UX Researcher

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the UX Researcher, you will serve as the primary research partner supporting Accela's inbound product teams. You will lead and execute user research initiatives that help product and design teams better understand customer needs, behaviors, and pain points across the Accela Civic Application (ACA), Payments, Platform Integrations, Administration, and Civic Platform product areas.

In this role, you will design and conduct usability studies, synthesize research findings, develop personas and journey maps, and translate customer insights into actionable recommendations that improve the user experience. You will work closely with Product Management, UX Design, Engineering, and other stakeholders to ensure product decisions are informed by meaningful customer research.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan, design, and conduct qualitative and quantitative user research studies across multiple product areas, including ACA, Payments, Platform Integrations, Administration, and Civic Platform.
• Lead usability testing efforts to evaluate product experiences and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Analyze research findings and synthesize insights into clear, actionable recommendations for Product, Design, and Engineering teams.
• Develop and maintain user personas, journey maps, and other research artifacts that support product strategy and design decisions.
• Partner with Product Managers and UX Designers to define research objectives and align studies with business and customer goals.
• Conduct user interviews, surveys, contextual inquiries, and other research activities to better understand customer needs and behaviors.
• Communicate research findings through presentations, reports, workshops, and stakeholder discussions.
• Advocate for user-centered design principles and promote the integration of research throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Establish and maintain research best practices, methodologies, and repositories of customer insights.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure research findings are incorporated into product roadmaps and design solutions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Cognitive Science, Human Factors, User Experience, Research, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3+ years of experience conducting UX research for software, SaaS, or digital products.
• Experience planning and executing usability studies and other user research methodologies.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesize complex findings into actionable insights.
• Experience developing personas, journey maps, research reports, and customer experience artifacts.
• Experience conducting user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and other qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience working collaboratively with Product Management, UX Design, and Engineering teams.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience supporting multiple product teams simultaneously in a fast-paced SaaS environment.
• Experience conducting research for enterprise software or public-sector technology solutions.
• Familiarity with accessibility standards and inclusive design principles.
• Experience with research tools such as UserTesting, Dovetail, Maze, Qualtrics, UserZoom, or similar platforms.
• Knowledge of service design, customer journey mapping, and experience strategy methodologies.
• Experience establishing UX research processes and scaling research practices across an organization.

TRAVEL

• Up to 10% travel for customer research, team collaboration, workshops, conferences, and business needs.

ABOUT ACCELA
For nearly 20 years, Accela has been an industry leader in designing and delivering government software to improve efficiency, increase citizen engagement and enable the development of thriving communities. Today, citizens are savvy to how services should be delivered, and expect a consistently convenient, openly transparent view into their local government. While government agencies struggle to do more with less, our mission has never been more critical. Accela provides a robust, cloud-based platform of government software solutions that accelerate growth, efficiency, and transparency in communities of all sizes. From planning, to building, to service request management and more, Accela’s SaaS offerings level the playing field for small and medium governments and enable smaller agencies to leverage larger city technologies. Our open and flexible technology helps agencies address specific needs today, while ensuring they are well prepared for the emerging challenges of the future.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Accela believes in developing and nurturing a workplace community where our differences are celebrated, and everyone feels a sense of psychological safety and belonging. Accela is committed to putting resources and attention towards evolving our practices, policies, and philosophies to enable diversity to thrive and to support equity in opportunity for everyone.

COMPENSATION AND WELL-BEING
The annual base salary range for this full-time position is $120,000-$130,000 (less applicable taxes). The actual annual base salary offered may be adjusted based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, location, education, skills, training, and experience. In addition to an annual base salary, this position is eligible for an annual bonus target. This is a discretionary bonus awarded based on company and individual goal achievement. 
 
Accela’s U.S. team members will receive a generous benefits package consisting of options including flexible time off, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, family planning benefits, 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match, health savings account with company contributions, flexible spending account, life, accident, and disability coverage, business travel insurance, employee assistance programs, and other well-being benefits.

Accela is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer and will respond to requests for job accommodations.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, or based on disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation

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