Senior Enterprise UX Researcher & Design Strategist

Aquent, a leading talent solutions partner, is thrilled to connect exceptional talent with a globally recognized energy enterprise known for innovation and operational excellence. This is an unparalleled opportunity to significantly influence the digital transformation of complex operational environments, directly shaping intuitive digital experiences that empower a vast user base and drive critical business outcomes.

About the Opportunity

This pivotal role invites a visionary leader to drive strategic user experience research and design initiatives within a dynamic, high-consequence enterprise environment. You will lead high-impact efforts to modernize intricate, data-dense workflows, translating complex operational challenges into seamless digital solutions. As a strategic partner, you will combine deep expertise in mixed-methods user research, interaction design, information architecture, and usability testing with robust stakeholder facilitation skills, evaluating and optimizing critical business applications to align technical capabilities with core business goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic UX Research & Insights: Plan, execute, and synthesize comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research studies, including user interviews, contextual inquiries, field studies, usability testing, surveys, diary studies, and competitive analysis.
• Translate complex research findings into actionable deliverables such as journey maps, personas, workflow diagrams, and data-driven product recommendations that inform strategic decisions.
• Effectively communicate compelling insights to cross-functional stakeholders and executive leadership, fostering a deeply user-centered product strategy across the organization.
• Establish and champion research best practices, standards, and enablement programs, elevating the maturity of UX capabilities across various teams.
• Enterprise Workflow Optimization: Partner closely with business owners and technical architects to translate nuanced user needs into optimized configurations for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and enterprise SaaS platforms.
• Conduct in-depth evaluations of existing operational workflows to uncover usability gaps, efficiency bottlenecks, and critical system friction points.
• Create detailed wireframes, task flows, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity specifications that are meticulously designed to function within real vendor and platform constraints.
• Collaborate seamlessly with implementation partners and vendors to maximize platform capabilities, ensuring adherence to accessibility standards (WCAG), optimal usability, and visual consistency.
• Strategy, Facilitation & Mentorship: Facilitate impactful Design Thinking workshops, stakeholder interviews, and collaborative ideation sessions with cross-functional leadership, driving innovation and alignment.
• Partner with Product Managers to define precise product requirements, establish key user metrics, and identify critical business success indicators.
• Mentor junior researchers and designers, actively contributing to their professional growth and driving continuous maturity in enterprise UX methodologies.
• Support comprehensive change management, training, and user adoption strategies across major enterprise platform launches.

Qualifications & Competencies

Required Experience:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Design, Human Factors, Information Science, or a closely related discipline.
• Seniority: 7+ years of progressive experience leading UX research and design initiatives within complex enterprise or industrial settings.
• Portfolio: A compelling portfolio demonstrating end-to-end research synthesis, sophisticated interaction design deliverables, and a clear track record of measurable business outcomes.
• Domain Expertise: Demonstrated success in optimizing complex workflows within the constraints of COTS, SaaS, or other enterprise platform environments.
• Tooling Proficiency: Deep hands-on experience with industry-standard tools such as Figma, FigJam, Miro, UserTesting, Dovetail, Optimal Workshop, or Qualtrics.
• Methodologies: Strong command of interaction design principles, core usability principles, WCAG accessibility standards, and Agile product development frameworks.
• Communication: Exceptional storytelling abilities, executive-level presentation skills, and proven workshop facilitation expertise.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Human Factors, or a related scientific discipline.
• Direct experience designing for complex industrial operations or data-dense workflows.
• Knowledge of advanced statistical research methods and mixed-method triangulation techniques.
• Experience with enterprise design systems and component library management.

About Aquent Talent:

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.

Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match.

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.