User Experience Researcher, AI-Augmented Research
Lincoln, NEAll locationsLincoln, NEMadison, WICentennial, CO Hybrid
$100,000 a yearJobFig found this opening at its original source and checks that it remains available.
About the role
Nelnet is seeking a curious, experienced User Experience Researcher to join our internal design team. As a UX researcher, you'll immerse yourself in a close-knit team to solve design challenges through data and analysis, turning what you find into a story stakeholders act on rather than just a report they read. You'll employ a wide range of research methodologies — including surveys, journey maps, interviews, and task-based usability tests — and know when to reach for each: distinguishing what you can observe (behavior) from what participants report (attitudes), and designing studies that don't blur the two. Our team works directly with stakeholders who oversee Nelnet's diverse range of internal and external products and services, with a focus on Nelnet's #1 value of creating exceptional customer experiences.
What you'll bring
- Deep expertise in UX research methodologies for software/web-based products, with demonstrated impact on the products you've worked on and a track record of driving innovation and moving projects forward in ambiguous, not-yet-defined situations.
- Experience with a variety of UX research methods such as card sorts, usability testing, A/B testing, user interviews, surveys, diary studies, contextual observations, first click testing.
- Demonstrated experience incorporating AI to appropriately assist with research activities — building or maintaining agents, or automating parts of the research process to improve speed, depth, or quality, while knowing where human judgment must stay in the loop.
- Distinguishes behavioral evidence from attitudinal/self-report data, and judges when a research task calls for a human vs. an AI agent.
- Experience critically evaluating how to integrate AI into research work — this may include using AI-powered tools, automating parts of the research process, or exploring where AI can responsibly strengthen research quality and speed.
- Thinks strategically about where automation can strengthen the team's research practice — and can turn that thinking into something built, not just proposed.
- Skilled at turning data into narrative — connecting findings to the "so what" for the business, not just reporting numbers and quotes.
- Outgoing and comfortable interviewing clients and stakeholders.
- Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills.
- Extremely organized and capable of juggling multiple projects at the same time.
- Desire to dig into complex problems and help solve those problems for our users.
- Eagerness to partner across business lines on shared tooling and research practices.