Usability Researcher 3

About Ascendion

Ascendion is a full service digital engineering solutions company. We make and manage software platforms and products that power growth and deliver captivating experiences to consumers and employees. Our engineering, cloud, data, experience design, and talent solution capabilities accelerate transformation and impact for enterprise clients. Headquartered in New Jersey, our workforce of 6,000+ Ascenders delivers solutions from around the globe. Ascendion is built differently to engineer the next.

Ascendion | Engineering to elevate life

We have a culture built on opportunity, inclusion, and a spirit of partnership. Come, change the world with us:

• Build the coolest tech for world’s leading brands
• Solve complex problems - and learn new skills
• Experience the power of transforming digital engineering for Fortune 500 clients
• Master your craft with leading training programs and hands-on experience
• Experience a community of change makers!

Join a culture of high-performing innovators with endless ideas and a passion for tech. Our culture is the fabric of our company, and it is what makes us unique and diverse. The way we share ideas, learning, experiences, successes, and joy allows everyone to be their best at Ascendion.

Typical Day in the Role

• Purpose of the Team: This team is a UX Research group focused on evaluating and improving the user experience for the 365 product line.
• Key projects: This role will contribute to UX research efforts focused on Excel and Copilot, supporting how the team evaluates Excel Copilot experiences. The researcher will partner with external research vendors to help screen and recruit participants for studies, and will run rapid research across both short-term and expanded portfolio projects. This role will also help build, set up, and manage a pipeline of UX research, ensuring studies are executed efficiently and at scale.

Candidate Requirements Disqualifiers:

Candidates who do not meet the following requirements will not be eligible for the role:

• Insufficient degree or experience. A background in HCDE, Psychology, Statistics, or Data Science is preferred. A Master’s degree is preferred; a Bachelor’s degree may be acceptable if the candidate is otherwise a strong fit.
• Insufficient project management experience or inability to demonstrate this skill during interviews.
• Insufficient UX benchmarking experience (or equivalent), as demonstrated through experience or interview performance.
• Insufficient statistical skills.
• No experience using remote UX research tools.
• Insufficient collaboration, partnering, or teamwork skills.
• Weak behavioral interview results, particularly around taking direction, problem-solving, and making tradeoffs.
• Quant-heavy candidates who cannot provide qualitative interpretation will be disqualified.
• Qual-heavy candidates with no quantitative experience will be disqualified; demonstrated mixed-methods experience is required.
• Candidates not comfortable working in fast-paced, rapidly changing, and ambiguous environments.
• Lack of interest in or sufficient experience with AI tools.

Best vs. Average: The ideal resume would contain mixed methods skill and experience with direct experience running UX benchmarks in a fast paced ambiguous competitive research environment. They should be strong problem solvers and can effectively partner with stakeholders across multiple roles and functions.

Responsibilities

• Research Execution and Project Management: Execute multiple concurrent research projects as assigned to evaluate task performance of Excel and Copilot compared with competitors
• Generative and Evaluative Research: Conduct quick-turnaround qualitative and mixed-methods research to generate insights for Excel and Copilot.
• Data Analysis and Synthesis: Analyze and synthesize diverse data sources, prioritize findings, and clearly summarize work in visually well-designed, clear and actionable reports.
• Project Management: Coordinate with multiple research and product team partners, study recruitment vendors/panel management, and research ops to move projects forward.
• Hands-on Research Execution: study design, benchmark execution, analysis, etc.
• Rapid Insight Generation: Execute research and compile insights quickly to maximize impact.
• Rapid Output Generation: Creating assets such as videos, presentations, and documents to summarize the insights.

Skills & Experience (REQUIRED)

• An advanced degree in Engineering, Social Science, or other data or research-centric field.
• Proven experience in designing and executing mixed-methods UX research, including observing, understanding, and synthesizing human behavior into insights, to drive customer-focused product development.
• Exceptional project management, organizing, and planning skills with keen attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present and influence data-driven decisions.
• Proficiency in qualitative research methods, insight synthesis, and generating insightful reports/outputs.
• 6 months+ experience researching generative AI / LLM in a professional setting
• A passion for translating ideas, needs, and requests into rigorous and valid research questions.

Must-Have HARD Skills (3-4 years experience )

• Experience in a full-time UX Researcher delivering clear actionable research results in a fast-paced environments.
• Experience working with AI technology (preferred Copilot but not required); or equivalent experience
• Mixed methods experience required. Experience running UX benchmark studies, competitive research, or equivalent required.
• Candidate needs to have experience using remote UX research platform tools.
• Degree: Master's preferred but Bachelor's degree minimal is required. Ideally in HCDE, Psychology, Statistics, Data Science. Other areas like Philosophy or Math could work if they have work experience as well.

Benefits:

The Company offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• medical insurance
• dental insurance
• vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• long-term disability insurance
• short-term disability insurance
• 5 personal days accrued each calendar year. The Paid time off benefits meet the paid sick and safe time laws that pertain to the City/ State
• 10-15 days of paid vacation time
• 6 paid holidays and 1 floating holiday per calendar year

Want to change the world? Let us know.

Tell us about your experiences, education, and ambitions. Bring your knowledge, unique viewpoint, and creativity to the table. Let’s talk!