UX Research Lead

Our FI client is looking for a UX Research Lead to join their team for 12+ months, fulltime hours per week, and 3-4x per week onsite downtown Toronto. This role blends hands on research with strategic leadership to ensure AI experiences are intuitive, trustworthy, and grounded in real user needs. You will be working on Financial Services products. Key Responsibilities • Research Strategy - Set and guide the research vision for AI initiatives. • AI User Insights - Lead research on user needs, trust, and adoption of AI systems. • Mixed Methods - Plan and oversee qualitative and quantitative studies. • Cross Functional Partnership - Work with product, engineering, data science, and design teams. • Responsible AI - Identify risks, biases, and fairness considerations. • Team Leadership - Mentor researchers and support scaling research operations. Required Qualifications • UX Research Experience - 7+ years leading research programs. • AI and ML Understanding - Familiarity with AI concepts and human AI interaction. • Leadership Skills - Ability to guide teams and influence stakeholders. • Mixed Methods Skills - Strong qualitative and quantitative research abilities. Preferred Qualifications • AI Product Background - Experience with AI driven products. • Research Ops - Knowledge of scaling research processes. • Enterprise Transformation - Experience supporting large scale change.