UX Research IC3

Company Description

Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. We build, power, and evolve the tools and technologies that connect millions of entrepreneurs with millions of buyers around the world. As an Etsy employee, you will tackle unique, meaningful, and large-scale problems alongside passionate coworkers, all the while making a rewarding impact and Keeping Commerce Human.

We believe exceptional companies are built by exceptional teams, and we're intentional about it. That means hiring great people, setting them up for success from day one, and giving them real reasons to grow their careers here. We invest in development that goes beyond promotions, and we foster the trust and relationships that help people do their best work together.

What’s the role?

As a Senior UX Researcher focused on Developer Experience, you’ll own research for the tools, systems, and services that shape how Etsy’s product teams build. You’ll help Foundation teams understand builders’ jobs-to-be-done, identify and prioritize friction across their workflows, and evaluate whether investments improve speed, ease, quality, and confidence.

You’ll lead a portfolio of foundational and evaluative research, independently defining research questions and influencing what teams prioritize and build next. You’ll use a deep understanding of our internal customers to help teams interpret behavior and metrics in context-not allow the metrics alone to define the work.

This is a qualitative or mixed-methods research role. You’ll work closely with partners across Research, Design, Product, Engineering, Analytics, and the Foundation organization.

This is a full-time position reporting to a Research Manager or Director.

What’s this team like at Etsy?

• The Foundation organization builds and supports foundational technology used across Etsy. Its customers are the engineers, designers, product managers, researchers, analysts, and other people who build and operate our products.
• Developer Experience at Etsy spans the platforms, tools, services, and workflows that help teams build, test, ship, and operate products.
• We focus on reducing friction and toil, making complex systems easier to use, and helping teams move faster without compromising quality or reliability.
• Our builders work in different roles, technical environments, codebases, and organizational contexts. Understanding those differences-and deciding when teams need a shared solution versus more specialized support-is central to improving their experience.
• AI-assisted tools are increasingly becoming part of these workflows. This role will study how they affect the needs, behaviors, and responsibilities of engineers, designers, product managers, researchers, analysts, and other builders.
• Developer Experience is a service-design challenge as much as a tooling challenge. A single task may cross multiple tools, platforms, policies, teams, handoffs, and support channels, so understanding the complete experience is essential.
• Research will help teams determine where better tools, systems, services, and ways of working can have the greatest impact-and where new support or safeguards may be needed.

What does the day-to-day look like?

• Own and prioritize a research portfolio that balances foundational understanding with timely evaluative work across Developer Experience.
• Identify and prioritize the jobs Etsy’s builders need to accomplish, including emerging jobs created or changed by AI-assisted product development.
• Develop a nuanced understanding of different builder groups-their roles, responsibilities, technical environments, workflows, tools, and constraints-and identify where their needs meaningfully differ.
• Map end-to-end journeys across internal tools, services, processes, teams, and support channels to reveal systemic friction that may not be visible within a single product or platform.
• Lead qualitative and mixed-methods research from problem definition through impact, using approaches such as interviews, contextual inquiry, workflow observation, diary studies, service mapping, usability testing, surveys, and behavioral data.
• Study how AI-assisted and agentic tools affect product-development workflows, collaboration, judgment, responsibilities, and expectations across disciplines.
• Help teams evaluate and prioritize opportunities such as stronger self-service experiences, more flexible development environments, clearer paved paths, and safer agent-assisted building, testing, and review workflows.
• Connect qualitative understanding with behavioral and attitudinal measures so teams understand not only whether something changed, but why, for whom, and under what conditions.
• Translate findings into clear recommendations that influence product and platform strategies, roadmaps, service models, and investment decisions.
• Build trusted relationships with technical partners and communicate complex findings in ways that are useful to both subject-matter experts and broader leadership audiences.
• Connect findings across teams and studies into a coherent understanding of Developer Experience at Etsy.
• Share methods and learning with other researchers and contribute to how research is practiced across Etsy.
• Of course, this is just a sample of the kinds of work this role will require! You should assume that your role will encompass other tasks, too, and that your job duties and responsibilities may change from time to time at Etsy's discretion, or otherwise applicable with local law.

Qualities that will help you thrive in this role are:

• 4+ years of experience conducting applied user, product, or service research, or equivalent experience.
• Strong qualitative research craft and the judgment to choose fit-for-purpose methods, balance speed and rigor, and bring in quantitative approaches when they will strengthen the answer.
• Experience independently shaping research questions-not only executing a brief-and leading work from initial problem definition through recommendations and impact.
• A strong understanding of AI-assisted and agentic tools, including how they are changing product-development workflows, collaboration, and roles across Engineering, Design, Product, Research, Analytics, and related disciplines.
• The ability to learn complex technical systems, communicate credibly with technical partners, and make unfamiliar or highly specialized subject matter understandable to broader audiences.
• A record of research that changed a decision, product direction, service, or strategy-and the ability to explain specifically what changed.
• The ability to prioritize independently across foundational and evaluative research while accounting for dependencies across multiple teams.
• Clear, compelling communication that turns research into decisions and helps stakeholders with different areas of expertise align around a shared understanding.
• Experience researching developer systems, technical platforms, enterprise or internal tools, or similarly complex technical environments is preferred. Service-design expertise-including journey mapping, service blueprinting, and research across organizational handoffs-is also a plus.

Compensation & Benefits

In addition to salary, you'll be eligible for an equity package, an annual performance bonus, and our competitive benefits that support you and your family. Base salary is determined by your location, skills, and experience.

Etsy uses two geographic pay zones to reflect the labor markets where we compete for talent: one called Geo-1, covering the New York City metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle metropolitan area, and one called Geo-2, covering all other U.S. locations. Salary ranges for this role vary by zone and are listed below.

Location

We prioritize candidates based within commutable distance of Etsy’s Brooklyn Office. Depending on proximity, we ask team members to come in once or twice per week. Remote candidates outside commutable distance may be considered on a case-by-case basis, with the expectation of occasional travel to the office. Learn more details about our work modes and workplace safety policies here.

Salary Range:

What's Next

If you're interested in joining the team at Etsy, please share your resume with us and feel free to include a cover letter if you'd like. As we hope you've seen already, Etsy is a place that values individuality and variety. We don't want you to be like everyone else -- we want you to be like you! So tell us what you're all about.

Our Promise

At Etsy, we believe that a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace furthers relevance, resilience, and longevity. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. Etsy is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion or creed, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, citizenship or immigration status, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status**, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law**. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during any part of the interview or hiring process, please let your recruiter know and we will work with you to meet your needs. While Etsy supports visa sponsorship, sponsorship opportunities may be limited to certain roles and skills.