We are looking for a Principal Design Researcher to join our Clinicals team within the User Experience division. Your job will be to conduct user research projects within our product subdivision, coach individuals on research methods, collaborate with teams, and provide insights to shape user-centered healthcare experiences.

Our multidisciplinary Clinicals Team is comprised of product management, UX, and engineering, all who take a human-centered approach to ensure our products and services serve users’ needs.

But enough about us, let’s talk about you.

Your work is driven by an empathetic understanding of people. You have experience using qualitative and quantitative research methods to glean user insights and identify design opportunities. You can distill findings into easily digestible formats, and you have excellent communication skills for audiences at different levels and roles. You bring a consultative approach to build and maintain collaborative relationships and lead stakeholders through the process. You’re comfortable being flexible and iterative under ambiguity and you can make progress amidst competing priorities and multiple stakeholders.

Job Responsibilities

Partner with project teams to lead research efforts that will shape product and service experiences.

Advise and mentor teams on user research methods such as observation/shadowing, desk research, site visits, interviewing, usability testing, and surveys.

Generate and communicate actionable research findings back to teams in the form of presentations, frameworks, storyboards, high-level concepts, journey maps, and service blueprints.

Facilitate workshops to achieve stakeholder goals and help teams translate opportunities into discrete actions

Proactively seek out and foster connections across product teams to support cohesion and consistency across the full experience lifecycle

Help teams create a deep sense of empathy for users through storytelling, crafting sharable artifacts, and facilitating workshops

Typical Qualifications

Research/Design Strategy professional with strong interviewing, observation, analysis, and storytelling skills

Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent experience required, in Design, Anthropology, Sociology, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, or related discipline

8+ years professional research experience within a product development team or design/innovation consulting

Experience working on projects involving artificial intelligence or machine learning highly valued

Experience applying a range of user research methods such as interviews, site visits, user observation, workshop facilitation, remote moderated/unmoderated testing, surveying, jobs-to-be-done, usability testing, concept validation

Experience establishing collaborative relationships across teams, cohorts, and disciplines

Able to distill insights into easily consumable formats for different audiences, such as presentations, visuals, and frameworks

Able to clearly present findings and provide sound rationale for recommendations to gain others’ support and commitment

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

About athenahealth

Our vision: In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients — powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Our company culture: Our talented employees — or athenistas, as we call ourselves — spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.

Our DEI commitment: Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.

What we can do for you:

Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative workspaces — some offices even welcome dogs.

We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment, full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth enables employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation.

In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.