Universal Orlando Resort · 18 hours ago
Senior Manager, Global UXUI Experience Design – UX Research
Orlando, FL
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
7+ years expUniversal Orlando Resort is seeking a Senior Manager, UX Research to lead mixed-methods research that informs product, marketing, and design strategies. This role involves shaping research vision, delivering actionable insights, and enhancing guest experiences by integrating qualitative and quantitative methods into decision-making.
Entertainment
Responsibilities
Lead and oversee user-centered research initiatives using methods such as experience analysis, contextual inquiry, interviews, and usability testing to inform product and service design
Manage multiple research initiatives simultaneously, balancing long-term strategic goals with short-term tactical needs and ensuring timely delivery of insights
Align and oversee a multi-quarter research roadmap to our Experience KPI scorecard, ensuring research initiatives across web, app, and in-park experiences directly support measurable performance indicators
Guide scoring flows against heuristics, identifying friction points, usability violations, and opportunities for improvement
Lead mixed-methods research initiatives, including usability testing, heuristic reviews, benchmark analysis, and synthesis of findings
Maintain standards, playbooks, and templates for planning, study design, sampling, analysis, and insight packaging to scale quality across teams
Guide experimentation strategy (e.g., success metrics, guardrails, instrumentation) for personalization, navigation, checkout, and mobile app features
Partner with UDX Analytics and Consumer Insights to triangulate qualitative + quantitative insights (funnel analysis, heatmaps/session replay, A/B & MVT results) and size opportunities
Partner with design, product, and UDX cross-functional teams to ensure research insights are integrated into experience design processes and ensure our solutions are both innovative and grounded in genuine user needs
Champion user-centered design across the organization, advocating for the value of research and helping teams apply insights effectively
Drive organization-wide evangelism and adoption of insights through self-serve libraries, office hours, roadshows and ongoing education
Demonstrate exceptional presentation skills by clearly communicating research insights to stakeholders at all levels, referencing key experience KPIs to anchor findings and recommendations
Tailor messages for maximum impact, confidently leading research discussions both before product launch and during post-mortem reviews
Mentor and coach UX researchers and designers, fostering skill growth, promoting best practices, and supporting career development
Contribute to team growth through recruiting, interviewing, and shaping a collaborative, excellence-driven UX culture
Understands and actively participates in Environmental, Health & Safety responsibilities by following established UO policy, procedures, training and team member involvement activities
Performs other duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree is required in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Anthropology, Information Science, UX Research, Design Strategy, Behavioral Science or a related field
7+ years of professional experience in user experience research and analysis, including leadership of strategic initiatives across complex digital ecosystems
Demonstrated impact partnering with Product and Marketing to shape strategy, roadmaps, and GTM — with measurable lifts in conversion, satisfaction, or brand health
Deep hands-on expertise in conducting usability and heuristic testing—including direct engagement with users and evaluators
Ability to apply qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in fast-paced, agile environments to inform product strategy and design
Experience working within large-scale enterprise environments, preferably in media, entertainment, travel, hospitality, or theme park industries, with a proven ability to navigate cross-functional collaboration
Strong storytelling and executive communication; proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive decisions
Proficiency with research tools (UserTesting, Qualtrics, Optimal Workshop, survey/panel platforms, session replay/heatmaps, experimentation platforms, Excel/Sheets, and data visualization)
Demonstrated success in leading and scaling UX research teams, research ops, mentoring talent, and fostering a culture of excellence and innovation
Delivery on a research roadmap with defined decisions and measurable effects on KPIs
Stand up durable research operations (recruiting, incentives, repos, tagging/taxonomy, templates) to increase speed and consistency and reduce time-to-insight using operational enhancements
Applied research findings to inform product initiatives and marketing campaigns
Increased adoption of insights across the organization
Documented improvements in accessibility, inclusivity, and guest satisfaction
Improved experimentation and innovation to advance research and product strategy
Proactive reporting on KPI scorecards to measure impact and progress of experience metrics
Administration of dashboards that mature and scale the research program across teams
Collaboration with analytics leaders across the organization, including consumer insights, to drive holistic decision-making
Enhanced experimentation and innovation to support research and product strategy
Preferred
Master's degree is preferred
Company
Universal Orlando Resort
For years, we’ve been creating a legacy of unforgettable experiences for our Guests.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Universal Orlando Resort 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 (8)
2024 (8)
2023 (5)
2022 (5)
2021 (2)
2020 (2)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Tracey Stockwell
CFO
Bobby B. Belzeski
Human Resources Business Partner
Company data provided by crunchbase