UX Researcher

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Researcher

Company: Moodle

Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: User Experience (UX) Operations / Product Operations

Date Posted: 2025-08-21T18:19:13.462

Experience Level: Mid-Level (2-5 years)

Remote Status: Fully Flexible (Remote OK)

🚀 Role Summary

• This role is central to informing and improving Moodle's digital learning products through user-centered research methodologies, impacting millions of educators and learners globally.

• The UX Researcher will conduct a spectrum of qualitative and quantitative research, from usability studies to in-depth interviews, ensuring product development is driven by user needs and behaviors.

• Collaboration is key, as the researcher will work closely with cross-functional teams, including designers, developers, and product managers, to translate research findings into actionable product improvements.

• The position offers the opportunity to contribute to the enhancement of Moodle's research operations and practice, working alongside the Lead User Researcher to refine tools and methodologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "UX Researcher," the emphasis on improving products, informing development, and collaborating with product managers and developers positions this role within the broader Product Operations or GTM Operations spectrum, focusing on the operationalization of user insights within the product lifecycle. The mention of "strengthen our operations and provide guidance on tools and methodologies" further solidifies its operational alignment.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Design, plan, and execute a variety of user research studies, including usability testing, user interviews, surveys, contextual inquiries, diary studies, and competitive analysis.

• Conduct exploratory and generative research to identify unmet user needs and opportunities for product innovation.

• Perform evaluative research to assess the usability, effectiveness, and satisfaction with existing and new product features.

• Synthesize research data from multiple sources (qualitative and quantitative) to identify patterns, insights, and key themes.

• Translate complex research findings into clear, concise, and actionable recommendations for product teams, designers, and stakeholders.

• Present research insights and recommendations effectively to diverse audiences, fostering a shared understanding of user needs.

• Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Designers, Developers, and other stakeholders throughout the product development lifecycle to ensure user insights are integrated into decision-making.

• Contribute to the development and refinement of Moodle's user research practice, including methodologies, tools, and operational processes.

• Advocate for the user across the organization, championing a user-centered design and development culture.

• Stay current with user research best practices, emerging trends, and relevant technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a deep engagement with the product development lifecycle, focusing on research operations and translating insights into tangible product improvements, which is a core function within GTM and Product Operations.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Cognitive Science, Anthropology, Sociology, Behavioral Economics, or a related field.

Experience:

• 2-5 years of proven experience in user research roles within product organizations, with a strong portfolio showcasing end-to-end research projects.

• Experience working in a technical environment with cross-functional product teams, including designers, developers, and product managers.

• Familiarity with working on existing, mature digital products and understanding the unique research challenges they present.

Required Skills:

• Expertise in designing and conducting a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies (e.g., usability testing, interviews, surveys, card sorting, tree testing).

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesize complex data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the proven ability to present findings clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.

• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships, trust, and credibility with stakeholders across different departments.

• Experience working in a remote setting, adept at navigating multiple time zones within a distributed team environment.

• Proficiency in user research tools and platforms for participant recruitment, data collection, and analysis.

Preferred Skills:

• Passion for open-source software, education technology, and community-driven projects.

• Knowledge of languages other than English.

• Experience with analytics tools and data visualization for complementing qualitative research.

• Familiarity with UX design principles and best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience level is inferred from "2-5 years" in the ai_experience_level field, aligning with a mid-level researcher role. The required skills are extracted and expanded from the job description's "We'd love to meet you" section, emphasizing the operational aspects of research delivery.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A robust portfolio demonstrating end-to-end ownership of user research projects from planning to delivery.

• Case studies that clearly articulate the research problem, methodology, process, and impact on product development.

• Evidence of translating research findings into specific, actionable recommendations that led to measurable product improvements.

• Examples of how research insights were effectively communicated and integrated into product roadmaps and design decisions.

Process Documentation:

• Ability to document and articulate user research processes, standardizing methodologies for consistency and scalability.

• Experience in developing and refining research operational workflows to ensure efficient project execution.

• Skills in managing research projects, including timelines, participant recruitment, and stakeholder communication.

• Contribution to the development of research repositories or knowledge management systems for sharing insights across teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section is crucial for operations roles. The emphasis is on demonstrating not just research outcomes, but the systematic how – the processes, documentation, and operational rigor behind the research itself. This aligns with the need for replicable and scalable research operations.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

As Moodle is a global, remote-first organization and specific salary details are not provided, a competitive salary range for a Mid-Level UX Researcher in Perth, Western Australia, Australia, can be estimated. Based on industry benchmarks and cost of living in Perth for this role, a typical range would be AUD $90,000 - $130,000 per annum, depending on experience and qualifications.

Benefits:

• Genuinely flexible, distributed (remote) role.

• A fantastic range of benefits focused on:

  • Work-life balance: Supporting employees in achieving a healthy equilibrium between professional and personal life.
  • Wellbeing: Programs and initiatives designed to support the physical, mental, and emotional health of employees.
  • "Choosing your own adventure": Indicating flexibility and autonomy in career development and work approach.

• Opportunity to work with a global team on a worldwide platform, making a significant impact in education.

Working Hours:

• The role is fully flexible and remote, implying a degree of autonomy over working hours. While the standard expectation for a full-time role is around 40 hours per week, Moodle's distributed nature suggests flexibility in scheduling to accommodate different time zones and individual work patterns, provided project deadlines and team collaboration needs are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary range estimation is based on publicly available data for UX Researcher roles in Perth, Australia, considering the mid-level experience specified. The benefits are directly extracted from the job description, highlighting Moodle's commitment to employee well-being and flexible work.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Education Technology (EdTech), Software as a Service (SaaS), Open Source. Moodle operates within the rapidly evolving digital learning sector, providing a critical platform for educational institutions and organizations globally.

Company Size: Moodle has over 280 team members in more than 25 countries, indicating a medium-to-large sized, globally distributed organization. This size allows for specialized roles while maintaining a sense of community and shared mission.

Founded: Moodle was founded in 2002. Its long history as an open-source LMS has established it as a trusted and mature platform in the e-learning space, with a strong foundation in community collaboration and continuous innovation.

Team Structure:

• The UX Researcher will be part of a growing team, likely within a Product or Design department.

• Collaboration will be integral, with close working relationships expected with Product Managers, UX Designers, Developers, and potentially other researchers.

Methodology:

• Moodle emphasizes a user-centered approach, driven by research and community feedback.

• Data analysis and insights are fundamental to product development, ensuring that improvements are based on user needs and behaviors.

• Workflow planning and optimization are implicitly part of the research process, ensuring efficient delivery of insights.

• Automation and efficiency practices are likely employed in research operations, such as participant management and data analysis tools, to maximize impact.

Company Website: https://moodle.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context is built from the provided description, emphasizing Moodle's position in the EdTech market and its open-source, community-driven ethos. This context is vital for understanding the operational environment and cultural expectations for a UX Researcher.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This position is positioned as a Mid-Level UX Researcher (2-5 years of experience). It involves significant autonomy in executing research projects and contributing to the refinement of research practices, indicating a role with substantial responsibility beyond entry-level.

Reporting Structure: The researcher will work independently but collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and contribute to the evolution of research practice by working with the Lead User Researcher. This suggests a direct reporting line to the Lead User Researcher or a Product/Design lead, with strong dotted-line relationships across product development teams.

Operations Impact: The UX Researcher's insights directly influence product strategy, design decisions, and feature development, ultimately impacting the usability and effectiveness of Moodle's offerings for millions of users. This role is critical in ensuring the operational success of Moodle products by grounding them in user needs.

Growth Opportunities:

• Operations Skill Advancement: Opportunity to deepen expertise in a wide array of research methodologies and contribute to establishing best practices within the research team.

• Specialization Paths: Potential to specialize in specific areas of user research (e.g., generative research, quantitative analysis, accessibility research) or product domains within Moodle.

• Leadership Potential: As Moodle's research practice evolves, there may be opportunities to mentor junior researchers or lead specific research initiatives.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gain broad experience by working across various product teams, understanding different development cycles and user segments.

• Industry Contribution: Contribute to the open-source community and the broader EdTech industry through impactful research that shapes educational technology.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth analysis focuses on how a UX Researcher role in an operations-oriented company like Moodle can lead to career progression within the UX research discipline and potentially into broader product operations or leadership roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Moodle is a fully flexible, distributed company. While the role is based in Perth, Australia, it is a remote-first position, meaning there is no requirement to attend a physical office regularly.

Office Location(s): While the role is advertised as being based in Perth, Western Australia, the company operates with a distributed workforce across more than 25 countries. This means the "office" is wherever the employee is located, emphasizing a remote-first culture.

Workspace Context:

• The workspace is entirely remote, requiring self-discipline and effective time management.

• Collaboration will primarily occur through digital communication tools, necessitating strong virtual communication skills.

• Access to necessary research tools and technologies will be provided or supported to enable effective remote research operations.

Work Schedule:

• The role offers genuine flexibility, allowing employees to manage their schedules to best suit their productivity and work-life balance, while ensuring alignment with global team collaboration needs and project deadlines.

📝 Enhancement Note: The work environment description is tailored to a remote-first, distributed company, highlighting the operational advantages and requirements of such a setup for a UX Researcher.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review applications and portfolios, focusing on alignment with core qualifications and experience.

• Hiring Manager/Lead Researcher Interview: An in-depth discussion about your experience, research philosophy, and approach to user research operations. Expect questions about how you translate insights into action.

• Cross-Functional Team Interview: Meet with key collaborators (e.g., Product Manager, UX Designer) to assess your ability to work effectively within a cross-functional team and communicate research findings.

• Research Task/Case Study: You may be asked to complete a take-home assignment or present a past research project in detail, focusing on your process, methodology, and impact.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader to discuss cultural fit, long-term aspirations, and overall alignment with Moodle's mission.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Process, Not Just Outcomes: Clearly articulate your research process, from problem definition and planning to execution, analysis, and synthesis. Detail the operational steps you took.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, demonstrate the impact of your research on product decisions, user experience improvements, or business metrics (e.g., increased conversion rates, reduced support tickets, improved task completion rates).

• Highlight Collaboration: Provide examples of how you collaborated with designers, product managers, and engineers, and how you facilitated the integration of user insights into their workflows.

• Tailor to Moodle: Research Moodle's products and target audience. Consider how your past work demonstrates relevant skills and experience for their specific context.

• Structure for Clarity: Organize your portfolio logically, perhaps by project type or by demonstrating a full research lifecycle. Use clear visuals and concise descriptions.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Moodle's Products: Familiarize yourself with Moodle LMS, Moodle Workplace, and the Moodle App. Identify potential user segments and their needs.

• Prepare Research Case Studies: Have 2-3 robust research projects ready to discuss in detail, focusing on your role, the methodology, challenges, and impact. Be ready to walk through your process.

• Anticipate "How": Be prepared to answer questions about how you conduct research, manage projects, synthesize data, and communicate findings. Focus on your operational framework.

• Demonstrate Remote Collaboration: Think about examples of effective communication and collaboration in a distributed team environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process and preparation advice are geared towards operations professionals, emphasizing the demonstration of process, systematic thinking, and quantifiable impact, which are critical for evaluating candidates in roles focused on operational excellence.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• User Research Platforms: Tools for usability testing (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback), survey creation (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Qualtrics), and participant management.

• Collaboration Suites: Digital tools for remote collaboration and communication (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom).

• Project Management Tools: Platforms to manage research projects, timelines, and tasks (e.g., Jira, Asana, Trello).

• Design Tools: Familiarity with design software (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) for understanding design artifacts and collaborating with designers.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Analysis Software: Tools for qualitative data analysis (e.g., Dovetail, NVivo) and potentially quantitative analysis (e.g., Excel, SPSS, R, Python for statistical analysis).

• Business Intelligence/Dashboard Tools: Familiarity with tools like Tableau or Power BI for visualizing data and presenting insights, though direct use might be less frequent than for dedicated analysts.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly managing CRM systems, an understanding of how user data is collected and managed within a CRM context (like Salesforce or HubSpot) can be beneficial for understanding the broader customer journey and data flow.

• Automation tools might be used for participant recruitment, survey distribution, or data processing in research operations.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section outlines the typical technology stack for a UX Researcher, focusing on the tools that support research operations, data analysis, and cross-functional collaboration, aligning with operational efficiency.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and advocating for user needs in all product decisions.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Relying on rigorous research and data analysis to inform strategies and product development.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Working openly with cross-functional teams, sharing insights, and fostering a collaborative environment.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: A drive to explore new methodologies, tools, and approaches to enhance research practice and product impact.

• Integrity & Openness: Upholding ethical research practices and fostering an open, honest work environment.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Proactively engaging with Product Management, Design, Engineering, and Marketing to ensure research insights are integrated throughout the product lifecycle.

• Process Review and Feedback: Actively participating in team retrospectives and feedback sessions to refine research processes and improve team effectiveness.

• Knowledge Sharing: Contributing to a culture of learning by sharing research findings, best practices, and methodologies with colleagues.

• Agile and Iterative: Embracing agile principles, working in iterative cycles, and adapting research plans as needed based on project evolution.

📝 Enhancement Note: The team culture and values are inferred from Moodle's description of its team and the general ethos of open-source and EdTech companies, emphasizing collaboration, data, and user focus, which are critical for operational success.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Diverse User Needs: Moodle serves a wide range of users (educators, learners, administrators, developers) with potentially conflicting needs; synthesizing these into unified product strategies can be challenging.

• Remote Research Operations: Effectively conducting research and maintaining strong team connections in a fully distributed, global environment requires robust communication and operational strategies.

• Impact Measurement: Quantifying the direct impact of research findings on product success and demonstrating ROI can be complex.

• Evolving Research Landscape: Keeping pace with new research methodologies, tools, and ethical considerations in user research requires continuous learning.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Operations Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in research operations, including participant recruitment, project management, and the implementation of efficient research workflows.

• Industry Conference and Certification Participation: Opportunities to attend relevant UX and research conferences (e.g., CHI, UXPA) and pursue certifications to enhance skills and knowledge.

• Mentorship and Leadership Development: Learning from senior researchers and product leaders, with potential to mentor junior team members or lead research initiatives as experience grows.

• Exposure to Diverse Products: Gaining experience across Moodle's suite of products (Moodle LMS, Moodle Workplace, Moodle App) provides broad exposure to different user contexts and product challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: Identifying potential challenges and growth opportunities provides candidates with a realistic outlook on the role and highlights Moodle's commitment to employee development within an operational context.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your process for conducting a generative research study to identify unmet needs for a new feature on an existing platform like Moodle." (Focus on operational steps, participant selection, data synthesis.)

• "How do you ensure your research insights are effectively communicated and actioned by cross-functional teams, particularly in a remote environment?" (Highlight collaboration, presentation skills, and integration into workflows.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Moodle's mission and its role in open-source education technology?" (Show genuine interest and alignment with company values.)

• "How do you approach collaboration with designers and product managers who may have different priorities or perspectives?" (Focus on communication, compromise, and shared goals.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Start with the "Why": Clearly articulate the business or user problem you were trying to solve with your research.

• Detail Your "How": Walk through your specific research process, including methodology selection, participant recruitment, data collection, and analysis techniques. Emphasize operational rigor.

• Showcase Findings & Impact: Clearly present your key insights and, crucially, the resulting actions or product changes. Quantify the impact where possible (e.g., improved usability metrics, qualitative feedback).

• Highlight Collaboration: Explain how you worked with other teams and integrated your findings into their processes.

• Be Concise and Engaging: Practice your presentation to ensure it's clear, engaging, and respects the interviewer's time. Be prepared for in-depth questions about any part of your process.

📝 Enhancement Note: These interview preparation tips are designed to help candidates demonstrate their operational capabilities, strategic thinking, and collaborative skills, which are highly valued in GTM and Product Operations roles.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UX Researcher position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Workable.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your resume and portfolio to highlight your experience with product development lifecycle, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering actionable user insights. Select case studies that best showcase your research operations and impact.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly lists your experience with user research methodologies, relevant tools, and your ability to work in a remote, distributed team. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your research process, methodologies, and the impact of your work. Prepare specific examples for common interview questions related to problem-solving, collaboration, and remote work.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Moodle's products (Moodle LMS, Moodle Workplace, Moodle App), its mission, and its open-source ethos. Understand their target audience and the competitive landscape in EdTech.

⚠️ 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.