Lead UX Researcher (UXR-3-052026)

About this role

About Koru UX Design

Koru UX Design is a leading UX design agency specializing in HealthTech. We partner with clients to deliver user-centered design solutions that drive innovation and enhance user experiences. Our design teams work as an integrated extension of our client’s teams, deeply embedding ourselves into their processes to create seamless, impactful products.

About the Role

We're looking for a UX Research Lead to operate at the intersection of craft, strategy, and team leadership. At Koru, research shapes product direction for enterprise clients across healthcare, automation, AI, and finance. You'll run complex multi-phase engagements, lead a growing research team, and build the operational infrastructure that makes great research repeatable.

What you'll doResearch delivery

• Lead end-to-end research across discovery, validation, and usability phases — from framing the brief to stakeholder readout
• Design and run studies across methods: stakeholder interviews, discovery sessions, usability tests, diary studies, and co-creation workshops
• Synthesise complex findings into strategic outputs: journey maps, service blueprints, opportunity frameworks, and research reports calibrated to client context
• Design research for AI-powered products — evaluating trust calibration, user mental models, and failure-mode discovery — using simulation-based stimuli where appropriate

Client & stakeholder engagement

• Lead pre-research alignment sessions to surface stakeholder assumptions and close scope gaps before fieldwork begins
• Serve as the research voice in client-facing conversations; translate findings for product owners, engineering leads, and program managers
• Proactively identify new research opportunities within ongoing engagements and make a case for scope extension or follow-on phases

Team & research operations

• Mentor junior researchers and UX designers on research craft through embedded coaching on live projects
• Own ResearchOps infrastru...