UX Research Lead

Citi is hiring a UX Research Lead (onsite) in New York, NY to lead end-to-end research programs and shape an AI-enabled research practice.

Responsibilities

• Own the full UX research lifecycle for assigned product domains: scoping, methodology design, execution, analysis, synthesis, and stakeholder delivery.
• Define and maintain an annual research roadmap aligned to business priorities, product plans, and client experience goals; reprioritize as needs evolve.
• Run mixed-methods programs using the right approach, including survey research, in-product intercepts, behavioral analytics, usability studies, longitudinal panels, regression, and driver analysis.
• Act as the primary research partner to senior stakeholders across Product Management, Technology, Design, and Business leadership.
• Lead “voice of the client” efforts by synthesizing multi-source inputs into actionable recommendations for product roadmaps and design direction.
• Maintain research quality and methodological integrity through peer review and documentation standards suitable for executive and regulatory scrutiny.
• Recruit, manage, and mentor junior and mid-level researchers, including guidance on methodology, communication, and professional development.
• Track and communicate research impact: connect insights to downstream decisions, measure ROI, and report progress to leadership.
• Collaborate with Data, Analytics, and CX teams to combine behavioral and quantitative signals with self-reported research data.
• Present findings across audiences from product squads to Director-level and above, tailoring communication to drive understanding and action.
• Set the strategic vision for AI-integrated UX research, identifying where AI tools, intelligent knowledge repositories, and automated synthesis can augment (not replace) human judgment.
• Design and implement a living research intelligence layer (structured, queryable knowledge repository) to make accumulated insights available on-demand across the product development life cycle.
• Establish a proactive research cadence including always-on behavioral data ingestion, rapid weekly insight dispatch, and quarterly foundational studies.
• Lead AI-assisted research workflow integration: AI-powered synthesis, automated transcript coding, survey quality flagging, longitudinal trend tracking, and concept pre-testing using synthetic panel methodologies.
• Define governance for responsible AI research use, including confidence weighting, freshness models, PII scanning, hallucination detection, and researcher-in-the-loop review.
• Partner with Engineering, AI/ML, and Platform teams to support technical infrastructure for an intelligent, always-on research knowledge system.
• Establish or scale a UX Research Center of Excellence (CoE) with frameworks, playbooks, templates, and training materials to improve research literacy.
• Evaluate emerging methodologies and tools (including generative AI for insight synthesis, automated usability testing platforms, and synthetic user modeling) with emphasis on validity and responsible use.
• Define where UX Research fits into Agile and AI-enabled delivery, including clear research touchpoints at discovery, definition, design, development, and post-launch.
• Increase organizational research literacy by coaching Product Managers, Designers, and Technology leads on commissioning research and interpreting findings.
• Represent the UX Research function at the executive level, advocating for research investment and positioning research as a business value driver.

Requirements

• 10+ years of relevant experience
• Strong attention to detail and analytical skills
• Significant experience on complex, enterprise-scale design projects
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Proficiency with professional design tools, such as Sketch, Figma, AdobeXD, Axure, InVision
• Significant experience using or creating design systems
• Strong aptitude for coaching and mentoring junior designers
• Keen interest in or knowledge of banking or finance
• HTML/CSS development skills
• Software Development or Program Management experience
• Participation in external UX groups or communities

Technologies

• AI-enabled product environment
• AI-powered synthesis
• Automated transcript coding
• Synthetic panel methodologies
• Hallucination detection
• Sketch, Figma, AdobeXD, Axure, InVision
• HTML/CSS
• Agile
• AI/ML
• Generative AI
• Automated usability testing platforms

Benefits

• Medical, dental & vision coverage
• 401(k)
• Life, accident, and disability insurance
• Wellness programs
• Planned time off (vacation)
• Unplanned time off (sick leave)
• Paid holidays
• Discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards (for eligible employees)

Additional Details

• Location: New York, NY (onsite)
• Salary: USD 192,000 - 288,000 per year
• Time type: Full time
• Job family group: Technology
• Job family: Digital Design Engineering
• Education: Bachelor’s/University degree (Master’s preferred)
• Anticipated close date: Sep 02, 2026