Principal User Researcher, Mixed Methods, B2B

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Principal User Researcher, Mixed Methods, B2B

Company: Ethos Life

Location: Remote US

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: User Experience Research / Product Strategy

Date Posted: May 27, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Establish and scale a foundational user research practice within a growing technology company, focusing on a B2B SaaS environment.

• Lead end-to-end, mixed-methods research initiatives to deeply understand complex B2B user journeys, including insurance agent tools, quoting systems, onboarding, and agency management.

• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data, usage analytics, and operational metrics to identify high-impact product opportunities and shape strategic product direction.

• Develop and maintain scalable research frameworks, including agent panels, to support continuous discovery, satisfaction measurement, and robust feedback loops.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a foundational, strategic hire responsible for building out the entire User Research function. The emphasis on "establishing" and "scaling" implies a need for someone comfortable with ambiguity, process creation, and influencing organizational direction. The B2B focus, particularly within the insurance technology sector, signifies a need for understanding complex workflows, compliance, and multi-stakeholder dynamics.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Define and implement research processes, methodologies, and research operations for the design and research team, establishing best practices for the organization.

• Conduct strategic research initiatives for B2B partnerships, focusing on insurance agent experiences with tools, quoting flows, onboarding, and agency management functionalities.

• Develop and manage a dedicated panel of insurance agents for both qualitative and quantitative research to gather in-depth insights.

• Analyze and simplify multi-step workflows, decision-making contexts, compliance constraints, and complex user systems to pinpoint user needs and pain points.

• Conduct market segmentation analysis for insurance agencies to understand how different types drive needs and product-market fit.

• Create and maintain scalable research frameworks for continuous discovery, satisfaction measurement, longitudinal tracking, and feedback loops across customer and agent experiences.

• Execute mixed-method research studies, including survey science, behavioral data analysis, and experiment design, to gather comprehensive user insights.

• Synthesize research findings with usage data, operational metrics, and market insights to construct compelling narratives that highlight product opportunities and drive strategic action.

• Communicate research insights effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executive leadership, using clear narratives and impactful visualizations.

• Translate user insights into actionable roadmap recommendations, influencing product prioritization and advocating for user-centered product development.

• Mentor and develop future researchers and designers, contributing to building an insight-driven product culture at Ethos.

• Explore and implement innovative tools and technologies, including AI-enabled research tools, to enhance research efficiency and impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership (establishing the function, defining vision) and hands-on execution (leading initiatives, conducting studies). The emphasis on B2B insurance agents suggests a need to understand business workflows, compliance, and the nuances of selling complex financial products. Synthesizing diverse data sources (qualitative, quantitative, usage, operational) is a core expectation.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 7+ years of dedicated experience in user research, with a strong preference for experience within complex product ecosystems such as B2B SaaS, financial services, or enterprise tools. Demonstrated ability to establish and scale research functions or processes within a growing organization.

Required Skills:

• Proven expertise in establishing and scaling user research functions and operations.

• Extensive experience in leading end-to-end research initiatives, from planning and design to execution and reporting.

• Proficiency in mixed-methods research, encompassing both qualitative (e.g., interviews, usability testing, ethnography) and quantitative methodologies (e.g., surveys, A/B testing, behavioral data analysis).

• Strong command of survey science, experimental design, and statistical analysis for quantitative research.

• Deep understanding of user journey mapping, workflow analysis, and complex system comprehension, particularly in B2B contexts.

• Ability to synthesize diverse data sources, including usage analytics and operational metrics, into actionable insights.

• Excellent communication, storytelling, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels, including executive leadership.

• Experience in market segmentation and understanding how it drives product-market fit.

• Familiarity with building and managing research panels or participant recruitment strategies.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the insurance technology or broader financial services industry.

• Familiarity with AI-enabled research tools and technologies.

• Experience with data science collaboration and enriching metadata for metrics creation.

• Knowledge of compliance constraints within regulated industries.

• Experience in product strategy development and roadmap influence.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "7+ years" requirement, combined with the emphasis on "establishing and scaling," points towards a senior individual contributor role with a strong mandate for process creation and leadership. The preference for B2B SaaS and financial services indicates a need for candidates who can navigate complex business logic and user needs in regulated or intricate environments.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrable experience in establishing research processes and frameworks from the ground up.

• Case studies showcasing end-to-end mixed-methods research projects, detailing methodologies, challenges, and outcomes.

• Examples of how research insights have directly influenced product strategy, roadmap prioritization, and business decisions.

• Evidence of synthesizing qualitative insights with quantitative data (usage analytics, operational metrics) to drive impactful recommendations.

• Documentation of complex user journeys, workflow analyses, and system understanding within a B2B context.

• Examples of building and managing participant panels or recruitment strategies.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase examples