Staff UX Researcher

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Staff UX Researcher

Company: Pleo

Location: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, London, Madrid

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Design / Research Operations

Date Posted: March 02, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: Remote, Hybrid, or On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• This Staff UX Researcher role focuses on driving product strategy through deep user empathy and evidence-based insights, acting as a strategic partner to product leadership.

• The position emphasizes elevating research craft, translating broad business questions into actionable research plans, and connecting user behaviors to key business metrics.

• Responsibilities include influencing product roadmaps, supporting research operations, and mentoring peers within the broader Design and Research functions.

• The role requires a strong background in mixed-methods research, comfortable with both qualitative and quantitative data, and adept at synthesizing information from various sources to inform strategic decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the core function is UX Research, the "Staff" designation and emphasis on "strategic partner," "influencing investment choices," and "shaping strategic direction" indicate a senior-level role with significant impact on business strategy. This transcends typical "execution-only" research roles, requiring a blend of research prowess and business acumen, aligning with GTM and operational excellence principles.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Strategic Research Planning: Partner with Product Leadership to define research objectives, translate high-level business questions into robust, mixed-methods research plans, and identify key strategic bets informed by user needs.

• Insight Generation & Synthesis: Conduct and oversee end-to-end qualitative and quantitative research studies, synthesizing findings from diverse sources (user interviews, surveys, analytics dashboards like Amplitude, competitive analysis) to deliver actionable insights.

• Product Strategy Influence: Act as a primary advocate for the customer voice in strategic conversations, using compelling storytelling and data-driven narratives to influence roadmap priorities, product direction, and investment decisions.

• Research Craft Elevation: Drive improvements in research synthesis, reporting, and knowledge sharing practices to ensure insights are effectively understood and applied across Product, Design, and Engineering teams.

• Research Operations Support: Contribute to maintaining and enhancing the research toolkit, including managing the research repository (Dovetail), streamlining participant recruitment processes, and optimizing research tools for broader accessibility.

• Cross-Functional Enablement: Empower other teams within the organization to conduct high-quality research by sharing frameworks, facilitating workshops, and providing guidance on research methodologies and best practices.

• Mentorship and Community Growth: Mentor junior researchers and designers, share best practices within the broader design and research community, and contribute to the continuous evolution of Pleo's research practice.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities clearly outline a senior-level researcher who is not just executing studies but actively shaping strategy. The emphasis on "connecting insights to impact" and "influencing roadmap priorities" highlights a direct link to Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy and operational efficiency by ensuring product development aligns with genuine customer needs and business objectives.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• Approximately 5-7 years of dedicated Product/UX Research experience.

• Proven experience in an in-house role within a B2B or B2C SaaS environment.

• Experience working within complex product ecosystems is highly valued.

Required Skills:

• Mixed-Methods Expertise: Demonstrated proficiency in both qualitative (e.g., interviews, usability testing, ethnography) and quantitative (e.g., surveys, A/B testing, data analysis) research methodologies.

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to partner with product leadership, understand business objectives, and translate broad, exploratory questions into focused, actionable research strategies.

• Insight Translation & Storytelling: Exceptional ability to synthesize complex data from multiple sources into clear, compelling narratives that drive understanding and influence decision-making.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong communication and facilitation skills to effectively collaborate with and align Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and other stakeholders.

• Research Operations Acumen: Comfort and experience in managing the operational aspects of research, including participant recruitment, tool management, and maintaining research repositories.

• Product Sense: A strong understanding of product development cycles and how user research contributes to building successful products.

• Data Interpretation: Ability to interpret data from analytics dashboards (e.g., Amplitude) and weave it with qualitative findings to form a holistic customer picture.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with user research in the fintech industry.

• Familiarity with product management tools such as ProductBoard.

• Experience in mentoring junior researchers or contributing to research community growth.

• Proficiency in workshop facilitation for ideation, strategy alignment, or insight sharing.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement of "5-7 years" for a "Staff" level role is standard. The emphasis on "complex product ecosystems" and "mixed-methods experience" are crucial for candidates coming from organizations with intricate user journeys or diverse product offerings, which is common in scaling SaaS companies. The "strategic orientation" and "translational skills" are key differentiators for senior operations-adjacent roles.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase 1-2 comprehensive projects that demonstrate your full research process, from problem definition and research planning through execution, synthesis, and impact.

• Strategic Impact Demonstration: Clearly articulate how your research directly influenced product decisions, roadmap priorities, or strategic investments, providing concrete examples of outcomes.

• Methodological Diversity: Present a range of research methods used (qualitative and quantitative) and explain the rationale behind your methodological choices for each project.

• Business Acumen Integration: Illustrate how you connected user insights to key business metrics (e.g., retention, engagement, conversion) and demonstrated ROI or business value derived from your research.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration Examples: Highlight instances where you effectively partnered with Product, Design, and Engineering teams, showcasing your ability to align stakeholders and drive consensus.

Process Documentation:

• Research Plan Clarity: Submissions should include examples of well-defined research plans that clearly outline objectives, target participants, methodologies, and timelines.

• Synthesis and Reporting: Demonstrate your approach to synthesizing complex data into digestible, actionable insights through clear reports, presentations, or artifacts.

• Knowledge Sharing Artifacts: Include examples of how you've shared research findings to enable broader organizational understanding and application (e.g., presentations, workshops, documentation).

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Staff-level UX Researcher, the portfolio is paramount. It's not just about showing what research was done, but why, how it was strategic, and what impact it had. This aligns with the operational need to demonstrate tangible value and efficiency gains through research-informed product development, directly impacting GTM success.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• Given the Staff-level experience (5-7 years), the senior nature of the role, and the multi-location aspect across major European tech hubs (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, London, Madrid), a competitive salary range is expected. Based on industry benchmarks for Staff UX Researchers in these regions, the estimated annual gross salary would likely fall between €70,000 - €100,000 (or equivalent local currency).
  • Copenhagen/Stockholm/London: These cities generally command higher salaries due to higher cost of living and strong tech markets.
  • Berlin/Madrid: While still competitive, these cities might sit at the lower end of this range compared to the others.

Benefits:

• 💳 Pleo Card: Company-issued card for seamless business expense management, eliminating out-of-pocket spending.

• 🍜 Lunch: Catered meals or a lunch allowance provided on workdays.

• 🏥 Comprehensive Private Healthcare: Coverage options vary by location (e.g., Vitality, Alan, Médis).

• 🌴 Generous Holiday Allowance: 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays.

• 🏖️ Additional Holiday Purchase: Option to buy up to 5 extra days of holiday via salary sacrifice.

• 🏠 Flexible Working: Hybrid and fully remote working options available.

• ❤️‍🩹 Mental Health & Well-being Support: Access to free mental health and well-being services through MyndUp.

• 👶 Paid Parental Leave: Supportive policy for new parents.

Working Hours:

• Approximately 40 hours per week, with flexibility offered through remote and hybrid work arrangements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is crucial for operations roles, as it directly impacts budget planning and talent acquisition. The benefits listed are standard for tech companies but are enhanced by specific offerings like the Pleo card and robust mental health support, indicating a focus on employee well-being and operational efficiency for employees. The mention of "40 hours" with "flexibility" is common for senior roles where output and strategic contribution are prioritized over strict time tracking.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Fintech / Business Spend Management SaaS

Company Size: 850+ employees, serving over 40,000 customers. This indicates a scaling organization with established processes but still agile enough for significant individual impact.

Founded: 10 years ago, suggesting a mature startup or scale-up phase, past the initial chaotic startup years but still embodying innovation and growth.

Team Structure:

• Reporting: The Staff UX Researcher reports to the Design Director.

• Functional Alignment: The Research function is part of a broader Design Function, which includes Brand Design, Localization, Product Design, and Content Design. This suggests a collaborative, integrated approach to user experience.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Close partnerships are expected with Product Managers, Product Designers, Engineers, and potentially Marketing and Data Analytics teams.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Approach: Emphasis on using evidence-based perspectives and connecting insights to business metrics.

• User-Centricity: A strong focus on uncovering customer needs and ensuring the customer voice is central to product development.

• Iterative Development: Implied through collaboration with Product and Design, suggesting a continuous cycle of research, design, testing, and refinement.

• Open Collaboration: Values open collaboration, sharing insights, and supporting each other's growth.

Company Website: https://pleo.io/

📝 Enhancement Note: Understanding the company's industry and size is critical for operations roles. A fintech SaaS company of Pleo's size is likely to have complex operational workflows and a strong focus on data security, scalability, and customer acquisition/retention. The integrated Design Function suggests a mature approach to user experience, which directly impacts GTM effectiveness.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Staff UX Researcher. This is a senior individual contributor role, signifying a high level of expertise, autonomy, and strategic influence. It's a step beyond a Senior UX Researcher, often involving leadership in research strategy, mentoring, and driving significant product or business initiatives.

Reporting Structure: Reports to the Design Director. This structure places the role within a leadership framework, offering visibility to senior management and opportunities to influence broader design and product strategies. Close collaboration with Product Leadership (including potentially the Chief Product Officer, as indicated in the interview process) is a key aspect.

Operations Impact: The Staff UX Researcher is expected to directly impact business strategy by ensuring product development is grounded in user needs and market insights. This role influences investment choices, shapes roadmaps, and drives product-market fit, which are critical GTM and operational success factors. By connecting user behaviors to business metrics like retention and engagement, the role contributes to predictable revenue growth and operational efficiency.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership in Research: Opportunity to define and evolve Pleo's research practice, establish best practices, and potentially lead research initiatives or a small team in the future.

• Strategic Influence: Deepen involvement in product strategy, roadmap planning, and influencing executive-level decisions.

• Skill Specialization: Further develop expertise in specific research methodologies or domains (e.g., fintech, complex B2B/B2C ecosystems).

• Mentorship: Grow leadership and coaching skills by mentoring peers and contributing to the development of the broader design and research community.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gain broader business understanding by working closely with various departments, potentially leading to opportunities in Product Management or Strategy roles over time.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, understanding career progression is key. The "Staff" level implies a significant step up, with expectations of leadership in thought and practice, direct impact on strategic outcomes, and potential for future leadership roles. This aligns with a desire for impactful, growth-oriented roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Pleo offers hybrid and fully remote working options, indicating a modern, flexible work environment that prioritizes employee autonomy and work-life balance. The presence of physical offices in multiple locations (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, London, Madrid) suggests a commitment to collaborative in-person work when desired.

Office Location(s): Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, London, Madrid. These are major European tech hubs, offering vibrant professional ecosystems and accessibility for talent.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hubs: Physical offices likely provide spaces for team collaboration, workshops, and in-person interactions.

• Technology-Enabled: Expect access to the necessary tools and technology stack to support research activities, including analytics platforms, research repositories, and communication tools.

• Cross-Functional Interaction: The role is designed for extensive interaction with Product, Design, and Engineering teams, fostering a highly collaborative and integrated work environment.

Work Schedule:

• Approximately 40 hours per week.

• Flexibility is a key aspect, allowing individuals to manage their schedules effectively, especially with remote and hybrid options, enabling deep focus periods for research and analysis.

📝 Enhancement Note: The blend of remote/hybrid options with physical office presence is a common and attractive model in today's tech landscape. For operations roles, this means the individual must be adept at working autonomously and collaboratively across different modes of communication and work styles.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Intro Call (30 min): Initial screening with a Talent Partner to assess basic fit, motivation, and understanding of the role.

• Hiring Manager Interview (60 min): In-depth discussion with the Design Director focusing on domain experience, research methodologies, strategic thinking, and past collaborations with product teams.

• Portfolio Review Session: A critical stage where candidates present 1-2 end-to-end research projects. Focus will be on showcasing the research process, strategic impact, and how decisions were influenced.

• Executive Interview (30 min): Conversation with the Chief Product Officer (CPO) to discuss product strategy, vision, leadership experience, roadmap influence, and driving impact through research.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Storytelling is Key: Structure your chosen projects as compelling narratives. Clearly define the problem, your approach, the insights gained, and the tangible impact on the product or business.

• Show Strategic Thinking: Emphasize how your research informed strategic decisions, not just tactical UI improvements. Highlight instances where you helped define what problems to solve.

• Demonstrate Impact with Data: Quantify the impact of your research wherever possible. Connect user insights to business metrics, ROI, or key performance indicators.

• Highlight Collaboration: Showcase how you partnered with Product, Design, and Engineering. Explain how you translated research findings into actionable recommendations for these teams.

• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your process, challenges faced, alternative approaches, and how you handle ambiguity or conflicting data.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Pleo's Business: Research Pleo's product, target audience (SMEs, finance teams, employees), and competitive landscape. Understand their core value proposition: simplifying spend management.

• Prepare for Strategy/Vision Questions: Given the CPO interview, be ready to discuss your views on product strategy, user-centricity in a business context, and how research can shape long-term vision.

• Reflect on "Staff" Level Expectations: Think about how you've operated with autonomy, mentored others, and influenced at a strategic level in previous roles. Be ready to articulate your leadership philosophy in research.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is rigorous and designed to assess strategic impact. The portfolio review and CPO interview are particularly important for a Staff-level role, demanding not just research skills but strategic thinking and executive presence. This process is designed to ensure the candidate can operate effectively in a senior, influential position, directly supporting operational excellence.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Research Repository: Dovetail (mentioned for organizing research findings).

• Analytics Platforms: Amplitude (mentioned for connecting user behaviors to business metrics).

• Product Management Tools: ProductBoard (mentioned as a tool candidates might be familiar with).

• General Collaboration Tools: Likely Slack, Jira, Confluence, Miro, Google Workspace/Microsoft 365.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Amplitude: For understanding user behavior, engagement, and conversion funnels.

• Implied: Tools for survey creation (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Qualtrics), A/B testing platforms, and potentially BI tools if access is granted.

CRM & Automation:

• While not explicitly mentioned for research, understanding Pleo's CRM (likely Salesforce or similar) and marketing automation tools would be beneficial for understanding the broader customer journey and business context.

📝 Enhancement Note: Familiarity with specific tools like Dovetail and Amplitude is a direct requirement. Understanding how these tools integrate with broader business intelligence and product management workflows is essential for operations roles. The ability to leverage data from these systems is key to demonstrating research impact.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: Deeply understanding and advocating for customer needs is paramount, driving product development that genuinely solves problems.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Valuing evidence and insights to guide strategic choices, moving beyond assumptions.

• Collaboration & Openness: Fostering a team environment where sharing knowledge, providing feedback, and working together across functions is the norm.

• Impact & Ownership: Taking pride in uncovering customer needs and turning complex problems into simple, effective solutions that have a direct impact on customers and the business.

• Continuous Improvement: A willingness to challenge the status quo, experiment, and aim high, reflecting a growth mindset.

Collaboration Style:

• Integrated Design Function: Working closely within the Design team (Brand, Localization, Product, Content) and cross-functionally with Product and Engineering.

• Knowledge Sharing: Emphasis on regular touch-points to share insights and support each other's growth, indicating a culture of learning and mutual support.

• Empowerment: A culture that empowers individuals to operate with autonomy and contribute to shaping practices and strategies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values of customer-centricity, data-driven decision making, and collaboration are core to effective operations and GTM strategies. Understanding these values helps candidates align their approach and communication style with Pleo's operational philosophy.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Strategic vs. Tactical Research: As a Staff researcher, navigating the need to contribute to long-term strategy while also supporting immediate product team needs can be challenging.

• Influencing Without Authority: Effectively advocating for user needs and research insights in strategic discussions, especially when balancing technical and business constraints, requires strong influencing skills.

• Synthesizing Complex Data: Integrating insights from diverse sources (qualitative, quantitative, analytics, market trends) into a cohesive and actionable narrative can be complex.

• Enabling Research Across Teams: Supporting multiple teams in conducting their own research requires scalable frameworks and effective training, which can be resource-intensive.

• Navigating Ambiguity: Translating broad, open-ended business questions into clear research plans in a fast-paced environment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Strategic Influence: Deepen expertise in shaping product strategy and influencing executive-level decisions.

• Research Practice Evolution: Play a key role in defining and advancing Pleo's research methodologies and operations.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Develop coaching and leadership skills through mentoring peers and contributing to the growth of the research community.

• Fintech Domain Expertise: Gain specialized knowledge within the fintech industry and complex SaaS product ecosystems.

• Cross-Functional Acumen: Expand understanding of business operations, product management, and engineering by working closely with these functions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Articulating challenges and how one plans to overcome them is a key part of interview preparation. Highlighting the growth opportunities shows alignment with career development, a significant factor for operations professionals seeking long-term career paths.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you translated a broad, ambiguous business question into a focused research plan. What was the outcome?" (Focus on your strategic thinking and planning process).

• "How do you balance deep qualitative insights with quantitative data (like Amplitude dashboards) to inform product strategy?" (Showcase your mixed-methods approach and ability to connect data points).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you most about Pleo's mission and our approach to spend management?" (Research Pleo's value proposition and market position).

• "How do you see the role of UX Research evolving in a company like Pleo, and how would you contribute to that evolution?" (Reflect on your vision for research operations and strategic impact).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select High-Impact Projects: Choose 1-2 projects that best showcase your strategic influence, end-to-end process, and measurable impact.

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly outline:

  1. The Business/Product Problem: What was the challenge or opportunity?
  2. Your Role & Objectives: What was your specific contribution and what did you aim to achieve?
  3. Your Methodology: Why did you choose these methods?
  4. Key Findings & Insights: What did you learn?
  5. Recommendations & Impact: How did your insights influence decisions? What was the outcome (quantify if possible)?
  6. Reflections: What did you learn personally from the project?

• Focus on "So What?": Ensure every part of your presentation answers "So what?" – why do these findings matter to Pleo's business and customers?

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparing for these specific types of questions and presentation strategies is crucial for a Staff-level role. It demonstrates an understanding of how operations professionals are evaluated: on their strategic thinking, ability to drive measurable impact, and leadership potential.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Staff UX Researcher position:

• Submit your application through the Pleo careers portal via the provided link.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight 1-2 projects that best demonstrate strategic impact, end-to-end research process, and collaboration, specifically referencing how your work influenced product strategy and business metrics.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 5-7 years of experience, emphasizing your mixed-methods expertise, strategic contributions, and experience in SaaS/complex product environments. Use keywords like "UX Research," "Product Strategy," "Mixed-Methods," "Insight Synthesis," and "Roadmap Influence."

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your research process and impact using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Prepare specific examples for strategy, collaboration, and leadership questions, and rehearse your portfolio presentation.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Pleo's mission, product, target audience, and recent news. Understand their value proposition in the spend management space and how UX research contributes to their business goals.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.