Principal Design Researcher

Job description

The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more. Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly. The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you. Who We Are Looking For The Trade Desk is seeking a Principal Design Researcher to lead meaningful customer research that shapes our next-generation product vision — with a focus spanning the Kokai customer journey, our Core and Signature use cases, and emerging areas like AI. This is a senior individual-contributor research leadership role for someone who is energized by getting close to customers, uncovering what they truly need, and turning that understanding into a clear, evidence-based vision for where the product should go next. The Trade Desk is transforming the way advertising is bought, sold, and consumed as a global leader in the programmatic industry. As Kokai matures as the backbone of the end-to-end customer journey, and as our Core and Signature use cases continue to evolve, this role will build the customer understanding that informs what comes next: where our platform should go, what problems are worth solving, and how we know we're solving them well. Our industry is complicated, but we don't believe our platform should be. As Principal Design Researcher, you will own the end-to-end research vision and execution across a defined set of strategic priorities: Kokai customer journey mapping, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product exploration — including AI where it serves genuine customer needs. You will anchor this work in a clearly defined set of customer stories that keep the whole design organization grounded in real customer needs rather than assumptions. You will bring a rare combination of rigorous research craft and product thinking, with a genuine curiosity about how people work, decide, and navigate complexity within our platform. This is not a tooling or infrastructure role; it is a hands-on research leadership role focused on deeply understanding our customers and using that understanding to inform what we build next. You will serve as a strategic research partner to Product, Engineering, Data Science, and UX Leadership, bringing customer evidence into the room for major product direction decisions. This role reports directly to the Vice President of UX Design and is a key member of the UX leadership team at The Trade Desk, as well as a key member of our Core UX team — looking across all design initiatives for the team, including current and next-generation initiatives. What You Will Be Doing As Principal Design Researcher at The Trade Desk, you will: Build Deep Customer Understanding to Inform Next-Generation Product Vision • Lead research that uncovers what customers genuinely need, where they struggle, and where real opportunity lies — across the Kokai customer journey, Core and Signature use cases, and emerging areas like AI • Translate ambiguous problems and complex workflows into clear research questions, and clear research questions into a well-evidenced point of view on where the product should go next • Build and maintain a clearly defined set of customer stories that ground product and design decisions in real customer needs, not assumptions • Bring a grounded, evidence-based perspective on human-AI collaboration and complex customer journeys in advertising workflows, shaped by direct observation of real customer behavior • Partner with UX Leadership and Product to align the research agenda with broader product and company strategy Lead End-to-End Research Execution • Lead hands-on, rigorous research across the Kokai customer journey, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product concepts, including AI — from early generative discovery through detailed evaluative research and post-launch measurement • Map the end-to-end Kokai customer journey, identifying moments of friction, delight, and opportunity across Core and Signature use cases • Test early concepts with customers to gather feedback and align stakeholders around a shared, evidence-backed direction before heavy investment • Design and drive research programs that explore how customers build trust, adopt new capabilities, and adapt their workflows as the product evolves • Maintain and evolve the team's set of customer stories, keeping them current as customer needs shift • Partner closely with Data Science and Engineering to ensure product direction and customer understanding evolve together, not in isolation Strengthen Research Practice Across the Team • Share research methods, findings, and frameworks that help the broader design team ground their work in real customer evidence • Support fellow researchers and designers with methodological guidance on journey mapping, evaluative research, and generative discovery • Ensure research accounts for accessibility, inclusion, and usability across a wide range of customer sophistication and contexts • Contribute to a shared vocabulary and set of frameworks — including the team's customer stories — that help the broader design team make confident, customer-grounded decisions Partner Cross-Functionally to Bring Customer Evidence Into Product Direction • Act as a primary research voice in strategy conversations with Product, Engineering, and Data Science leadership on the Kokai journey, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product opportunities • Identify high-value opportunities — including where AI genuinely serves customer needs — grounded in research evidence rather than technology for its own sake • Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and serve as a thought partner on where the product roadmap should go next • Represent the customer perspective in technical and data science discussions about product direction, journey design, and model behavior • Partner closely with existing research leadership to stay aligned on methodology, findings, and priorities across the broader research practice Mentor & Grow Research Talent • Mentor researchers and designers across the UX organization on research practices, journey mapping methods, and how to build a compelling, evidence-based case for product direction • Lead by example through visible, hands-on research — modeling what deep customer understanding looks like in practice • Help the broader team build fluency in using customer stories and research evidence to guide their own decisions Represent TTD's Customer-Centered Point of View • Represent The Trade Desk at industry events and design conferences, sharing perspective on customer journey research and next-generation product thinking in adtech • Position TTD as a company that grounds its product direction in genuine customer understanding • Contribute to broader UX research community conversations, publications, and thought leadership What You Bring to the Table You are an experienced research leader with a track record of shaping product direction through deep, meaningful customer research. You combine strong research craft and product sense with genuine curiosity about how people work, decide, and navigate complex platforms — including, but not limited to, AI-powered experiences. You are energized by ambiguity, driven by customer outcomes, and skilled at turning research into a clear, compelling vision for what a product should become. • Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Design, or a related field (Master's or PhD preferred) • 10+ years of experience in user research or design research, with a track record of shaping product vision and direction through research • Proven track record leading end-to-end research that shaped next-generation product direction, from early discovery through shipped product, in a complex enterprise or platform-based product • Demonstrated experience with customer journey mapping and defining core use cases and customer stories that anchor product and design decisions • Strong command of qualitative and quantitative research methods, used in service of building genuine customer understanding • Some experience or working knowledge of research methods for AI-powered or intelligent product experiences (preferred, not required) • Strong methodological instincts, with experience designing and running mixed-methods research programs that validate product direction• Strong executive presence, with experience presenting research findings and direction to VP-level and senior leadership • Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate research findings into a clear, compelling vision for product direction • Experience partnering closely with Product, Data Science, and Engineering teams on shaping what gets built next • Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive clarity and alignment in complex, fast-moving environments • Experience in adtech, martech, or enterprise SaaS with complex, data-dense interfaces (preferred) • Published thought leadership, talks, or case studies on customer research or product direction (preferred) • Portfolio demonstrating research-driven product vision, customer journey mapping, and measurable impact on product direction and customer outcomes Why This Role Matters At The Trade Desk, each opportunity to engage a consumer is unique. Our platform gives advertisers and agencies extraordinary power to describe and reach their target audiences. The Kokai customer journey and our Core and Signature use cases define how that power is delivered end to end, day in and day out — and understanding our customers deeply is what tells us where to take the product next. Whether our platform earns trust, reduces friction, and guides customers clearly through their journey is a question we can only answer by listening closely to customers — before it is a question of technology or execution. As Principal Design Researcher, you will build the customer understanding that shapes next-generation product vision at The Trade Desk — across the Kokai journey, our Core and Signature use cases, and emerging areas like AI. If you are energized by getting close to customers and turning what you learn into a clear vision for what comes next — this is your role. *The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.* ***[LA JOBS ONLY]** The Trade Desk will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Ordinance No. 184652.* ***[SF JOBS ONLY]** Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.* In accordance with various US state laws, the range provided is the Trade Desk's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, and location. All employees may be eligible to become The Trade Desk shareholders through eligibility for stock-based compensation grants, which are awarded to employees based on company and individual performance. The Trade Desk also offers other compensation depending on the role such as variable compensation-based incentives and commissions. Plus, expected benefits for this role include comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents, retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, well-being benefits, reimbursement for certain tuition expenses, parental leave, sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter, and around 13 paid holidays per year. Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. The Trade Desk also offers a competitive benefits package. Click [here](https://careers.thetradedesk.com/us/en) to learn more. **Note:** Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave At the Trade Desk, Base Salary is one part of our competitive total compensation and benefits package and is determined using a salary range. The base salary range for this role is $243,800—$304,700 USD As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Please reach out to us at [accommodations@​thetradedesk.​com](mailto:accommodations@thetradedesk.com) to request an accommodation or discuss any accessibility needs you may require to access our Company Website or navigate any part of the hiring process. When you contact us, please include your preferred contact details and specify the nature of your accommodation request or questions. Any information you share will be handled confidentially and will not impact our hiring decisions.