Microsoft

Microsoft

Posted via Microsoft Careers

Principal Design & Research Head

Posted Aug 14, 2026

Role at a glance

Salary
$142.8K – $274.8K/yr
Location
Redmond, Washington, United States NY, New York, United States
Work arrangement
On-site
Employment
Full-time
Education
Bachelor's, Master's

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Role Summary

AI-generated

The Principal Design & Research Head will lead a team of researchers, designers, and content writers within Microsoft's Employee Experience organization and UX Studio. The role focuses on envisioning and delivering employee experiences across digital and physical environments in partnership with Design, Engineering, Product, and Business Leadership.

What You'll Do

  • Lead researchers, designers, and content writers conducting product research and design activities from generative research through...
  • Foster agile research and design practices and methodologies.
  • Drive role acceleration with AI for user experience research, design, and content across the product development lifecycle.
  • Work with Engineering, Product, and Business Partners to establish trust and alignment.
  • Partner with Research and Design Leads to plan, execute, analyze, and synthesize research and deliver design solutions.
  • Mentor multidisciplinary user researchers and designers and support their career growth.

Generated from the employer's posting. Verify important details before applying.

View full posting

Qualifications

Bachelor's or master's degree in a related design field, or equivalent experience; experience in product or service design and people management.

Required

  • Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction...
  • 8+ years experience working in product or service design with a bachelor's degree, or 6+ years with a master's degree
  • 3+ years people management experience

Preferred

  • 5+ years people management experience
  • 6+ years experience shipping products, services, or games and/or delivering to customers as a result of an end-to-end design process
  • Well-established portfolio of research and design techniques, including ethnography, field studies, interviews, usability studies,...
  • Deep knowledge of designing experiences across endpoints ad informing the development of V1 platforms and products
  • Influential leader who can develop key partnerships with stakeholders and deliver a strategic research and design roadmap across...
  • Proven track record of translating insights into product and design strategy, and the ability to define success outcomes for those...

Original job description

Content provided by the employer

Overview

Do you want to be at the heart of Microsoft’s digital and cultural transformation? Are you passionate about envisioning the future workplace and being an industry leader? As part of Microsoft’s Employee Experience organization, our UX Studio is responsible for many of the experiences that our internal Microsoft Employees use each day. We are a vibrant community of talented and passionate UXers that are customer-obsessed with diverse expertise in UX design, UX research, and content management. We share core values around curiosity, humility, inclusion, and creativity. 

We are seeking to hire a Principal Design & Research Head. This role will lead a team of researchers and designers within the Employee Experience space, working closely with Design, Engineering, Product, and Business Leadership to envision and deliver a future Microsoft workplace that enables innovative, creative, and intelligent employee experiences across both digital and physical environments. 

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.



Responsibilities
  • Lead a team of researchers, designers and content writers who conduct diverse product research and design activities, spanning generative to evaluative research, and end-to-end design processes.
  • Foster and facilitate agile research and design practices and methodologies.
  • Drive role acceleration with AI for user experience research, design and content across the product development lifecycle.
  • Work closely with key stakeholders across Engineering, Product, and Business Partners to establish trust and alignment for maximum research and design influence.
  • Partner with other Research and Design Leads to enhance the team’s ability to plan, execute, analyze, synthesize insights, and deliver high-quality design solutions.
  • Understand the competitive landscape and innovations in both research and design.
  • Provide mentorship and career growth to a diverse set of multi-disciplinary user researchers and designers.
  • Foster a diverse and inclusive team environment that empowers team members to do their best work.   


Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design
    • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design 
    • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
  • 3+ years people management experience.

Additional or preferred qualifications

  • Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design
    • OR Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 12+ years experience working in product or service design
    • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
  • Drive role acceleration with AI for user experience research, design and content across the product development lifecycle.
  • Work closely with key stakeholders across Engineering, Product, and Business Partners to establish trust and alignment for maximum research and design influence. 
  • 5+ years people management experience.
  • 6+ years experience shipping products, services, or games and/or delivering to customers as a result of an end-to-end design process.
  • Well-established portfolio of research and design techniques, including ethnography, field studies, interviews, usability studies, concept validation, user journey mapping, surveys, scorecards, competitive analysis, wireframing, prototyping, and visual design.
  • Deep knowledge of designing experiences across endpoints ad informing the development of V1 platforms and products.
  • Influential leader who can develop key partnerships with stakeholders and deliver a strategic research and design roadmap across multiple business areas.
  • Proven track record of translating insights into product and design strategy, and the ability to define success outcomes for those experiences which are tracked and measured by research and design metrics.


Product Design M5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay


This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.



Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Microsoft

About the company

Microsoft

Large Enterprise

Microsoft is a global technology leader that empowers individuals and organizations to achieve more through innovative software, services, and devices. Founded in 1975, the company is best known for its flagship products like the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office suite. In addition to personal computing, Microsoft is a leader in cloud computing with its Azure platform, providing a range of solutions for businesses to enhance productivity and efficiency. With a strong commitment to sustainability and accessibility, Microsoft continues to drive technological advancements that shape the future of work and learning.