Senior User Researcher, FME

As a Senior User Researcher on the Product Design and Research team, you will contribute across the full product lifecycle, from discovery, problem framing, iterative design and delivery. You will work closely with cross-functional partners to understand user needs, technical constraints, and business priorities to establish research goals, plan and lead studies, and translate findings into concrete recommendations.

This is currently a team-of-one research role. You will operate with high autonomy and ownership, balancing hands-on execution with building scalable research practices for the organization. This role is well suited to a researcher who is comfortable with conducting both generative as well as evaluative studies, and has experience with mixed methods and ResearchOps. This role has the opportunity to shape the long-term vision for research at Safe Software and may evolve as the research function grows.

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds. Even if you do not meet every listed qualification, we encourage you to apply. We value strong design thinking skills, curiosity, resilience, and a willingness to learn. We have an immediate opening and are excited to find the right candidate to join our team.

About The Team

The Product Design and Research team is part of Product Development at Safe Software. Designers work as embedded partners within product teams and collaborate closely with Product Management and Development to deliver cohesive, human-centred experiences.

The team operates in a hybrid work model and values clear communication, shared ownership, and continuous improvement. Designers are encouraged to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and contribute to evolving the design practice.

What You’ll Be Doing

As a Senior Researcher, you will:

• Define and evolve the research strategy for FME in partnership with product and design leadership

• Develop and maintain a rolling research roadmap aligned to product priorities and long-term vision

• Identify and prioritize high-impact research opportunities across teams to influence product direction through evidence-based recommendations at the roadmap and quarterly-planning level

• Own the end-to-end research workflow for FME products including:

  • Establish and maintain scalable research processes, templates, and standards

  • Own research intake and prioritization across product teams

  • Establish scalable participant recruitment processes and approaches

  • Maintain and evolve the research repository to ensure insights are discoverable and reusable

  • Conduct research

    • Translate ambiguous product questions into structured research plans

    • Scope, plan, recruit and conduct research studies

    • Deliver impactful and actionable insights that connect findings to product impact

    • Facilitate research readouts and decision-making workshops

• Elevate research literacy across the organization

• Coach cross-functional partners on when and how to leverage research

• Build and mature ResearchOps practices to support a growing product organization

• In collaboration with ProductOps, define success criteria for research initiatives in partnership with product leadership and track the impact of research on product decisions and outcomes

Qualifications, Skills, and Competencies

At Safe Software, we welcome diverse backgrounds and experiences. While not all candidates will have everything listed, the most successful candidates will bring many of the following:

What We’re Looking For:

• Experience designing and conducting research for complex workflows, systems, or data-rich interfaces

• Demonstrated ability to own research from discovery through delivery

• Strong foundation in human-centred and inclusive design practices

• Ability to communicate research methodologies and insights clearly to technical and non-technical partners

• Comfort working with ambiguity and evolving requirements

• Hands-on experience leveraging a variety of research methods (usability testing, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires), including mixed methods (qual/quant)

• Typically 6+ years of experience leading product research in complex, enterprise, or technical product environments

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Dovetail

• Experience collaborating on technically complex or enterprise-focused products.

• Working with quantitative data to complement qualitative findings.

What You Can Expect

When you choose a career with Safe Software, you’re also choosing…

• Meaningful Work: Make a profound impact across our business, workplace and data integration product.

• A Supportive Environment: Feel empowered to share your ideas and implement them with high autonomy and team support.

• Social Responsibility: Become part of a team that finds meaningful ways to give back. Take paid time off to volunteer for one of our Safe-organized opportunities that align with our core community initiatives.

• Learning & Career Development: We believe in your continuous learning and growth. Take advantage of an annual learning budget and training programs paid for by Safe.

• Flexible Working Hours: Flexible and remote-friendly work arrangements to fit your lifestyle. Work when you want, and how you want to.

• Work-Life Balance: There's no place for burnout at Safe. Maintain a healthy balance of your personal and work life without splitting yourself in two. Enjoy 3 weeks of vacation to recharge, plus an additional paid 6 seasonal days off per year.

• Health & Wellness: Extended health, dental, health or lifestyle spending, and counseling benefits from day 1. That’s right, no waiting period.

• Family is important: We are dedicated to supporting our employees through parenthood and offer a Parental Leave Top-Up Program for new parents through childbirth or adoption.

• Shared Success: Share in Safe’s success with our bi-annual profit sharing and RRSP/TFSA matching program.

• An Accessible Commute: Regardless of your commute method, we’re located close to public transit, and provide complimentary parking and bike storage for our team!
  

About Safe Software

Safe Software transforms organizations with FME, the only All-Data Any-AI Enterprise Integration Platform connecting all your data, anywhere, at any velocity.

With over 30 years of expertise and 25,000+ enterprise customers across 125+ countries, we simplify your data journey, wherever it leads.

Founded in 1993, Safe is headquartered in Surrey, BC with over 300 team members and counting. We’re always looking for talented individuals with diverse backgrounds who are determined to learn and grow. Are you ready to join the team?

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Safe Software is an equal opportunity employer and we truly believe that innovation and strength begin with diversity and inclusion.

We welcome all candidates regardless of race, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, ability, disability, national or ethnic origin, political belief, religion, or family status.

Should you require accommodations during the recruitment process, please contact [email protected].

Notice Regarding Use of Automated Tools in Hiring

At Safe Software, we use automated tools to help us process applications and identify qualified candidates. These tools may assist in screening resumes and summarizing interview content based on the information you provide. This helps our team review applications efficiently while ensuring every candidate is considered based on the requirements of the role.

Please be assured that the final hiring decision is always made by a member of our team. For more information on how we protect your privacy, please see our policy. If you have questions about this process, please contact us at [email protected].