#131505 - UX Researcher

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Researcher (#131505)

Company: Lifted, an Upwork Company™

Location: Bogotá, Bogota D.C., Colombia

Job Type: Contract

Category: User Experience Research / Operations Research

Date Posted: August 21, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: Remote Solely

🚀 Role Summary

• This role is a senior-level, individual contributor position focused on User Experience (UX) Research within an enterprise context.

• The primary objective is to support an enterprise employee-experience and internal-tooling research portfolio, translating ambiguous questions into actionable insights.

• Key responsibilities include planning and executing mixed-method research, evaluating AI-enabled self-service experiences, and identifying opportunities to enhance productivity and support.

• The ideal candidate will possess strong skills in both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, with a proven ability to independently manage research projects from scoping to recommendation delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "UX Researcher," the description emphasizes "enterprise employee-experience and internal-tooling research portfolio," "operational workflows," and "improving productivity and support experiences." This suggests a strong overlap with operational research, process improvement, and understanding internal business functions, making it highly relevant for operations-minded professionals. The "senior-level" designation implies a need for strategic thinking and independent execution.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Independently plan, conduct, and synthesize mixed-method qualitative and quantitative research studies for priority enterprise initiatives.

• Translate ambiguous business and product questions into clear research plans, appropriate methodologies, and actionable study designs.

• Plan and moderate research specifically evaluating AI-enabled self-service experiences and identifying opportunities to enhance employee support.

• Conduct user testing on AI-enabled concepts to assess jobs-to-be-done, adoption barriers, trust, validation behavior, and readiness for broader rollout.

• Develop comprehensive participant and recruitment strategies, detailed research plans, discussion guides, and other essential research artifacts.

• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative findings into concise, decision-ready recommendations for product, service, and operational stakeholders.

• Maintain and extend a jobs-to-be-done framework across multiple initiatives, connecting new research findings to broader strategic opportunities.

• Translate insights derived from the jobs-to-be-done framework into concrete product and operational decisions.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Design, Engineering, Operations, and Service stakeholders to align research efforts and findings.

• Produce clear research readouts, executive-ready storytelling, and comprehensive documentation of findings, implications, decisions, and recommended next steps.

• Maintain traceable research artifacts and findings using collaboration, documentation, and research-repository systems.

• Partner with stakeholders to validate tooling and experience decisions prior to wider rollout.

• Connect individual studies to an ongoing strategic research framework, identifying opportunities to improve self-service, reduce confusion, and streamline workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities clearly indicate a need to understand and influence "operational workflows" and "employee support experiences," which are core to revenue and sales operations. The emphasis on translating research into "product and operational decisions" and improving "self-service, reduce confusion, and streamline workflows" directly aligns with the goals of operations professionals seeking to optimize business processes.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Not explicitly specified, but a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for senior UX Researcher roles.

Experience: 5+ years of hands-on UX research experience at a senior individual-contributor level. Experience working within enterprise product, service, and operational workflows is a strong requirement.

Required Skills:

• 5+ years of senior-level, hands-on UX research experience.

• Demonstrated ability to independently scope, execute, analyze, and synthesize research studies.

• Strong qualitative research-method selection, execution, and analysis skills.

• Strong quantitative research-method selection, execution, and analysis skills.

• Experience researching enterprise internal tools, employee experience, or complex cross-functional workflows.

• Experience working within enterprise product, service, and operational workflows.

• Ability to translate research findings into clear, decision-ready recommendations for product and operational stakeholders.

• Demonstrated experience developing and applying a jobs-to-be-done framework or comparable strategic research framework across multiple initiatives.

• Demonstrated ability to translate strategic research frameworks into product and operational decisions.

• Strong stakeholder-management experience across Product, Design, Engineering, Operations, and Service teams.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including concise research readouts and executive-ready storytelling.

• Proficiency with research platforms supporting participant recruitment, moderated and unmoderated studies, surveys, and synthesis.

• Working knowledge of research repositories and documentation tools.

• Comfort using collaboration and documentation systems to maintain traceable research artifacts, findings, and decisions. Preferred Skills:

• Experience researching AI-enabled products, assistants, automation, or emerging-technology adoption.

• Experience researching trust, validation behavior, user reliance, adoption barriers, or rollout readiness for AI-enabled experiences.

• Experience with employee experience, IT service management, self-service support, or digital workplace tools.

• Experience applying or evolving a jobs-to-be-done framework across multiple product or service areas.

• Track record of research influencing enterprise-tooling, AI-adoption, or service-experience decisions.

• Ability to connect individual studies to an ongoing strategic research framework.

• History of translating complex findings into actions that improve self-service, reduce confusion, or streamline workflows.

• Experience partnering with teams through launch and measurement rather than ending involvement at research delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "enterprise internal tools," "operational workflows," and "employee experience" strongly suggests that candidates with experience in sales operations, customer success operations, or internal IT operations will be highly competitive. The ability to translate research into "product and operational decisions" is a critical skill for operations professionals.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• The portfolio should clearly demonstrate the candidate's ability to independently manage research projects from inception to actionable recommendations.

• Showcase specific examples of how research findings have directly influenced product or operational decisions, ideally with measurable outcomes.

• Include case studies detailing the application of mixed-method research (qualitative and quantitative) to solve complex business problems.

• Highlight experience with strategic research frameworks, such as jobs-to-be-done, and how they were applied to inform product and service roadmaps.

• Demonstrate experience in evaluating AI-enabled features or internal tools, focusing on user adoption, trust, and workflow integration. Process Documentation:

• Provide examples of research plans, study designs, discussion guides, and synthesis reports that are clear, concise, and decision-ready.

• Showcase how research artifacts and findings were maintained and documented using collaboration and research repository systems.

• Illustrate the process of translating ambiguous questions into structured research initiatives and delivering impactful recommendations.

• Detail the methodology used for synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data into actionable insights for diverse stakeholders, including Operations.

• Document instances where research findings were used to validate tooling decisions before broader rollout, demonstrating a focus on iterative improvement and risk mitigation.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations roles, a portfolio that highlights process optimization, workflow efficiency improvements, and data-driven decision-making derived from research will be highly valued. Demonstrating the impact of research on operational outcomes, such as reduced support tickets, improved employee productivity, or streamlined internal processes, is crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a senior-level UX Researcher contract role in Bogotá, Colombia, with a full-time allocation (40 hours/week) and an engagement end date of March 31, 2027, a competitive hourly rate would typically range from $40 - $70 USD per hour. This translates to an estimated annual equivalent of $83,200 - $145,600 USD.

Methodology for Salary Estimate:

• Location: Bogotá, Colombia, has a lower cost of living than major tech hubs in North America or Europe, which influences local rates. However, for contract roles with international companies, USD-denominated rates are common, often reflecting global market standards for specialized skills.

• Experience Level: 5-10 years of senior-level experience commands a premium.

• Role Type: Contract roles can sometimes offer higher hourly rates than full-time employed positions but may lack benefits.

• Industry Benchmarks: Rates were benchmarked against similar senior UX Researcher contract roles on platforms like Upwork, LinkedIn, and other freelance job boards, considering the enterprise and AI research focus.

• Company Type: Lifted, an Upwork Company, suggests a focus on flexible, contract-based talent, which often aligns with competitive market rates for specialized skills.

• Exclusions: The exclusion of

Mexico from approved LATAM locations might slightly influence the talent pool and associated rates.

Benefits: As this is a contract engagement, traditional employee benefits (health insurance, paid time off, retirement plans) are typically not included. However, contractors may benefit from:

• Flexibility: The remote nature of the role allows for significant work-life balance.

• Project Variety: Exposure to diverse enterprise projects and challenges.

• Potential for Extension: The current engagement end date is March 31, 2027, suggesting potential for longer-term work.

• International Exposure: Opportunity to work with a global company.

Working Hours: Approximately 40 hours per week, with a preference for availability aligned with Central Time (CT) working hours. This implies a need for strong time management and communication across different time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on market research for similar contract roles in LATAM. Actual compensation may vary based on the candidate's specific experience, negotiation, and the final terms of the contract. It's crucial for candidates to clarify all contractual terms, including payment schedules and any potential reimbursements or allowances.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology / Professional Services (Talent Marketplace)

Company Size: Lifted, an Upwork Company™, operates as a platform connecting businesses with freelance talent. While "Lifted" may have its own operational structure, its parent company, Upwork, is a large, publicly traded company (NASDAQ: UPWK) with thousands of employees globally. This suggests a dynamic, tech-forward environment that values agility and specialized skills.

Founded: Upwork was formed in 2015 through the merger of Elance and oDesk. Lifted is a service that leverages Upwork's platform to provide curated talent.

Team Structure:

• The UX Researcher will likely be part of a broader Product or Engineering team within the client company being supported by Lifted.

• This team will include Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and potentially other Researchers.

• Collaboration will extend to Operations, Service, and other business units that utilize internal tools and employee experiences.

• The researcher will operate as an individual contributor, reporting to a Research Lead or Product Lead, with significant autonomy. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decision Making: The company culture likely emphasizes using data and user research to inform product and operational strategies.

• Agile & Iterative Development: Expect a fast-paced environment where research findings are quickly integrated into iterative product development cycles.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong emphasis on working effectively with diverse teams to achieve shared goals.

• Focus on Employee Experience: A dedicated focus on improving internal tools and workflows indicates a commitment to employee productivity and satisfaction.

Company Website: https://www.go-lifted.com/ (for Lifted) and https://www.upwork.com/ (for parent company)

📝 Enhancement Note: The "enterprise employee-experience and internal-tooling" focus suggests the client company is likely a large organization that invests in its internal workforce and operational efficiency. This means the researcher will be working on impactful projects that directly affect how employees perform their jobs.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Senior Individual Contributor (IC) in UX Research, with a focus on enterprise operations and internal tooling. It requires a high degree of autonomy, strategic thinking, and the ability to independently drive research initiatives from scoping to delivery. This level is ideal for experienced researchers looking to deepen their expertise in enterprise environments and operational process improvement.

Reporting Structure: The researcher will report to a Research Lead or Product Lead within the client organization. They will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Operations stakeholders, acting as a key advisor on user needs and experience improvements.

Operations Impact: The researcher's work will directly impact the efficiency, productivity, and satisfaction of employees using internal tools and services. By understanding user needs and identifying pain points in operational workflows, the researcher can drive improvements that streamline processes, reduce errors, and enhance overall operational effectiveness. The focus on AI-enabled experiences also positions the role at the forefront of technological adoption within enterprises.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization in Enterprise & Operations Research: Deepen expertise in understanding complex enterprise systems, internal tools, and operational workflows, becoming a subject matter expert.

• AI and Emerging Technology Research: Gain significant experience researching the adoption and impact of AI-driven tools, a highly sought-after skill.

• Strategic Influence: Influence product roadmaps and operational strategies for large-scale enterprise solutions, moving beyond individual studies to shape broader initiatives.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Develop strong collaborative relationships and leadership skills by working closely with diverse senior stakeholders across Product, Engineering, and Operations.

• Contract-to-Hire Potential: While a contract role, exceptional performance and alignment with the client's needs could potentially lead to discussions about longer-term engagements or full-time opportunities, depending on the client's structure and needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: For individuals in operations roles seeking to leverage their process and efficiency expertise, this UX research position offers a unique avenue to apply those skills in a user-centric context. The growth opportunities are geared towards becoming a strategic partner in driving operational excellence through user insights.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a fully remote contract role. The "office" will be the candidate's own remote workspace.

Office Location(s): The role is remote, with candidates required to be based in an approved LATAM location, excluding Mexico. Preference is given to candidates available during Central Time (CT) working hours. This suggests a global company with a distributed workforce, leveraging talent from various regions.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Autonomy: The environment is set up for independent work, requiring self-discipline and effective time management.

• Digital Collaboration: Heavy reliance on digital collaboration tools (e.g., video conferencing, chat, shared documentation platforms) for communication and teamwork.

• Access to Tools: The candidate will need reliable internet access and a suitable remote workspace. The company will provide access to necessary research platforms and collaboration tools.

• Cross-functional Interaction: Opportunities for regular interaction with product managers, designers, engineers, and operations teams, fostering a collaborative and integrated work environment despite the remote setup.

Work Schedule: Approximately 40 hours per week, with a preference for alignment with Central Time (CT) working hours. This may involve some flexibility, but candidates should be prepared to accommodate core working hours for synchronous collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote, contract nature of this role requires a high degree of self-motivation and the ability to maintain strong communication and collaboration practices without direct physical proximity. Candidates should be comfortable with digital-first communication and project management tools.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process: The interview process is likely to be multi-stage, focusing on assessing research skills, strategic thinking, and cultural fit.

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely conduct an initial call to assess basic qualifications, experience, and interest.

• Technical/Skills Assessment: This may involve a portfolio review where candidates present their past work, focusing on research methodologies, synthesis, and impact. It could also include a practical exercise or case study related to enterprise tooling or AI research.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers, Designers, and potentially Operations leads to gauge collaboration style, strategic thinking, and understanding of enterprise challenges.

• Final Interview: A discussion with a senior leader to confirm fit and discuss contractual terms.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Showcase projects where your research led to tangible improvements in product features, user experience, or operational efficiency. Quantify results whenever possible (e.g., "reduced user errors by X%", "increased adoption of feature Y by Z%").

• Demonstrate Methodological Rigor: Clearly explain your research process for each project, including how you selected methodologies (qualitative/quantitative), designed studies, recruited participants, and synthesized findings.

• Highlight Enterprise & Operations Relevance: Emphasize projects related to internal tools, employee experience, complex workflows, or AI-enabled services. Show how you translated insights into actionable recommendations for operational stakeholders.

• Tell a Story: Structure your case studies with a clear narrative: the problem, your approach, the findings, the recommendations, and the impact.

• Showcase Ambiguity Handling: Since the role involves ambiguous questions, include examples of how you defined research problems and scope from vague requests.

Challenge Preparation:

• Case Study Practice: Prepare to present 1-2 detailed case studies from your portfolio. Be ready to discuss the challenges, your specific contributions, the trade-offs you made, and the outcomes.

• Methodology Deep Dive: Be prepared to discuss your rationale for choosing specific research methods and how you’d approach different types of research questions (e.g., evaluating AI, understanding user workflows).

• Strategic Thinking: Practice articulating how research findings connect to broader business objectives and operational goals. Think about how to influence stakeholders and drive adoption of research-backed recommendations.

• Company Research: Understand Lifted and Upwork's mission, and if possible, research the potential client's industry and known operational challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals transitioning or applying their skills, the portfolio should explicitly highlight any experience in process mapping, workflow analysis, or efficiency improvements, framed through a user-centered lens. Demonstrating how research informed operational changes is key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Research Platforms: Proficiency with common platforms for participant recruitment, moderated and unmoderated study management (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback, Maze, Respondent.io, User Interviews).

• Survey & Quantitative Tools: Experience with survey platforms for data collection (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, Google Forms).

• Research Synthesis Tools: Familiarity with tools that aid in synthesizing qualitative data (e.g., Dovetail, Miro, Condens) or quantitative data analysis.

• Collaboration & Documentation Systems: Comfort using tools like Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides), Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Confluence, Notion, or similar for maintaining traceable research artifacts, findings, and decisions.

• Research Repositories: Experience with systems designed to store, organize, and share research findings and artifacts.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly stated as a primary focus, analytical skills for quantitative data interpretation are essential. Familiarity with basic data analysis techniques or tools might be beneficial. CRM & Automation:

• While not core to this UX Research role, an understanding of how research findings can inform CRM strategies or automation workflows within enterprise systems would be a plus.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations candidates, highlighting proficiency in tools used for process documentation, workflow analysis, or data analysis (even if not strictly research tools) can demonstrate transferable skills. Experience with project management tools (e.g., Jira, Asana) is also relevant for managing research projects.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values: While this is a UX Research role, the emphasis on "enterprise employee-experience and internal-tooling" and "operational workflows" implies that the client company values:

• Efficiency and Productivity: A drive to optimize how employees work and improve the tools they use.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Relying on evidence (user research, operational metrics) to guide strategic choices.

• User-Centricity (Internal Users): Prioritizing the needs and experiences of employees as users of internal systems.

• Continuous Improvement: A commitment to iterative development and ongoing optimization of processes and tools.

• Collaboration and Alignment: Working effectively across diverse teams to achieve common goals.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: The role requires close collaboration with Product, Design, Engineering, and Operations teams. Expect a culture that values input from all these functions.

• Research as a Strategic Partner: The ideal candidate will act as a strategic partner, providing insights that inform product strategy and operational improvements, rather than just delivering reports.

• Feedback and Iteration: A culture that embraces feedback loops, both in product development and in the research process itself, to refine solutions and strategies.

• Knowledge Sharing: Expect opportunities to share findings and best practices across teams, contributing to a collective understanding of user needs and operational challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "operations" aspect of the role means the candidate should be prepared to discuss how they foster collaboration with non-research teams, particularly those focused on process efficiency and internal systems. Demonstrating an understanding of operational metrics and how research can influence them will be valuable.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Ambiguity in Research Questions: Translating vague business needs into well-defined research plans requires strong problem-scoping skills.

• Enterprise Complexity: Navigating the intricate systems, processes, and stakeholder landscapes of a large enterprise can be challenging.

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: Synthesizing diverse requirements and perspectives from Product, Design, Engineering, and Operations to deliver unified recommendations.

• Researching AI Adoption: Understanding user trust, adoption barriers, and the nuanced impact of AI-enabled tools requires specialized approaches.

• Remote Collaboration: Maintaining strong connections and effective communication within a distributed team environment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into Enterprise UX: Gain extensive experience in the unique challenges and methodologies of researching within large organizations.

• AI & Emerging Tech Research: Become an expert in evaluating user interaction with cutting-edge AI technologies, a rapidly growing field.

• Strategic Operations Influence: Develop skills in connecting user insights directly to operational efficiency, process optimization, and employee productivity improvements.

• Cross-functional Partnership: Enhance skills in collaborating with and influencing a wide range of senior stakeholders, including those in operational leadership roles.

• Jobs-to-be-Done Mastery: Become highly proficient in applying and evolving the jobs-to-be-done framework to drive strategic product and operational decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, the challenge of "translating research into operational decisions" and "improving workflows" is a significant growth opportunity. This role allows for direct application of operational thinking within a user research context.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to scope research from an ambiguous or ill-defined problem. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" (Prepare to discuss your process for defining research questions and scope.)

• "How would you approach researching the adoption barriers for a new AI-powered internal tool for our sales team?" (Focus on methodology, user segments, and key metrics to evaluate.)

• "Tell me about a situation where your research findings conflicted with stakeholder expectations or existing assumptions. How did you present your findings and influence decisions?" (Highlight your communication and persuasion skills, especially with operational stakeholders.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Lifted and the specific focus on enterprise employee experience and internal tooling?" (Research Lifted and Upwork, and connect your experience to their mission.)

• "How do you ensure your research findings are actionable and translate into real product or operational improvements?" (Discuss your synthesis and recommendation delivery process, emphasizing impact on workflows.)

• "Describe your experience working with cross-functional teams, particularly with Operations or Service teams. What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?" (Showcase your collaboration skills and understanding of operational contexts.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with a high-level overview of the project and its business impact, then dive into your specific role, methodology, key findings, and actionable recommendations.

• Quantify When Possible: Use data and metrics to demonstrate the impact of your research on user behavior, product adoption, or operational efficiency.

• Highlight Enterprise & Operations Relevance: Emphasize projects that involved internal tools, complex workflows, or cross-functional collaboration.

• Focus on Your Process: Clearly articulate why you chose certain methods, how you synthesized data, and the rationale behind your recommendations.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your methodology, participant recruitment, synthesis techniques, and how you handled specific challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, framing portfolio examples around process improvement, efficiency gains, or user adoption of internal systems will resonate strongly. Be prepared to discuss how your research directly informed or improved operational workflows.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations-adjacent UX research position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on SmartRecruiters.

• Tailor your resume: Ensure your resume highlights your 5+ years of senior-level UX research experience, emphasizing mixed-methods research, enterprise internal tools, operational workflows, and jobs-to-be-done frameworks. Use keywords from the job description.

• Curate your portfolio: Select 2-3 strong case studies that best demonstrate your ability to independently scope and execute research, synthesize findings, and drive actionable recommendations, particularly in enterprise or operational contexts.

• Prepare your portfolio presentation: Practice walking through your selected case studies, focusing on the problem, your approach, key insights, and the impact of your work on product or operational outcomes. Be ready to discuss your methodology and decision-making process.

• Research Lifted and Upwork: Understand their business model and how this role contributes to their mission of connecting businesses with talent for complex projects.

⚠️ 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.