offers

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