UX Researcher, YouTube Commerce

About the Role: UX Researcher, YouTube Commerce at Google

At Google, the core premise is "Focus on the user and all else will follow," a principle brought to life by User Experience Researchers (UXRs). The Google UX team, a multi-disciplinary group of Designers, Researchers, Writers, Content Strategists, Program Managers, and Engineers, deeply values product users. This team is essential in gathering insights into user needs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors, which then inform and inspire design. Collaboration is key, working closely with engineering and product management to develop industry-leading products that benefit both users and Google's businesses.

As a UX Researcher, you will play a crucial role in helping your team of UXers, product managers, and engineers understand user needs. Your impact will span all stages of product development, working with stakeholders across various functions and levels to create useful, usable, and delightful products. You'll delve into user behaviors and motivations through primary research methods such as field studies, interviews, diary studies, participatory workshops, ethnography, surveys, usability testing, and logs analysis.

The UXR community at Google offers a unique environment for professional growth, providing opportunities to collaborate and learn from other UXRs across Google through regular meetups, mentor programs, and access to internal research tools.

Specifically, as a UX Researcher on the YouTube Commerce team, you will be responsible for generating insights that drive the entire transaction lifecycle for all of YouTube's paid experiences. This includes major offerings like NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube Premium and Music, and channel memberships.

YouTube operates on the belief that everyone deserves a voice and that sharing stories builds a better world and community. Working at the forefront of technology and creativity, the team moves swiftly with culture, aiming to connect people globally. This environment encourages exploring new ideas, solving real problems, and fostering a collaborative, enjoyable work experience.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 4 years of experience in an applied research setting (e.g., product or academic), or similar.
• Experience with research methods (e.g., usability studies, contextual inquiries, 1:1 interviews, unmoderated research studies).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Statistics, Psychology, Anthropology, or a related field.
• 3 years of experience working with executive leadership (e.g., Director level and above).
• 2 years of experience conducting UX research on products, managing projects, and working in a large, matrixed organization.
• Experience working with platform-level initiatives or horizontal features that scale across multiple product areas (e.g., building a research-backed framework for global checkout).
• Excellent storytelling skills with the ability to turn complex research into clear, actionable frameworks for executive stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Drive complex research programs to identify high-value opportunities for the team.
• Partner closely with Design, Product, and Engineering leaders to drive product strategy and ensure product excellence through strategic and tactical research.
• Collaborate effectively with researchers and stakeholders across teams to influence product direction.
• Demonstrate effective problem-framing, build upon existing knowledge, integrate appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods, and deliver excellence in research execution and communication of insights.
• Facilitate healthy team dynamics, build cross-functional relationships, and increase adoption of strategic/tactical research insights at the team, product, and organizational level.

Key skills/competency

• UX Research
• User Centered Design
• Qualitative Research
• Quantitative Research
• Product Strategy
• Stakeholder Management
• Storytelling
• Usability Testing
• Ethnography
• Human-Computer Interaction