UX Researcher

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Researcher

Company: Roku

Location: San Jose, California, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: User Experience (UX) Research

Date Posted: March 10, 2026

Experience Level: 2-5 years

Remote Status: Hybrid (4 days in office, 1 day flexible remote)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead high-impact UX research initiatives across Roku's comprehensive TV portfolio, focusing on the Roku TV (RTV) platform.

• Deeply understand user interactions with Roku devices, ensuring a cohesive and simple experience across partner brands and device tiers, bridging the gap between physical hardware and the Roku OS.

• Translate user insights into actionable product decisions that directly influence the evolution of TV experiences, from initial setup and hardware performance to picture quality and future hardware innovations.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Design, and Engineering teams to align research with technical roadmaps and business priorities, ensuring user needs are central to product development and shipping.

• Drive the definition and execution of product offerings that maximize user engagement and lead to high customer retention by grounding decisions in user needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is specifically focused on the Roku TV (RTV) platform, which is a critical and highly visible part of Roku's business. The emphasis on bridging hardware and OS experiences indicates a complex and integrated product environment. The required experience level suggests a role that offers significant autonomy while still benefiting from mentorship.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Develop, plan, and execute comprehensive research initiatives in close collaboration with UX Research managers, fellow UX researchers, Product Managers, and UX/Visual Designers.

• Utilize research findings to influence the selection, definition, and design of product offerings, with a clear objective to maximize user engagement and drive high customer retention.

• Employ a diverse range of generative and evaluative research methodologies to collect and analyze user behavior patterns and identify key pain points.

• Effectively communicate research insights and recommendations to varied stakeholder audiences through well-structured written reports and compelling presentations.

• Partner closely with multiple key stakeholders to identify critical problems and define business goals that research efforts will address, ensuring strategic alignment.

• Act as a deeply embedded member of product teams, contributing to their strategic direction while also fostering strong collaboration within the broader UX research team.

• Translate complex user needs and pain points into clear, actionable insights that directly inform product roadmap decisions and feature development for the Roku TV platform.

• Contribute to the vision and execution of Roku TV products and features, ensuring they maintain and elevate the global benchmark for performance and ease of use.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic research planning, hands-on execution, and cross-functional collaboration. The focus on influencing product decisions and driving customer retention indicates a direct impact on business outcomes, typical for mid-level UX Researcher roles within product-centric organizations.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• 2 to 3 years of dedicated UX Researcher experience in industry settings (academic research experience is not counted towards this requirement).

Required Skills:

• Proven proficiency with a broad methodological toolkit, including but not limited to: user interviews, usability testing, surveys, field studies, diary studies, and quantitative analysis.

• Strong ability to select the most appropriate research methods for a given problem or question, demonstrating strategic thinking in research design.

• Experience collaborating effectively with diverse teams including business leaders, designers, researchers, and product managers throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Ability to gather and understand complex business strategies, and skillfully balance user needs with business objectives.

• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation, interpersonal, and analytical skills, with the ability to articulate complex findings clearly.

• Experience with mixed-methods research, integrating qualitative and quantitative data for comprehensive insights.

• Strong project management skills, with a proven ability to define, plan, organize, and lead research projects forward efficiently.

• Ability to operate with appropriate guidance, contributing to and potentially leading research approaches for whole products, including multi-phase planning.

• Capacity to build strong relationships with stakeholders and actively involve them in the research process.

• Proactive in suggesting research needs and methods in partnership with managers and cross-functional teammates.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the entertainment field, specifically working with teams producing TV/Movies.

• Familiarity with hardware-software integrated products and their unique research challenges.

• Experience researching consumer electronics or smart home devices.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize practical, industry experience and a strong foundational understanding of research methodologies. The expectation to "operate with appropriate guidance" suggests a role that is not entry-level but requires some level of mentorship, aligning with a 2-3 year experience benchmark. The inclusion of entertainment industry experience as a plus points to the specific domain knowledge valued by Roku.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A well-curated portfolio showcasing a range of UX research projects, demonstrating your ability to tackle complex problems from discovery through to impact.

• Case studies that clearly articulate the research problem, your approach (methodologies used), key findings, and the tangible impact of your research on product decisions and outcomes.

• Examples of how you have translated research insights into actionable recommendations for product design and strategy.

Process Documentation:

• Evidence of your process for planning and executing research studies, including research questions, participant recruitment strategies, and data collection protocols.

• Examples of how you have documented and presented research findings to diverse audiences, highlighting your communication and storytelling skills.

• Showcase your approach to synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data into coherent and actionable insights.

• Documentation of how you have influenced product roadmaps or design decisions based on research outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a UX Researcher role, a strong portfolio is paramount. The emphasis should be on demonstrating the impact of the research, not just the methodologies. Candidates should prepare to discuss their process for identifying research needs, influencing stakeholders, and measuring the success of their research interventions.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• For California based candidates, the estimated annual base salary for this position is between $140,000 - $150,000 USD.

Benefits:

• Health Insurance (Medical, Dental, and Vision)

• Equity Awards

• Life Insurance

• Disability Benefits

• Parental Leave

• Wellness Benefits

• Paid Time Off (Vacation and Personal Time)

• Global access to mental health support and resources

• Global access to financial wellness support and resources

• Retirement Options (e.g., 401(k) or pension plans, depending on location)

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time working hours are typically 40 hours per week.

• The hybrid work approach involves 4 days in the office per week, with Fridays offering flexible remote work options.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific to California and is a base salary estimate. Total compensation may include bonuses and equity, which are not detailed here. The benefits package is comprehensive, reflecting Roku's commitment to employee well-being and work-life balance. The hybrid model is clearly defined, with specific days in the office.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (specifically, TV Streaming Platform and Hardware)

Company Size: Roku is a large, publicly traded company. (Specific employee count not provided, but generally considered a large enterprise).

Founded: 2002. Roku has a long history in the streaming industry, having pioneered the concept of streaming to the TV.

Team Structure:

• The User Experience (UX) team is a horizontal resource, comprising UX designers, researchers, and writers.

• This UX team collaborates closely with world-class Product Management and Engineering teams.

• The UX Research sub-team is a tightly knit group within the larger UX team, ensuring specialized research expertise is available across product initiatives.

Methodology:

• Roku emphasizes a pragmatic approach to innovation, focusing on solving problems and delivering solutions to customers.

• The culture values collaboration, trust, and a bias for action.

• Teams work in a fast-paced environment where focus is on company success.

• There's an appreciation for independent thinkers with bold ideas who act boldly and move fast.

• The company culture encourages surrounding oneself with talented, easy-to-work-with individuals who keep egos in check.

Company Website: https://www.weareroku.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Roku's culture is described as pragmatic, action-oriented, and collaborative, with a strong focus on execution and customer delivery. This implies that researchers will need to be adept at not only generating insights but also driving them to implementation. The company's long history in streaming positions it as a leader in the industry.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Mid-Level UX Researcher. This role is positioned to lead high-impact research, influence product decisions, and operate with appropriate guidance, indicating a step beyond junior roles but still with opportunities for mentorship and development from senior researchers.

Reporting Structure:

• The UX Researcher will report to a UX Research Manager.

• They will work closely with Product Management, Design, and Engineering teams, acting as a deeply embedded member of product teams.

Operations Impact:

• The UX Researcher's primary impact is on optimizing the user experience of Roku TV products, directly influencing customer satisfaction, engagement, and retention.

• Insights generated will shape the vision and execution of TV products and features, ensuring Roku continues to set the benchmark for performance and ease of use.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Development: Opportunity to deepen expertise in a wide range of research methodologies and apply them to complex hardware-software integrated products. Exposure to the entertainment and streaming industry offers specialized domain knowledge growth.

• Career Progression: Potential to advance to Senior UX Researcher roles, leading larger and more strategic research initiatives, or specializing in specific product areas within Roku's ecosystem.

• Leadership Potential: The role encourages taking ownership of research projects and influencing product strategy, building foundational leadership skills within a product context. Mentorship from senior researchers can guide this development.

• Cross-functional Expertise: Gaining deep experience working with Product Management and Engineering teams provides valuable insights into product development lifecycles and strategic business alignment.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a clear path for growth within UX research, particularly for those interested in hardware-software integration and consumer electronics. The emphasis on influencing product strategy and working closely with engineering provides a solid foundation for career advancement.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Roku operates with a hybrid work model, requiring employees to be in the office Monday through Thursday, with Fridays being flexible for remote work. This suggests a collaborative office environment designed for in-person teamwork.

Office Location(s):

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model emphasizes in-office collaboration for core workdays, likely involving team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and cross-functional discussions.

• Operations Tools & Technology: Researchers will have access to standard UX research tools and technologies, likely including platforms for remote usability testing, survey creation, data analysis software, and collaboration tools. Access to Roku devices and testing environments is crucial.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for direct interaction with designers, product managers, engineers, and fellow researchers will be frequent, fostering a dynamic and integrated work experience.

Work Schedule:

• A standard 40-hour work week is expected, with a structured hybrid arrangement.

• While Fridays are flexible for remote work, core office days (Monday-Thursday) indicate a need for presence and engagement in the physical workspace. This schedule aims to balance focused individual work with team collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is a key aspect of the work environment, indicating a preference for in-person collaboration during the week. Candidates should be comfortable with this structure and understand the expectations for office presence.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely conduct an initial phone screen to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Presentation: A core part of the interview process will involve presenting your UX research portfolio to a panel of stakeholders (e.g., UX Research Manager, Senior Researchers, Product Managers, Designers). This is where you'll showcase your research process, methodologies, and impact.

• Behavioral & Situational Interviews: Expect questions designed to assess your problem-solving skills, collaboration style, how you handle challenges, and your approach to user research in a product development context.

• Research Case Study/Take-Home Exercise: Some roles may include a take-home assignment or a live case study exercise to evaluate your research planning, execution, and synthesis abilities on a specific problem.

• Final Round: This may involve meeting with senior leadership or key cross-functional partners to confirm fit and alignment.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Clearly articulate the business problem you were trying to solve and the direct impact your research had on product decisions, user experience, or business metrics. Quantify impact where possible.

• Showcase Your Process: Detail your methodology, including why you chose specific methods, how you recruited participants, and how you analyzed data. Be prepared to discuss trade-offs you made.

• Tell a Story: Structure your case studies as narratives that guide the interviewer through the research journey, highlighting your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Diversity of Methods: Include examples that demonstrate your proficiency across a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

• Tailor to Roku: If possible, subtly tailor your examples to showcase experience relevant to consumer electronics, hardware-software integration, or the entertainment industry.

• Visual Appeal: Ensure your portfolio is well-organized, visually appealing, and easy to navigate.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Product: Familiarize yourself with Roku's products, particularly the Roku TV platform, its features, and its competitive landscape.

• Think Like a Researcher: For any hypothetical scenarios or case studies, focus on defining the core user problem, identifying key research questions, and proposing a robust, yet practical, research plan.

• Prioritize and Justify: Be prepared to justify your methodological choices and explain how your proposed research would align with business goals and technical constraints.

• Communication Skills: Practice articulating your thoughts concisely and clearly, demonstrating your ability to communicate complex research concepts to non-researchers.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio presentation is crucial for this role. Candidates should prepare 2-3 detailed case studies that highlight their best work, emphasizing impact and process. Understanding Roku's product ecosystem and target users will be beneficial for any interview exercises.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Research Platforms: Tools for conducting remote usability testing, surveys, and participant recruitment (e.g., UserTesting.com, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, UserZoom, Lookback).

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

• Collaboration Tools: Platforms for team communication and project management (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Confluence).

• Prototyping/Design Tools (for understanding): Familiarity with tools like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD to understand design outputs and conduct usability tests on prototypes.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Visualization Tools: Experience interpreting data from tools like Tableau, Power BI, or internal Roku dashboards to triangulate findings.

• Web Analytics Tools: Understanding of how tools like Google Analytics can inform user behavior patterns (though less direct for hardware/OS research, it provides context).

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM role, understanding how user feedback and data are managed within product development workflows is important. Familiarity with systems that track user feedback or bug reporting is beneficial (e.g., Jira, Zendesk).

📝 Enhancement Note: Specific tool requirements are not detailed, but proficiency with standard UX research methodologies and associated software is expected. The ability to work with both qualitative and quantitative data is key. Familiarity with hardware testing environments and potentially embedded software research processes would be a significant advantage.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Pragmatism & Action: A focus on solving real problems and delivering tangible solutions to customers, rather than purely theoretical research.

• Collaboration & Trust: Working effectively with diverse teams, building strong relationships, and fostering an environment of mutual trust.

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and advocating for user needs as the foundation for product development.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Utilizing research insights, both qualitative and quantitative, to inform and drive product strategy and design.

• Innovation & Boldness: Encouraging independent thinking, bold ideas, and the agility to move fast and achieve extraordinary things.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Researchers are expected to be deeply embedded in product teams, working hand-in-hand with Product Managers, Designers, and Engineers.

• Research-Informed Development: The goal is to ensure research insights are integrated early and often into the product development lifecycle.

• Knowledge Sharing: A culture that encourages sharing findings, best practices, and learnings across the UX research team and with wider product organizations.

• Feedback Exchange: Openness to receiving and providing constructive feedback to improve research approaches and outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: Roku's culture values individuals who are not only skilled researchers but also effective collaborators and problem-solvers who can drive impact within a fast-paced, product-focused environment. The emphasis on action and pragmatism means research must be directly tied to product outcomes.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Hardware and Software Research: Researching experiences that span physical hardware and the operating system presents unique methodological and analytical challenges.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring research insights are understood, accepted, and acted upon by diverse stakeholders with varying priorities and technical backgrounds.

• Pace of Innovation: Keeping pace with Roku's rapid product development cycles and adapting research plans accordingly.

• Defining Success Metrics: Clearly articulating and measuring the impact of UX research initiatives on key business and user engagement metrics.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Methodological Deepening: Continued opportunity to refine and expand expertise in a wide array of UX research techniques.

• Industry Specialization: Gaining deep domain knowledge in the fast-evolving TV streaming and consumer electronics industry.

• Cross-functional Acumen: Developing a strong understanding of product management, engineering, and business strategy through close collaboration.

• Mentorship: Access to guidance from experienced UX Research managers and senior researchers within Roku.

• Exposure to Scale: Working on a globally recognized platform that impacts millions of users offers unique learning opportunities in understanding user behavior at scale.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the complex nature of the role, requiring adaptability and strong stakeholder management. The growth opportunities emphasize both deepening research skills and broadening business and product understanding within a leading tech company.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to influence a product decision with research findings, especially when there was initial resistance." (Focus on stakeholder management, communication, and data-driven persuasion).

• "Walk me through a complex research project from start to finish. What was the problem, what methods did you use, what were the key insights, and what was the impact?" (Prepare a detailed case study from your portfolio).

• "How do you approach research when dealing with both hardware and software components of a product?" (Demonstrate understanding of mixed-methodologies and unique challenges).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Roku and specifically this role on the Roku TV team?" (Research Roku's mission, products, and culture; connect your skills to their needs).

• "How do you ensure your research is user-centric while also aligning with business goals?" (Discuss your approach to balancing user advocacy with business realities).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select High-Impact Projects: Choose 2-3 projects that best showcase your skills, problem-solving abilities, and impact.

Prioritize projects relevant to hardware/software or consumer products if possible.

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

  • The Problem: What was the user or business challenge?
  • Your Role: What was your specific contribution?
  • The Research Plan: What methods did you choose and why?
  • Key Findings: What did you learn?
  • Recommendations & Impact: What actions were taken, and what was the outcome?

• Quantify When Possible: Use data and metrics to demonstrate the impact of your research (e.g., "recommendations led to a X% increase in task completion," or "identified usability issues that were resolved, improving user satisfaction scores by Y").

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your methodology, data analysis, stakeholder interactions, and any challenges you faced.

• Engage Your Audience: Make it a conversation rather than a lecture. Be enthusiastic and passionate about your work.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will heavily rely on the candidate's ability to articulate their research process and demonstrate tangible impact through their portfolio. Preparation should focus on structuring compelling narratives around past projects and aligning with Roku's user-centric and pragmatic culture.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UX Researcher position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Roku careers website.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your resume and portfolio are tailored to highlight your experience with a broad range of UX research methodologies, your ability to influence product decisions, and your experience with hardware-software integrated products if applicable.

• Resume Optimization: Clearly articulate your 2-3 years of industry experience as a UX Researcher, emphasizing achievements and impact rather than just responsibilities. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on clear storytelling, methodology justification, and demonstrable impact. Prepare for behavioral questions related to collaboration, problem-solving, and user advocacy.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Roku, its products (especially Roku TV), its mission, and its company culture. Understand their position in the market and their approach to innovation.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization, including the specific scope of responsibilities, team structure, and exact interview process, before making application decisions.