User Experience Researcher-Wilmington DE (Contract)

Senior User Experience Researcher (Agentic Commerce & AI Experiences) Role Overview We are seeking a Senior User Experience Researcher to help shape the future of agentic commerce and AI-powered experiences. This role will lead research that informs how customers discover, trust, adopt, and engage with intelligent systems that can recommend, assist with, and autonomously execute financial tasks. The ideal candidate is an experienced qualitative or mixed-methods researcher with expertise in human behavior, decision-making, trust, and emerging technologies.

Partnering closely with Product, Design, Engineering, Data Science, Compliance, Risk, and Legal teams, this role will influence product strategy from opportunity identification through launch and optimization, ensuring AI-driven experiences are useful, usable, responsible, and aligned with customer needs.

Key Responsibilities Research Strategy & Leadership Define and execute a research roadmap supporting AI, agentic commerce, and emerging digital experiences. Identify customer needs, pain points, and opportunities across the end-to-end journey. Generate insights that influence product strategy, prioritization, and investment decisions. AI, Agentic Commerce & Emerging Technology Research Investigate customer attitudes, behaviors, and expectations related to AI assistants, intelligent agents, and autonomous experiences.

Evaluate trust, transparency, control, explainability, privacy, and willingness to delegate tasks to AI-powered solutions. Identify drivers, barriers, and risks associated with AI adoption, recommendations, financial guidance, and automated actions. Assess emerging AI capabilities and partner with product teams to validate concepts and opportunities before development. Product & Experience Validation Lead qualitative and mixed-method research including but not limited too; interviews, usability studies, concept testing, surveys, diary studies, field research, and longitudinal research.

Evaluate customer comprehension, confidence, and interaction with AI-generated recommendations and decision-support experiences. Establish benchmarks and success metrics to measure customer experience, usability, trust, and business outcomes. Consumer Intent & Decision Research Research how customers articulate financial needs, goals, and life events across AI assistants, conversational interfaces, search, and digital channels. Develop intent frameworks that connect customer needs, shopping missions, and financial goals to products, benefits, and services.

Analyze customer decision journeys from initial intent through evaluation, consideration, and application. Stakeholder Influence & Research Excellence Translate complex findings into actionable insights and strategic recommendations. Present research to senior leaders and influence product, design, and investment decisions. Partner closely with Product, Design, Engineering, Data Science, Compliance, Risk, and Legal teams. Mentor researchers and contribute to research operations, standards, and best practices.

Qualifications Required 5+ years of experience conducting UX research using qualitative or mixed methods. 2+ years of experience researching AI-powered products, intelligent assistants, conversational interfaces, or agentic experiences. Experience influencing product strategy through customer insights. Strong expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Excellent communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills. Experience partnering with Product Management, Design, and Engineering teams.

Proven ability to translate ambiguous problems into clear research objectives and actionable recommendations. Preferred Advanced degree in HCI, Information Design, Psychology or related field Demonstrated experience researching agentic commerce experiences Familiarity with responsible AI principles and human-centered AI design. Experience in financial services, fintech, healthcare, or other highly regulated digital product environments.