Lead, User Intelligence Research — So Jobs, New York, NY

Lead, User Intelligence Research

Location: New York, New York, United States (On-site)

Industry: Financial Services

Work Setting: Onsite

Are you passionate about understanding user behavior, transforming research into strategic insights, and shaping exceptional customer experiences through data-driven decision-making?

We are seeking a User Intelligence Research Lead to drive the evolution of user research, customer insights, and experience measurement by building a connected intelligence ecosystem that informs product strategy and business decisions. This role combines user research, behavioral analysis, data synthesis, stakeholder leadership, and emerging research technologies to accelerate learning, improve customer experiences, and influence product innovation.

Key Responsibilities

User Intelligence & Research Strategy

• Lead the development of a continuous user intelligence program that generates actionable insights across product and experience domains.

• Build and maintain connected research initiatives that create a cumulative understanding of user needs, behaviors, motivations, and pain points.

• Establish scalable research methods, frameworks, and data collection mechanisms that support long-term decision-making.

• Drive a research strategy that enables faster learning and deeper customer understanding.

User Research & Experience Evaluation

• Plan, design, and execute qualitative and quantitative research studies.

• Conduct discovery, concept, usability, content, and experience validation research.

• Evaluate customer experiences across the product lifecycle and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Generate evidence-based recommendations that influence product direction and experience design decisions.

• Ensure research findings translate into meaningful business and customer outcomes.

Behavioral Analytics & Data Synthesis

• Analyze and interpret data from multiple sources including:

• User Research

• Behavioral Analytics

• Surveys

• Usage Metrics

• Customer Feedback

• Quantitative Data Sources

• Identify patterns, trends, and user behaviors that influence engagement and business performance.

• Synthesize complex datasets into clear, actionable insights.

• Connect research findings with business objectives and customer outcomes.

Continuous Discovery & Customer Understanding

• Enable ongoing access to users and customer feedback channels.

• Support product teams in developing deeper empathy and understanding of customer needs.

• Foster continuous discovery practices that keep customer insights at the center of product development.

• Improve mechanisms for collecting, organizing, and activating customer intelligence.

• Promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making.

Experience Measurement & UX Analytics

• Define and support experience measurement frameworks and user-centered performance metrics.

• Partner with analytics, design, and product teams to identify meaningful indicators of customer success.

• Analyze relationships between user behavior, experience quality, and business performance.

• Develop approaches for measuring customer satisfaction, usability, adoption, and engagement.

• Monitor trends and provide recommendations that improve experience outcomes.

Research Operations & Innovation

• Leverage modern research platforms, automation capabilities, and emerging technologies to improve research efficiency.

• Contribute to the development of scalable research workflows and knowledge management systems.

• Improve how research insights are stored, accessed, and applied across teams.

• Explore innovative approaches that accelerate insight generation and organizational learning.

• Support the adoption of advanced research methodologies and technologies.

Stakeholder Partnership & Influence

• Collaborate closely with:

• Product Teams

• Designers

• Analysts

• Data Scientists

• Engineers

• Business Leaders

• Serve as a subject matter expert on user behavior, research methodologies, and customer insights.

• Guide stakeholders in interpreting and applying research findings.

• Influence product and business strategies through evidence-based recommendations.

• Build alignment around customer-focused decisions and priorities.

Communication & Storytelling

• Transform complex research findings into compelling narratives and actionable recommendations.

• Present insights to leadership and stakeholders in a clear and engaging manner.

• Create impactful reports, presentations, and strategic recommendations.

• Communicate customer needs and behaviors in ways that inspire action.

• Drive organizational understanding of customer experiences through effective storytelling.

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in:

• User Experience Research

• Customer Research

• Behavioral Research

• Data Science

• Customer Insights

• 3+ years of experience collecting, aggregating, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data.

• 2+ years of experience leading complex research initiatives, programs, or cross-functional projects.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.

• Experience translating research findings into business recommendations.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in:

• User Intelligence

• Human Factors Research

• Behavioral Analytics

• Experience Measurement

• Experience conducting Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) research.

• Experience building or supporting automated research workflows.

• Strong expertise in triangulating data from multiple research and analytics sources.

• Advanced degree in:

• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

• Human Factors

• Statistics

• Data Science

• Behavioral Economics

• Related disciplines

Preferred Skills

• User Experience Research (UXR)

• User Intelligence

• Behavioral Analytics

• Customer Experience Research

• Qualitative Research

• Quantitative Research

• Usability Testing

• Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD)

• Customer Journey Analysis

• Experience Measurement

• Survey Design

• Research Operations

• Data Analytics

• Data Synthesis

• Insight Generation

• User Behavior Analysis

• Product Research

• Stakeholder Management

• Data Storytelling

• Strategic Research