Senior UX Researcher - Product Design

Job Description

Senior UX Researcher – Product Design

Remote – US

The Opportunity: 

Recently combined with Anthology, Blackboard offers the largest EdTech ecosystem on a global scale, supporting over 150 million users in 80 countries. The company’s mission is to provide dynamic, data-informed experiences to the global education community so that learners and educators can achieve their goals.

We believe in the power of a truly diverse and inclusive workforce. As we expand globally, we are committed to making diversity, inclusion, and belonging a foundational part of not only our hiring practices but who we are as a company.

For more information about our company and career opportunities, please visit www.blackboard.com.

Our User Experience & Design (UXD) organization helps shape the future of Blackboard’s products and solutions. Made up of user experience and design leaders who work across both web and mobile platforms and take a hands-on role in a highly collaborative team environment, they champion best-in-class work throughout the Blackboard organization. Our team believes that user experiences are as much about behavior and emotion as they are about usability, utility, and accessibility. 

The Blackboard UXD team has a proven track record of delivering high quality products to our customer base. We are looking for a motivated, highly skilled, quality-minded, and detail-oriented individual to join our global team. As Senior UX Researcher, you will be responsible for gathering and generating insights based on users’ behaviors, needs and use-cases across web and mobile platforms. This position will work alongside other UXD colleagues and Blackboard partners to deliver a cohesive user experience for Blackboard’s portfolio of products. This is a full-time position with a competitive salary based on your experience and portfolio.  

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Defining and executing research needs that drive user and client advocacy
• Leading UX research initiatives, plans, and session facilitation in various methodologies 
• Managing research projects in all stages across multiple tools
• Collaborating with UXD colleagues to ensure high-quality research output
• Applying UX research methodologies, standards, and processes that explore cohesive experiences, use cases, and behaviors
• Working with UXD peers and cross-functional partners to establish understanding of useful and usable products and solutions
• Being an ambassador for Blackboard’s end-users and establishing empathy 
• Documenting and communicating research findings and impact to products and solutions

The Candidate:

Required skills/qualifications:

• A background in UX Research with experience across evaluative insights and understanding across generative explorations
• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a Research field (UX, Design)
• Minimum of 5-7 years of experience within a User Experience, Human Factors, UX Design related area
• Established as a productive research professional
• Advanced knowledge of research practice, methodologies, disciplines, and principles
• Highly collaborative with other researchers and UXD colleagues and broader Blackboard regarding policies, practices, and procedures 
• Ability to articulate and communicate research topics with UXD peers and management
• Experience navigating and handling difficult problems
• Ability to lead 3-4 projects independently at different stages of research, while also collaboratively working with UXD team members across other efforts, without sacrificing quality
• Working knowledge with industry-standard research tools such as: UserTesting, Zoom, Optimal Sort, Respondent, Calendly, Validately, Miro, or other research tools
• Ability to work independently with general supervision and willing to receive feedback/guidance
• Research-specific end-to-end skills:
  • Ability to frame-up research and generate research plans
  • Ability to provide research related feedback
  • Ability to conduct research in parallel phases with pilots
  • Ability to support UXD team members on research needs
  • Ability to manage/build research repository: documentation of prior research, taking effective notes and capturing insights, building a research knowledge base
• Team player with excellent communication, cooperation, and presentation skills
• Passion for honing current skill set and increasing it where necessary for personal growth and to support the team
• Highly organized and motivated
• High standards of accountability, decision-making, schedules, and quality of work
• Openminded and determined to transform the experience of education

Please provide samples of your work with your application. 

Candidates must provide a portfolio of their work highlighting knowledge across: 

• Problem stating and research identification (methodology)
• Research scoping, screening, and recruiting
• Experience in generative protocols
• Moderating and note-taking experience
• Synthesizing research and generating recommendations based on insights
• Presenting findings to peers, partners, and management
• Experience coaching peers and junior researchers in research best practices

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities at any time.   

Blackboard is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, protected military/veteran status, or any other legally protected factor.  

This position is not available for candidates residing in the following states: CO, CA, MA

#LI-Remote #LI-JO1