[Hiring] Director, UX Research @HighLevel

Role Description

We are seeking a Director, UX Research (M5) who can make deep customer understanding a driving force in HighLevel's product and company strategy. You have spent 12+ years conducting and leading research for complex digital products, including 5+ years leading researchers or research programs, and are ready to set the research direction for a broad platform used by agencies, entrepreneurs and SMBs around the world.

This role reports to the Vice President of Product Design and is a member of Design Leadership. You will lead a small, senior research team of one or two researchers and remain a hands-on practitioner who personally leads the company's highest-stakes studies.

We expect candidates at this level to demonstrate exceptional research craft, strategic judgment, cross-functional influence and executive communication. You should be comfortable framing ambiguous business questions, choosing the right level of evidence for each decision and turning complex findings into clear direction for senior leaders.

Experience researching AI-powered, automation-heavy, CRM, marketing technology, platform or SMB software experiences is highly valuable. Experience using AI-powered tools for synthesis, analysis, documentation or workflow acceleration is expected.

What You'll Do

• Align Product, Design, Engineering, Data and Product Marketing leaders on a shared research agenda.
• Connect customer evidence across research, product analytics, Product Marketing and customer-facing teams.
• Lead foundational research, including segmentation, jobs-to-be-done, customer journeys and agency and SMB operating models.
• Build and run Voice of the Customer programs that synthesize NPS, CSAT, support themes, sales feedback, customer councils and behavioral data.
• Personally lead high-stakes, mixed-methods studies from problem framing through synthesis, recommendation and follow-through.
• Scale research across teams by training designers and product managers.
• Coach and develop the researchers on your team, setting clear expectations for craft, influence and impact.
• Keep HighLevel executives informed through regular, concise readouts on customer insight, emerging risks and opportunities.
• Track insights through to roadmap decisions and shipped changes.
• Use AI-powered tools thoughtfully to accelerate synthesis and analysis while protecting research quality, privacy and customer trust.
• Collaborate effectively across US and India time zones in a 100% remote environment.
• Build and scale a high-performing UX Research team.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of relevant UX research, product research or mixed-methods research experience, including 5+ years leading researchers or research programs.
• Proven experience leading research in complex B2B SaaS, platform or multi-product environments.
• A strong body of work that demonstrates research strategy, methodological judgment, clear synthesis and measurable influence on product and business outcomes.
• Expert command of qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, field research, usability testing, survey design, segmentation, concept testing and longitudinal research.
• Demonstrated experience leading foundational research that changed product roadmaps or company strategy.
• Experience building Voice of the Customer programs and enabling non-researchers to conduct sound research.
• Strong understanding of research design, sampling, statistical concepts and the tradeoffs behind different levels of research confidence.
• Proven ability to align Product, Design, Engineering, Data, Product Marketing and executive leaders around shared customer evidence.
• Excellent executive communication, with experience briefing senior executives clearly and concisely.
• Fluency with modern research tools such as UserTesting, Dovetail or similar platforms.

Requirements

• You bring rigor to ambiguity without slowing teams down unnecessarily.
• You know when more research is needed and when the team has enough evidence to move forward.
• You create outsized impact from a small team by choosing the right problems and multiplying the research capability of others.
• You move comfortably between company strategy, customer insight, business outcomes and hands-on research execution.
• You build trust through warmth, candor, accountability, direct feedback and respect for your teammates as people.
• You enjoy collaborating across time zones and cultural contexts.
• You communicate in ways that help distributed teams work with clarity, care, trust and momentum.
• You advocate for accessibility, inclusion, ethical research and AI experiences that remain aligned with customer goals.

Benefits

• $200,000 - $250,000 a year.