User Experience Researcher

Job description

About the RoleWe are seeking a UX Researcher to deeply understand the needs, workflows, pain points, and decision-making processes of operational teams supporting mortgage and home equity lending.The ideal candidate is passionate about transforming complex financial and lending operations into intuitive, efficient, and scalable experiences. You will partner closely with Product Managers, Designers, Operations Leaders, Compliance, and Engineering teams to uncover insights that drive product strategy and improve operational efficiency across the loan lifecycle.What You'll DoResearch Strategy & ExecutionPlan and execute qualitative and quantitative research studies focused on mortgage and home equity operations.Conduct interviews, contextual inquiries, workflow observations, usability testing, surveys, and diary studies.Identify operational inefficiencies, manual workarounds, and friction points within underwriting, processing, closing, and funding workflows.Develop research roadmaps aligned with business priorities and product initiatives.User Understanding & Journey MappingBuild deep expertise in mortgage lending operations, compliance requirements, and loan lifecycle processes.Create journey maps, service blueprints, ecosystem maps, and workflow diagrams.Analyze decision-making behaviors and information needs throughout the loan process.Product Development SupportCollaborate with Product Managers and Designers to define research objectives and validate product concepts.Conduct usability testing on internal operational tools, workflow automation systems, document management platforms, and decision-support tools.Evaluate prototypes and live products to identify opportunities for improved efficiency and accuracy.Translate research findings into actionable recommendations and design requirements.Insights & Stakeholder CommunicationSynthesize research findings into compelling reports, presentations, and executive summaries.Present insights to cross-functional stakeholders and leadership teams.Build and maintain a centralized research repository.Advocate for user-centered design principles across operational and product teams.Operational ExcellenceMeasure and track experience metrics related to:Task completion ratesProcessing efficiencyError reductionAdoption of internal toolsEmployee satisfactionSupport continuous improvement initiatives across lending operations.Required Qualifications3–5+ years of UX Research experience.Experience conducting end-to-end qualitative and quantitative research.Strong expertise in:User interviewsContextual inquiryUsability testingSurvey designJourney mappingAffinity mappingResearch synthesisAbility to translate complex workflows into actionable insights.Excellent communication, storytelling, and stakeholder management skills.Experience working in Agile product environments.