Senior Director UX Research

Are you ready to shape product strategy through world‑class user insight?

Do you want to set the research vision that drives real business impact?

About our Team:

The Global UX team at Elsevier is a diverse, multidisciplinary group of designers, researchers, and content specialists dedicated to creating intuitive, impactful experiences for customers around the world. We work at the intersection of user needs, business strategy, and technology to shape products and services that help researchers, clinicians, educators, and institutions make better decisions faster. Our team partners closely with product, engineering, data, and commercial leaders to turn complex challenges into simple, trusted experiences. We value curiosity, collaboration, and evidence-based design, and we are committed to raising the quality and consistency of experiences across Elsevier’s global portfolio. Joining the team means helping define the future of knowledge, insight, and decision-making at scale.

About the role:

The Senior Director, UX Research has overall responsibility for the UX Research community and research strategy across the organization. This role sets the direction for high‑impact research initiatives, partners closely with senior leaders and product teams, and ensures that robust, data‑driven insights shape product and business strategy. The role also acts as a visible advocate for user‑centred thinking internally and externally. The Senior Director will report directly to the Chief Design Officer.

Responsibilities:

• Define and own the overall UX Research strategy, aligned to company and product objectives.

• Lead and govern UX research across the organization, ensuring high standards of quality and impact.

• Partner with Product, Design, and Visual leadership to influence product strategy and roadmap decisions.

• Champion user and customer needs at senior leadership level and across the wider organisation.

• Oversee the delivery of complex, high‑impact research programmes addressing strategic business challenges.

• Use data, insights, and testing outcomes to inform decisions, priorities, and future strategy.

• Build, develop, and deploy research teams with complementary skills to maximize effectiveness and learning.

• Establish and track research KPIs, identifying gaps and introducing new methods or tools where needed.

• Represent UX Research internally and externally, including at industry events and leadership forums.

• Commission and manage external research partners and agencies as required.

Requirements:

• Extensive experience leading UX Research at scale within complex, product‑led organizations.

• Deep expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and their practical application.

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate insights into business and product impact.

• Strong strategic thinking skills, with experience tackling complex and ambiguous problem spaces.

• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including coaching, mentoring, and capability building.

• Experience collaborating closely with Product, UX Design, and Engineering teams.

• Strong data literacy, with experience defining metrics and using evidence to guide decision‑making.

• Familiarity with modern UX research tools and platforms (e.g. Qualtrics, UserTesting, Lookback).

• Ability to communicate clearly and persuasively with diverse audiences, from practitioners to executives.

• Track record of fostering a culture of learning, innovation, and continuous improvement.

About the business:

A global leader in information and analytics, we help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. Building on our publishing heritage, we combine quality information and vast data sets with analytics to support visionary science and research, health education and interactive learning, as well as exceptional healthcare and clinical practice. What you do every day will help advance science and healthcare to advance human progress.

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