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Microsoft Teams is seeking a Principal UX Researcher with a proven track record for delivering compelling user experiences that are usable, seamless, impactful solutions, deeply rooted in customer needs. In this role, you’ll be part of the team responsible for leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the user experience of Teams workflows. You will work closely with Designers, Product Managers, and Engineers to define and deliver innovative AI-powered solutions that empower people and teams to work more effectively and efficiently.

As a Principal UX Researcher, you are interested in putting customers front and center while creating solutions to complex problems that empower our users to be more productive, efficient, and successful. This person should be knowledgeable and driven by the rapidly evolving AI space, while never forgetting the human side of the equation regarding responsible AI and building solutions that work for all people. Our diverse team of Researchers and Designers who work on a variety of products including, but not limited to Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Viva, and more, will provide an environment where you will thrive and grow professionally. This is an amazing opportunity to reach a large audience with your innovative and creative work as we develop this product. We approach our problem space with empathy for our customers, as well as drive to innovate and evolve the product. We’re building partnerships with teams across Microsoft, functioning as scenario and customer experts to solve real customer problems.

Our Culture

We are a diverse team of UX Researchers, Designers, Producers, Content Writers, Creatives, and UX Engineers who partner closely across disciplines, such as Product Management, Data Science, Engineering, and Marketing. Our team is known for research excellence, collaboration, and our supportive culture.

We are a high-performing team that challenges ourselves to live the Microsoft philosophies around inclusive culture and growth mindset. Local mentoring rings and communities allow us to learn from each other and grow. We focus on having inclusive interactions that foster productive dialog. We are dedicated to the work of creating an inclusive, and transparent culture – a safe place to do our best work!

We have a proven track record of delivering business results with key metrics to track our successes and failures. We are a truly hybrid work environment with much of our team in Washington state and across the USA, Canada, Prague, India, and China. We like to have fun, celebrate our wins, and learn and grow from our mistakes.

We’d love to talk to you if you want to …

• Leverage your experience with AI and are excited by the opportunity to continue to learn and partner with others in a rapidly evolving space.

• Drive for excellence while never losing sight of the human side of the equation and what it means to be a great leader and partner.

• Collaborate with design, product management, data science, marketing, and engineering teams around the company and globe, leveraging partnerships for diverse perspective on our products.

• Provide Principal-level thought leadership in user experience areas through collaboration with Designers, participation in design reviews.

• Lead by example with clean, focused, and inspiring work, through all phases of the product cycle.

• Contribute to broaden multi-discipline team’s creative processes, team building, and our cultural values around diversity, inclusion, transparency, and growth mindset.

• Contribute to the learning and growth of the broader research team.

• Learn and understand about diverse audiences, their behaviors, context(s) and motivations – across all phases of the customer lifecycle and user journey.

• Demonstrate empathy for users while balancing the vision and constraints of stakeholders.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

This is a unique opportunity for someone who thinks and works strategically and is motivated to partner across disciplines to deliver holistic experiences in a customer driven organization. Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 family, bringing opportunities to work with a vast number of teams at Microsoft to deliver innovative and coherent solutions. Experience in UX Research practice and methodology throughout the product cycle is critical for customer and product impact.

The following are core expectations of this position:

• Understand UX Research needs and develop research plans/roadmaps to deliver insights that will guide product development decisions across the lifecycle.

• Create and manage UX research knowledge that is leveraged across Design and Engineering teams and across products when appropriate.

• Provide actionable insights as an outcome of research activities and drive those insights into product and design plans with peers in the Program Management and Design organizations.

• Effectively communicate research strategies, methodologies and insights to peers, partners, and stakeholders throughout the organization.

• Be a key partner in ensuring product success by representing the value of UX Research to product managers and engineers throughout the organization.

• Work closely with Design counterparts in global teams to align research activities and execution consistently.

• Leverage your insights and experience in design reviews and planning cycles to improve the team’s ability to deliver world-class design solutions for our customers.

• Work to uplevel and cross-pollinate learnings and experiences with other Researchers.

• Embody our culture and values .

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 6+ years User Experience Research experience

• OR Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years User Experience Research experience

• OR Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years User Experience Research experience

• OR equivalent experience.

• 2+ years of experience conducting qualitative/quantitative research impacting both product and business direction on products leveraging AI and large language models (LLMs).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledgeable about responsible AI and inclusive design with a track record of incorporating these principles into your research practice.

• Proven ability to champion and drive plans for research programs for widespread impactacross a division, across the company, or within the industry.

• Command of all aspects of UX Research across a product cycle; experience across a range of UX Research approaches and methodologies (theoretical and practical knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative).

• Experience in articulating the implications of research insights in clear and compelling ways; translating research findings into actionable opportunities and recommendations; ability to translate data into insights; measurable record of impacting products as a researcher.

• Verbal and written communication and presentation skills.

• Active thought leadership in user experience issues and trends.

• Track record of collaborating and enabling cross disciplines (design, program management, engineering, content writers, and marketing) to drive change into products; while being able to work independently and as part of a cohesive team.

• A high-quality portfolio review presentation will be part of the interview process. Your presentation should demonstrate your strategic research experience, rationale for methodologies chosen, and communication skills.

UX Research IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across Canada is CAD $135,800 - CAD $253,000 per year.

Find additional pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/canada-pay-information.html

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until July 23, 2024

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .