About the role

Role overview

Senior Product/User Researcher (Contract) at Tilt to establish and lead research practices that meaningfully inform product development. This is a foundational, highly autonomous, hands-on role partnering closely with product and design leadership.

Responsibilities

Build a research program from the ground up: define research philosophy, standards, and best practices.
Create governance and tooling: develop frameworks, templates, and operating models to improve rigor and reduce bias.
Educate teams: coach product, design, and PM teams on research methods, interpretation, and correct application.
Develop scalable research infrastructure:
- participant recruitment
- insight synthesis
- knowledge management
Run a continuous rolling research program: maintain an ongoing cadence of user feedback across product development.
Translate research needs into plans: intake requests, structure them into methodologically sound test plans.
Recruit and facilitate participant sessions: run research sessions and adjust cadence based on priorities and complexity.
Synthesize findings into actionable insights to guide product direction and design decisions.
Execute mixed-methods research across discovery and evaluative phases (e.g., interviews, usability testing, concept validation, surveys, diary studies, experiments).
Lead longer-term strategic initiatives and develop durable user insights and profiles.
Manage external research agencies for larger studies (with leadership approval).

Requirements

Senior-level product/UX research experience in digital product organizations.
Proven ability to establish research practices where research infrastructure is immature.
Strong mixed-methods expertise and sound judgment in choosing appropriate methodologies.
Experience operating continuous/rolling research programs.
Deep understanding of research rigor, bias mitigation, and insight synthesis.
Ability to elevate research literacy and coach non-researchers.
Comfortable with high autonomy, ambiguity, and program ownership.

Nice to have

Experience managing research vendors/agencies.
Experience building research ops infrastructure or participant panels.
Background working in design-led product organizations.

About Tilt

Tilt builds mobile-first financial products using machine learning-powered credit models that go beyond traditional credit scores. By leveraging real-time financial signals, the company aims to expand access to credit and help people build a more inclusive credit system.