Principal UX Researcher
Betterup
| Company | Betterup |
| Category | Design |
| Location | Arlington |
| Remote | Hybrid |
| Employment | Not stated |
| Level | Lead |
| Salary | USD 230k–320k |
| Posted | 7 Jul 2026 |
| Last verified | 9 Aug 2026 |
| Source | Employer ATS (ashby) |
Description
Let’s face it, a company whose mission is human transformation better have some fresh thinking about the employer/employee relationship.
We do. We can’t cram it all in here, but you’ll start noticing it from the first interview.
Even our candidate experience is different. And when you get an offer from us (and accept it), you get way more than a paycheck. You get a personal BetterUp Coach, a development plan, a trained and coached manager, the most amazing team you’ve ever met (yes, each with their own personal BetterUp Coach), and most importantly, work that matters.
This makes for a remarkably focused and fulfilling work experience. Frankly, it’s not for everyone. But for people with fire in their belly, it’s a game-changing, career-defining, soul-lifting move.
Join us and we promise you the most intense and fulfilling years of your career, doing life-changing work in a fun, inventive, soulful culture.
If that sounds exciting—and the job description below feels like a fit—we really should start talking.
We’re looking for a Principal UX Researcher, to serve as the most senior researcher on the Product Design team, reporting directly to the VP of Design. This role will define BetterUp’s research vision and practice—establishing the methodologies, governance, and strategic frameworks that ensure user insights shape product decisions at every level. You’ll partner across Product, PMM, and the Labs behavioral insights team to connect foundational research to business outcomes, while mentoring researchers and design partners across the organization.
What you’ll do:
- Define and evolve BetterUp’s UX research practice: establish research methodologies, quality standards, tooling, and governance frameworks that scale across the product organization
- Drive strategic research that informs company-level product strategy, partnering directly with the VP of Design, Product leadership, and the executive team to identify high-leverage opportunities
- Lead foundational and generative research programs that uncover unmet user needs, validate market opportunities, and shape multi-quarter product roadmaps
- Partner cross-functionally with PMM, the Labs behavioral insights team, and Product to synthesize quantitative and qualitative data into actionable insights that influence go-to-market strategy and product direction
- Represent UX Research as the discipline’s voice in executive forums, design reviews, and strategic planning sessions—ensuring research has a seat at the table for critical decisions
- Build and scale research operations: evaluate and select research tools and vendors, define participant recruitment strategies, establish research repositories, and create self-serve research capabilities for the broader organization
- Mentor and coach researchers and design partners across the team, raising the bar on research craft and building organizational research fluency
- Establish governance frameworks and best practices for responsible AI usage in research processes, including AI-augmented analysis, synthesis, and participant experience
- Key partners: Product Management, Product Marketing (PMM), Labs (Behavioral Insights), Engineering, Data Science
If you have some or all of the following, please apply:
- 12+ years of experience in UX research, design research, or a closely related field, with 6+ years operating at a senior or staff level of scope and impact
- Deep expertise across the full spectrum of research methodologies—qualitative and quantitative, generative and evaluative, behavioral and attitudinal
- Demonstrated track record of leading research that directly shaped product strategy and business outcomes at an organizational level
- Experience defining and scaling a research practice, including establishing processes, tooling, governance, and research operations
- Exceptional ability to synthesize complex data from multiple sources into clear, compelling