Microsoft · 10 hours ago
Principal UX Researcher
United States
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$140K/yr - $275K/yr
6+ years expMicrosoft is a leading technology company seeking a Principal UX Researcher to enhance AI-powered customer experiences. The role involves leading research initiatives that inform product strategy and improve user experiences across commerce ecosystems.
Agentic AIApplication Performance ManagementArtificial Intelligence (AI)Business DevelopmentDevOpsInformation ServicesInformation TechnologyManagement Information SystemsNetwork SecuritySoftware
Responsibilities
Understand the behaviors, motivations, needs, and aspirations of our customers to create a differentiated advantage in our ability to build relevant and impactful experiences for people across the world
Lead research across complex commerce ecosystems, including shopping discovery, merchant evaluation, payments, cashback, and post‑purchase experiences where AI agents act on users’ behalf
Define and evaluate agentic commerce scenarios, uncovering user mental models, trust boundaries, emotional expectations, and decision‑making behaviors in AI‑mediated purchasing contexts
Partner with Product Management and Design leadership to inform foundational decisions for AI‑native commerce systems
Translate research insights into durable frameworks that guide product strategy and platform investments across Microsoft AI Commerce initiatives
Balance rigor with scrappiness and the ability to push with a fast-moving team
Identify new opportunities and generate innovative ideas to improve our processes, culture, and influence our approach to research (e.g. mindsets, methodologies)
Lead research on 0→1 business initiatives with notable risk, complexity, and ambiguity
Regularly influence at the highest levels of organizations
Embody our culture and values
Qualification
Required
Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years User Experience Research experience
OR Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years User Experience Research experience
OR Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 6+ years User Experience Research experience
OR equivalent experience
Preferred
Experience conducting research on commerce, shopping, financial transactions, payments, subscriptions, cashback, or loyalty‑related user experiences, particularly in trust‑sensitive, high‑impact flows
Demonstrated ability to influence product direction in complex, multi‑stakeholder systems involving consumers, merchants, platforms, and AI agents
8+ years experience working in UX research or a related field
High level research skills across methods, qualitative and quantitative (i.e. a Mixed Methods researcher)
Excellent communication and presentation / storytelling skills, with the ability to energize and activate teams
Experience with commonly used research tools
Company
Microsoft
Microsoft is a software corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Microsoft has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (9192)
2024 (9343)
2023 (7677)
2022 (11403)
2021 (7210)
2020 (7852)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$1MKey Investors
Technology Venture Investors
2022-12-09Post Ipo Equity
1986-03-13IPO
1981-09-01Series Unknown· $1M
Leadership Team
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO
Vukani Mngxati
Chief Executive Officer - Microsft South Africa
Recent News
2026-01-16
Morningstar.com
2026-01-16
Company data provided by crunchbase