Director-UX Researcher

About American Express At American Express, we know that with the right backing, people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. Whether we’re supporting our customers’ financial confidence to move ahead, taking commerce to new heights, or encouraging people to explore the world, our colleagues are constantly striving to uphold our powerful backing promise to our customers and each other every day. These beliefs have been our North Star for 170 years as our business transformed – from helping evacuate travelers during World Wars, to ensuring the safety of our customers’ funds during the Great Depression in the U.S., to creating the Shop Small® movement to help small businesses recover from the Financial Crisis, to providing aid to communities impacted by many natural disasters and so much more. For generations, the key to our success has been the determination and resilience of our American Express colleagues. Now, as a globally integrated payments company, we work together to provide customers with access to products, insights and world-class experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Join us and let’s lead the way together. Learn more about us at: https://www.americanexpress.com/careers https://www.americanexpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/AmericanExpressUS https://www.instagram.com/americanexpress/ https://twitter.com/americanexpress https://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanExpress See our community guidelines at: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/company/community-guidelines/ If you have a customer service issue or question, please visit www.americanexpress.com/contactus

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americanexpress.com

10,001+ employees

Financial Services

New York, NY

Public Company

3.9M LinkedIn followers

• Shape AI experience strategy: Provide research leadership for complex,
• high-impact AI initiatives, independently framing critical customer questions
• and establishing forward-looking research agendas. Partner with senior
• Product, Design, Engineering, and business leaders to identify emerging
• opportunities, challenge assumptions, and influence experience strategy and
• investment decisions.
• Deliver exceptional generative and exploratory research: Lead sophisticated
• qualitative research to uncover customer motivations, behaviors, unmet needs,
• and mental models. Apply expert methodological judgment to select, combine,
• and adapt established and innovative approaches—including contextual inquiry,
• longitudinal studies, behavioral simulations, and research in live or
• simulated AI environments.
• Pioneer AI research methods and evaluation: Develop and validate innovative
• approaches to investigating human-AI interaction, including trust,
• transparency, delegation, decision-making, and customer control. Establish
• reusable frameworks and measures for evaluating comprehension, usefulness,
• task effectiveness, and error recovery in agentic experiences.
• Advance strategic understanding through synthesis: Integrate qualitative and
• quantitative evidence, behavioral data, and emerging customer signals to
• develop original insights and conceptual frameworks. Identify patterns,
• tensions, and opportunities that inform experience principles, product
• direction, and strategic decisions.
• Influence through exceptional storytelling: Transform complex research into
• compelling narratives, conceptual models, and executive-ready
• recommendations. Make emerging customer behaviors and AI experience
• challenges understandable, memorable, and actionable for senior leaders.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor: Partner with senior Product, Design,
• Technology, and Business leaders to connect customer understanding with
• business objectives, technical possibilities, and emerging opportunities.
• Constructively challenge assumptions and ensure customer evidence informs
• consequential decisions.
• Provide research thought leadership and mentorship: Serve as an expert
• research partner across multidisciplinary teams, guiding complex
• methodological decisions, elevating research quality, and coaching
• researchers through challenging problems. Foster intellectual rigor,
• creativity, and excellence without relying on formal people-management
• authority.
• Build scalable research capabilities: Advance the organization's ability to
• research intelligent experiences through reusable methodologies, evaluation
• frameworks, and practice standards. Explore emerging AI-enabled research
• tools and workflows, ensuring innovation strengthens research quality,
• effectiveness, and responsible practice.

Required

• 10+ years of UX research or applied research experience, with a substantial
• track record leading complex, strategically significant generative research
• programs.
• Recognized expertise in qualitative research, including advanced
• interviewing, contextual inquiry, research design, and interpretive
• synthesis, with demonstrated ability to develop original insights and
• conceptual frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience researching AI-powered, conversational, adaptive, or
• similarly complex emerging technologies, with a strong understanding of the
• methodological challenges associated with intelligent systems.
• Proven ability to develop or substantially advance research methodologies,
• evaluation frameworks, or approaches that have influenced research practice
• beyond individual projects.
• Exceptional strategic judgment and demonstrated ability to influence
• director-, VP-, or executive-level stakeholders through compelling evidence,
• original thinking, and sophisticated storytelling.
• Experience providing research thought leadership across teams or complex
• programs, including guiding research direction, advising on methodological
• decisions, mentoring researchers, and elevating research standards.
• Strong quantitative literacy and ability to integrate qualitative research,
• behavioral analytics, survey data, customer feedback, and other evidence into
• strategically meaningful insights.
• assumptions, and connect customer understanding with business strategy,
• emerging technologies, and experience opportunities.
• Strategic UX Research & Experience Strategy
• Expert Generative & Exploratory Qualitative Research
• Research Strategy & Intellectual Leadership
• Advanced Research Methodology & Innovation
• Human-AI Interaction & Agentic Experience Research
• AI Experience Evaluation & Measurement
• Advanced Research Synthesis & Evidence Triangulation
• Customer Mental Models & Behavioral Research
• Conceptual Framework Development & Strategic Insight
• Executive Influence & Strategic Storytelling
• Research Craft Leadership & Mentorship
• innovation, shared values
• Behaviors, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and
• colleagues. From delivering differentiated products to providing world-class
• customer service, we operate with a strong risk mindset, ensuring we continue to
• uphold our brand promise of trust, security, and service.
• As part of Team Amex, you’ll experience our powerful backing with comprehensive
• support for your holistic well-being and many opportunities to learn new skills,
• develop as a leader, and grow your career. Here, your voice and ideas matter,
• your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of
• American Express.
• We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be
• and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical,
• financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to
• Bonus incentives
• 6% Company Match on retirement savings plan
• Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability

Preferred

• Direct experience researching generative AI, LLM-based experiences,
• autonomous agents, or human-AI collaboration.
• Experience evaluating trust, delegation, comprehension, customer control, and
• error recovery in AI-powered experiences.
• Experience developing reusable research methods or evaluation frameworks
• adopted across multiple product teams.
• environments.

• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending
• on role and business need
• 20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered
• for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy
• Free access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and
• doctors (depending on location)
• Free and confidential counseling support through our Healthy Minds program
• Career development and training opportunities
• For a full list of Team Amex benefits, visit our Colleague Benefits Site
• Ordinance. For positions covered by federal and/or state banking regulations,
• American Express will comply with such regulations as it relates to the
• consideration of applicants with criminal convictions.
• We back our colleagues with the support they need to thrive, professionally and
• personally. That's why we have Amex Flex, our enterprise working model that
• provides greater flexibility to colleagues while ensuring we preserve the
• important aspects of our unique in-person culture. Depending on role and
• business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model
• (combination of in-office and virtual days) or fully virtually.
• The below represents the expected salary range for this job requisition.
• Ultimately, in determining your pay, we’ll consider your location, experience,
• and other job-related factors.