UX Research Manager - Product

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Research Manager - Product

Company: H&R Block

Location: Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Experience / User Research Operations

Date Posted: 2026-06-25

Experience Level: 10+ years (Managerial)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead and scale a centralized UX Research function to support critical business units including Consumer Tax, Financial Products, and Small Business.

• Establish and evolve a robust, unified UX research operating model that balances centralized excellence with scalable, team-led discovery practices.

• Coach, mentor, and grow a team of UX Researchers, fostering strong research craft, strategic thinking, and effective cross-functional partnerships.

• Champion and operationalize continuous customer discovery, enabling product teams to embed foundational research into their workflows while upholding rigor, quality, and ethical standards.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "UX Research Manager - Product," the responsibilities heavily lean into establishing and scaling operational frameworks for research, making it a hybrid role with strong elements of Research Operations and GTM strategy enablement through customer insights. The emphasis on "operating model," "scaling," and "AI-enabled research practices" suggests a need for someone who can build processes and infrastructure, not just manage individual research projects.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Establish and evolve a unified UX research operating model across Consumer Tax, Financial Products, and Small Business, ensuring consistency and quality while enabling decentralized discovery.

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of UX Researchers, fostering their professional growth, strategic thinking, and ability to drive impact through research.

• Champion continuous discovery methodologies, empowering product teams (trios) to conduct foundational research and integrate customer understanding into their decision-making processes.

• Guide the execution of complex, high-impact research initiatives, including longitudinal studies, behavioral research, and cross-journey synthesis, that extend beyond the capabilities of embedded research teams.

• Drive the adoption of AI-enabled research practices to accelerate synthesis, identify insight patterns, and support experimentation, ensuring responsible and human-centered application.

• Partner closely with Product, Consumer Research & Insights, Data Science & Analytics, Customer Care, and CX leaders to elevate research quality and inform strategic roadmap and investment decisions.

• Act as a catalyst for year-round customer immersion, expanding research participant engagement and embedding customer understanding into daily operations.

• Mature research operations, including optimizing tooling, knowledge repositories, defining standards, and refining ways of working to ensure insights are discoverable, durable, and actionable across the enterprise.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strategic leadership role focused on building and optimizing the research function's operational framework. This includes developing processes, scaling capabilities, and fostering a culture of customer-centricity, which are core to Revenue Operations and GTM strategy support. The mention of "product trios" and "continuous discovery" points to an Agile/Product Development context.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Master’s or PhD in Research, Psychology, Design, or a related field is preferred. Bachelor's degree in a relevant field with equivalent experience will be considered.

Experience: 8+ years of UX research (or related) experience, with a proven track record of leading and developing teams within complex product organizations.

Required Skills:

• Proven ability to build and scale research practices, teams, and operating models across multiple business areas within a large organization.

• Strong track record of influencing product strategy and roadmaps through effective research insights and robust cross-functional partnerships.

• Deep expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, with sound judgment on selecting and applying the most appropriate methods.

• Experience leveraging AI-assisted tools to support research planning, synthesis, and insight generation, with a strong emphasis on responsible and ethical use.

• Exceptional ability to communicate complex insights clearly and compellingly through strong storytelling, enabling diverse stakeholders to make informed decisions.

• Experience leading and developing teams, fostering a collaborative and high-performing research environment. Preferred Skills:

• Experience working on complex, multi-journey, or regulated products, such as those in financial services, healthcare, or enterprise platforms.

• Familiarity with modern research operations tools (e.g., UserTesting, Qualtrics) and experience partnering effectively with data science and analytics teams.

• Experience with advanced research techniques such as longitudinal studies, behavioral research, and cross-journey synthesis.

• Understanding of product development lifecycles within an Agile or Lean framework.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "8+ years" requirement combined with "leading and developing teams" and "proven ability to build and scale" suggests this role is for a senior individual contributor or a manager with significant foundational experience. The emphasis on "influencing product strategy" and "cross-functional partnerships" aligns with GTM operations needs, where research insights directly inform go-to-market strategies and product-market fit.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrations of having built or significantly scaled research functions, including operating models, team structures, and process frameworks.

• Case studies showcasing the strategic impact of research on product roadmaps, business strategy, and customer experience improvements.

• Examples of how research insights have been operationalized and embedded into ongoing decision-making processes across product teams.

• Evidence of developing and implementing research standards, best practices, and quality assurance measures within a team or organization.

• Documentation of how research operations (e.g., tooling, repositories, workflows) have been matured to enhance insight discoverability and accessibility. Process Documentation:

• Examples of established research operating models, including centralized vs. decentralized approaches and their trade-offs.

• Documentation of frameworks for continuous discovery, outlining how product teams are enabled to conduct ongoing customer research.

• Case studies detailing the implementation and impact of AI-enabled research tools and methodologies.

• Evidence of developing and refining research processes for complex studies (e.g., longitudinal, behavioral, synthesis).

• Examples of how research insights have been synthesized and communicated to drive actionable outcomes and inform strategic investments.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a managerial role focused on scaling research operations, the portfolio should emphasize strategic initiatives, operational improvements, team leadership, and demonstrable business impact derived from research. It's less about individual research projects and more about the systemic improvements and leadership demonstrated.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a UX Research Manager role in Kansas City, Missouri, with 8+ years of experience and leadership responsibilities, the estimated annual salary range is $110,000 - $150,000 USD. This range accounts for the complexity of scaling research operations, the strategic influence required, and the cost of living in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Benefits:

• Competitive Pay: A salary commensurate with experience and the strategic impact of the role.

• Comprehensive Benefits: Includes health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and potential for performance-based bonuses.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for continuous learning, advanced training, and attending industry conferences to