Senior UX Researcher

About the Role

The researcher will work directly with scientists, engineers, and operations personnel to discover user needs, validate product decisions, and translate insights into roadmap priorities and technical implementation. • Conduct mixed‑methods user research, including interviews, observations, surveys, usability studies, and analytics, with on‑site fieldwork at scientific or federal facilities. • Develop research plans, scripts, and protocols aligned with product goals. • Translate findings into actionable insights, problem statements, workflows, and journey models that influence roadmap and design direction. • Facilitate alignment across product, engineering, and stakeholder groups. • Partner with UI/UX designers for concept validation and iterative user testing. • Collaborate with engineering teams to implement analytics for continuous learning and conduct usability testing. • Mentor junior researchers or designers and promote user‑centered thinking across cross‑functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

• ▸user research
• ▸usability testing
• ▸analytics implementation
• ▸insight translation
• ▸research planning
• ▸stakeholder alignment

What You Bring

KBR is seeking a Senior UX Researcher to shape the future of its Science & Space programs. The role blends human‑centered research with cutting‑edge technology to improve national infrastructure, space operations, and environmental monitoring. This position is contingent on contract award, customer approval and funding, and requires the ability to obtain a government background check. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and the role may involve 10‑20% domestic travel with a preferred location in Sioux Falls, SD, though remote work will be considered. • U.S. citizen or permanent resident with ability to obtain a government background check. • Bachelor’s degree in Human‑Centered Design, Psychology, Behavioral Science, IT, or a related field. • Six or more years of UX research or UX design experience in complex, large‑scale systems. • Proficiency with research and design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, or Axure, and collaboration/versioning tools like Zeplin, Storybook, or Abstract. • Strong understanding of Agile processes and ability to integrate research into iterative workflows. • Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation, and storytelling skills. • Ability to rapidly grasp technical domains and convey insights to diverse audiences. • Portfolio demonstrating research process, depth, and measurable impact. • Experience in scientific, government, aerospace, defense, or similarly complex technical domains (desired). • Familiarity with enterprise SaaS, responsive web apps, or cross‑platform systems (desired). • Working knowledge of HTML/CSS, JavaScript frameworks (e.g., Angular), and REST APIs (desired). • Experience with data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau, Python) and modern research platforms (Dovetail, UserTesting, Lookback, Maze) (desired). • Leadership experience in facilitation, mentoring, or guiding design direction (desired).

Requirements

• ▸us citizen
• ▸bachelor's
• ▸6+ years
• ▸figma
• ▸agile
• ▸html/css

Benefits

KBR offers an innovative, high‑impact environment where multidisciplinary teams collaborate on modern DevSecOps pipelines, cloud‑native architectures, and real‑time data workflows supporting critical scientific missions. Employees benefit from a competitive salary range of $75,500‑113,200, a robust benefits package, and a culture that emphasizes zero‑harm, belonging, connection, and growth. • Competitive salary range of $75,500‑113,200 based on location, knowledge, skills, and experience. • Comprehensive benefits including 401(k) match, medical, dental, vision, life & AD&D insurance, flexible spending account, disability, paid time off, and flexible work schedule. • Opportunities for career advancement through professional training and development.

Work Environment

Remote