📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Senior UX Researcher
Company: Genuine Parts Company
Location: USA GPC Windy Hill, Atlanta, GA
Job Type: FULL_TIME
Category: UX Research
Date Posted: 2025-06-09T00:00:00
Experience Level: 5-10 years (Senior Level)
Remote Status: Hybrid (Flexible Work Policy)
🎨 Role Summary
- Lead comprehensive UX research initiatives for specific products, focusing on understanding user needs, behaviors, and motivations.
- Translate complex research findings into actionable design recommendations that directly influence product strategy and development.
- Drive a user-centered approach throughout the product lifecycle, advocating for user needs and ensuring design decisions are grounded in empirical data.
- Mentor and enable cross-functional teams in conducting high-quality research, fostering a culture of continuous learning and user empathy within the organization.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Plan, design, and execute a range of qualitative and quantitative research studies, including but not limited to usability testing, contextual inquiries, in-depth interviews, surveys, and competitive analysis, to uncover deep user insights.
- Synthesize research data from multiple sources, identifying key themes, patterns, and opportunities, and translate findings into compelling narratives and actionable recommendations for product teams and stakeholders.
- Develop and maintain user research artifacts such as detailed user archetypes, comprehensive journey maps, and workflow analyses to communicate a nuanced understanding of user needs and behaviors across the organization.
- Collaborate closely with Product Managers, UX/UI Designers, and Engineers throughout the product development process to ensure research insights are integrated into design decisions and product roadmaps.
- Champion user research best practices and methodologies within the organization, actively contributing to the development and refinement of research processes, tools, and standards.
- Effectively communicate research findings and their implications to a diverse audience of stakeholders through clear, concise, and impactful presentations and reports.
- Actively advocate for the user throughout the product development lifecycle, ensuring that user needs and goals are central to design and business decisions.
- Contribute to the strategic planning and execution of the overall user research program, ensuring alignment with business objectives and delivering insights that drive significant impact.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Human Factors, Anthropology, or a closely related field. Equivalent practical experience in UX research is also considered.
Experience: Minimum of 2 years of direct experience in UX Research, with a strong preference for candidates possessing 5 or more years of experience in a senior or lead UX research role. Experience in design for ecommerce, retail, and/or supply chain is highly valued.
Required Skills:
- Expert proficiency in planning, conducting, and synthesizing various qualitative research methods (e.g., usability testing, contextual inquiries, interviews).
- Strong command of quantitative research techniques (e.g., surveys, data analysis) and the ability to integrate quantitative and qualitative data for comprehensive insights.
- Demonstrated ability to develop detailed user archetypes, create comprehensive journey maps, and perform behavioral and workflow analyses.
- Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex user needs and research findings clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.
- Robust analytical and critical thinking skills, capable of interpreting complex data sets and translating insights into actionable product recommendations.
- Proven experience collaborating effectively within cross-functional teams, including Product Managers, Designers, and Engineers.
- Experience working in environments that promote "democratized research," including enabling, mentoring, and partnering with non-researchers on research activities.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity in complex or evolving problem spaces.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience leveraging AI-powered research tools and methodologies (e.g., AI-assisted surveys, unmoderated testing platforms, large language models for synthesis, or predictive analytics).
- Prior experience conducting UX research within the ecommerce, retail, or supply chain industries.
- Familiarity with design systems and their impact on user research strategy and execution.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- Your portfolio should feature 3-5 detailed case studies demonstrating your end-to-end UX research process for significant projects.
- Each case study must clearly articulate the research objectives, methodologies employed, participant recruitment strategy, data collection techniques, and analytical approach.
- Include examples of how your research insights directly influenced design decisions, product strategy, and ultimately, business outcomes.
- Showcase your ability to present complex findings in a clear, concise, and visually compelling manner, suitable for both design teams and executive stakeholders.
Process Documentation:
- For each case study, provide documentation illustrating your approach to the research and discovery phase, including how you defined research questions and selected appropriate methods.
- Detail your methods for ideation and iteration based on research findings, showing how insights were translated into design concepts or product features.
- Explain your validation and testing approaches, including how you designed usability tests or other validation methods to gather feedback and refine solutions.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: Based on industry data for a Senior UX Researcher role in the Atlanta, GA area, with 5+ years of experience, the estimated annual salary range is typically between $110,000 and $150,000. This estimate can vary based on the candidate's specific experience, skills, and the company's compensation structure. Research sources include Glassdoor, Payscale, and industry salary reports for the Southeast region.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
- Retirement savings plan (e.g., 401k) with potential company match.
- Paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays).
- Flexible Work Policy, allowing for a hybrid remote schedule for eligible employees.
- Opportunities for professional development and training to enhance UX research skills.
Working Hours: This is a full-time position with standard working hours. The Flexible Work Policy offers some flexibility in scheduling, allowing for a hybrid remote arrangement.
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: Automotive and Industrial Replacement Parts Distribution. The company operates within a mature industry but with a clear focus on leveraging technology and digital platforms to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency, which creates significant opportunities for UX research impact on digital products and services. This involves understanding the needs of diverse users, from professional mechanics and industrial clients to potentially retail customers.
Company Size: Genuine Parts Company is a large global organization with over 60,000 teammates across 17 countries and over 10,700 locations. For design professionals, this typically means working within a structured environment with established processes, but also the potential for large-scale impact across diverse user groups and international markets.
Founded: Established in 1928. This long history indicates a stable and established company, which can offer a solid foundation for a UX research team focused on long-term strategic initiatives and continuous improvement of user experiences within their core business areas.
Team Structure:
- The Senior UX Researcher will be part of a driven and talented team, likely within a broader Product or Technology organization.
- Collaboration will be highly cross-functional, working closely with Product Managers, UX/UI Designers, and Engineers.
- The role involves leading research efforts for specific products, suggesting a product-aligned team structure where researchers are embedded within or closely aligned with product teams.
Methodology:
- The mention of fostering a "test and learn" culture and establishing best practices indicates an emphasis on iterative development and data-driven decision-making.
- Research methodologies will span both qualitative (usability testing, interviews, contextual inquiry) and quantitative (surveys, potentially leveraging analytics) approaches.
- The role likely involves contributing to or utilizing established design processes that incorporate user research insights at various stages, from discovery to validation.
Company Website: http://jobs.genpt.com/
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: This is a Senior-level individual contributor role. Senior UX Researchers are typically expected to work autonomously, lead significant research initiatives, mentor junior researchers (if applicable), and strategically influence product direction through their insights. They possess a deep understanding of research methodologies and their application to complex problems.
Reporting Structure: The role likely reports to a UX Research Manager, Director of UX, or potentially a Product leader, depending on the specific team structure within the organization. Collaboration with Product, Design, and Engineering leads will be crucial.
Design Impact: As a Senior UX Researcher, your impact will be significant. You will be responsible for uncovering critical user needs and pain points that directly inform the design and development of products used by a large and diverse customer base, influencing business outcomes and industry impact.
Growth Opportunities:
- Potential for advancement to a Lead UX Researcher or UX Research Manager role, taking on more direct leadership and team management responsibilities.
- Opportunities to specialize in specific research areas, such as generative research, evaluative research, or research operations.
- Growth through mentoring junior team members and contributing to the development of the overall UX research practice within the company.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: The position is based at GPC’s office in Marietta, GA, with a Flexible Work Policy allowing for a hybrid remote schedule. This suggests a professional office environment that also supports remote work, likely providing a balance between in-person collaboration and remote flexibility.
Office Location(s): USA GPC Windy Hill, Marietta, GA. This is the primary base for the role, indicating that while hybrid work is supported, there will be expectations for presence in the office for team collaboration, meetings, and potentially conducting in-person research activities.
Design Workspace Context:
- The office environment likely provides dedicated workspaces conducive to focused research activities and collaborative areas for team meetings and brainstorming sessions.
- Access to necessary research tools, software, and potentially dedicated lab space for usability testing or other in-person research methods.
- Opportunities for informal interactions and collaboration with design, product, and engineering colleagues in a shared physical space.
Work Schedule: The role is full-time with a hybrid remote schedule. This offers flexibility, allowing employees to balance working from home with required time in the office for collaboration and team activities. The specific hybrid schedule details would likely be discussed during the interview process.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Initial screening call with a recruiter to discuss your background, experience, and interest in the role.
- Interview(s) with members of the UX team and potentially the hiring manager, focusing on your UX research experience, methodologies, and problem-solving skills. Be prepared to discuss your portfolio and walk through specific case studies.
- A potential design challenge or case study presentation where you might be asked to address a specific research problem or present a detailed analysis of a past project.
- Interviews with cross-functional partners (Product, Engineering) to assess collaboration skills and ability to influence product strategy.
- Final interview(s) with leadership to discuss your strategic thinking, leadership potential, and fit with the team and company culture.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Focus on showcasing projects where you led the research effort and had a significant impact on the product.
- Clearly articulate the business context, research questions, methodologies used, challenges encountered, and key findings for each case study.
- Demonstrate how your research insights translated into actionable recommendations and influenced design decisions or product outcomes.
- Highlight your ability to communicate complex research findings effectively to both design and non-design stakeholders.
Challenge Preparation:
- If a design challenge is part of the process, ensure you understand the problem space thoroughly and clearly articulate your research approach and rationale.
- For a case study presentation, practice walking through your chosen projects concisely and compellingly, focusing on the impact of your research.
- Be prepared to discuss your process, justify your methodological choices, and answer questions about your findings and recommendations.
ATS Keywords: User Research, UX Research, Usability Testing, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Contextual Inquiry, User Interviews, Surveys, Archetype Development, Journey Mapping, Data Synthesis, Research Strategy, Product Strategy, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Stakeholder Communication, Research Methodologies, AI-Powered Research, eCommerce, Retail, Supply Chain, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Human Factors, Anthropology, Analytical Skills, Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking, Portfolio, Case Study, Research Tools, Data Analysis, User-Centered Design.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- Proficiency in standard UX research tools for survey creation (e.g., Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey), usability testing platforms (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback), and data analysis software is expected.
- Experience with tools for creating user archetypes, journey maps, and other research deliverables (e.g., Miro, Figma, Mural, or similar collaborative whiteboarding tools).
- Familiarity with tools used by design and product teams (e.g., Figma, Sketch, InVision) for understanding design mockups and prototypes to inform research planning.
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Experience using collaboration platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar for communication and coordination with cross-functional teams.
- Familiarity with project management tools such as Jira, Asana, or Trello for tracking research activities and integrating with product development workflows.
- Ability to document research findings and recommendations clearly in shared repositories or documentation tools accessible to the wider team.
Research & Testing:
- Experience with tools for conducting remote or unmoderated usability testing.
- Proficiency in using analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) to complement qualitative findings with quantitative data on user behavior.
- Familiarity with tools or methods for competitive analysis and market research.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- A strong emphasis on understanding the user: The core purpose of the role is to deeply understand user needs, behaviors, and motivations, indicating a user-centric approach is highly valued.
- Data-driven decision making: The focus on planning, conducting, and synthesizing research to influence product direction highlights the importance of using data to inform design and business choices.
- Collaboration and knowledge sharing: The mention of working closely with cross-functional teams and contributing to a "test and learn" culture points to a collaborative environment where sharing insights is encouraged.
- Continuous improvement: Fostering best practices and contributing to user research programs suggests a commitment to refining processes and elevating the quality of research.
Collaboration Style:
- Highly collaborative with Product, Design, and Engineering teams, working together to translate research insights into product solutions.
- Emphasis on clear and impactful communication to ensure research findings are understood and acted upon by stakeholders across the organization.
- Potential for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing within the UX team and across the broader organization.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Navigating the complexities of researching for a large, established company with diverse user groups across different industries (automotive and industrial) and potentially international markets.
- Translating research findings into actionable insights that resonate with stakeholders who may have varying levels of familiarity with UX research.
- Integrating research effectively into existing product development processes and timelines.
- Staying updated on the latest UX research methodologies and tools, including the application of AI in research.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Opportunities to deepen expertise in specific research methodologies or areas of focus relevant to the company's products and users.
- Potential for attending industry conferences, workshops, or training programs to enhance skills and knowledge.
- Mentorship opportunities, both as a mentee learning from senior leaders and as a mentor guiding more junior team members.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to walk through your end-to-end research process for a complex project, explaining your rationale for choosing specific methodologies and how you ensured the rigor and validity of your findings.
- Discuss how you prioritize research questions and plan research initiatives to align with product goals and business objectives.
- Explain your approach to synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data to derive comprehensive and actionable insights.
Company Culture Questions:
- Research Genuine Parts Company's values and recent news to understand their strategic priorities and how UX research fits into their vision.
- Prepare questions about the specific design team structure, how research insights are currently utilized, and the level of influence the UX team has on product strategy.
- Be ready to discuss your experience working in cross-functional teams and how you foster collaboration and knowledge sharing with non-researchers.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that best demonstrate your skills and experience relevant to the Senior UX Researcher role, focusing on impact and strategic influence.
- Structure your presentation to clearly articulate the problem, your research approach, key findings, and the impact of your work on the product and business.
- Practice presenting your case studies concisely and compellingly, highlighting your critical thinking and problem-solving skills throughout the process.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link
- Customize your resume to highlight your relevant UX research experience, skills, and accomplishments, using keywords from the job description.
- Refine your portfolio to showcase detailed case studies that demonstrate your research process, methodologies, and the impact of your work.
- Prepare for interviews by reviewing your portfolio, practicing explaining your research process, and researching Genuine Parts Company and the automotive/industrial parts industry.
- Tailor your cover letter (if applicable) to specifically address your interest in this Senior UX Researcher role and how your skills and experience align with the requirements and the company's goals.