Lead UX Researcher

Motional is looking for a Lead User Researcher to help us deliver a user experience that is intuitive, comfortable, and that will develop trust for this state-of-the-art technology. You’ll apply a user-centered approach to give our product team a deep level understanding of our users – allowing us to prioritize and build the most meaningful solutions. You will also lead the planning and facilitation of user testing, in a fast-paced agile environment.

In addition to conducting hands-on generative and evaluative research, you will also mentor, guide, and help grow our small team of UX Researchers.Please submit your resume, and at least 3 projects that best represent your capabilities, skills and interests.

The Motional global headquarters are located at 100 Northern Avenue in Boston, MA. Nestled in the busting Seaport district with sweeping views of Boston Harbor and downtown Boston, the offices are located close to major transit lines and a quick walk to various restaurants and popular attractions.

What You'll Be Doing

• You’ll foster a team culture of empathy and understanding of user needs and desires, while balancing business decisions and decisiveness
• Contribute to high level goals and vision for how user research is done at Motional. Collaborate on long term planning for our experimentation roadmap.
• Collaborate directly with team leadership on team goals, approach, and direction
• Provide guidance and mentorship to less senior UX Researchers
• Lead projects individually, or with the help of other researchers on the team
• Understand our users’ behaviors, needs, and goals - using a wide range of primary research methods such as field visits, ethnography, video diaries, etc.
• Conduct additional secondary research, run user surveys/other quantitative studies
• Lead the short term planning and facilitation of user testing sessions, in conjunction with the rest of the product team
• Deliver detailed and actionable research findings, and partnering closely with designers and product managers to gain clear buy in
• Contribute to the growth of our UX Research team and capability over time
• Help define how users will interact with the future of mobility

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Anthropology, Social Sciences, Human Computer Interaction/Human Factors, or a related field
• 8+ years of industry experience as a UX Researcher or similar role
• A keen desire to understand how humans think and act. You enjoy meeting, interviewing, and observing users in their own environments.
• Experience with conducting qualitative user research studies, including when and how to apply them during the product development process.
• Experience with user-centered design methodologies
• Experience planning for, and leading, individual user testing sessions
• Experience working within a cross functional product team alongside product managers, designers, engineers etc. in a fast-paced agile environment (i.e. software company, startup, etc.)
• Ability to clearly communicate your findings, and justify recommendations to different levels within an organization, including c-level executives.
• Good understanding of interaction design and user experience design fundamentals
• The ability to be flexible and inventive, using non-traditional approaches to research and user testing, given our product space

Bonus Points (not required)

• Experience mentoring and managing a small team of designers
• Experience with quantitative research
• Experience leveraging data analytics to drive insights
• Experience working in the autonomous vehicle or automotive industry

Why You Should Join Us

• This role offers the opportunity to work on extremely challenging problems that haven’t been solved at scale. We’re looking for someone excited to tackle problems such as – how do we make a person feel comfortable with riding in a car that’s driving itself? How can we manage a fleet of robotic vehicles moving around a city? How do we make vehicles accessible without a human to help? Our team is driven, not afraid, to solve problems like this.
• Motional’s Product Team, where this role sits, is at the forefront of setting the vision for our products – from the experience of riding in an autonomous vehicle, to how to manage a fleet, to how roads are mapped, and more. We lead with a user-focused mindset, and as a Principal User Experience Researcher, you’ll have a direct impact in shaping the strategic direction of our company, and the future of mobility as a whole.
• Lastly, while autonomous vehicles have been around for years, we are finally bringing this technology to market at scale. With over 100,000 public autonomous rides, and partnerships with major ride hailing players, a role at Motional offers the chance to drive the next revolution in mobility.
• Rewards and advantages: Rewards and advantages - Competitive compensation with bonus potential, competitive health benefits, 401K with matching contribution, unlimited PTO, commuter benefits, discount programs and fitness/gym reimbursement, opportunities to give back to the community, relocation assistance (if applicable), meaningful work that makes a difference in the world, and and much more!