Lead Design Researcher

Lead Design Researcher

Our design practice is a vibrant mosaic, made up of the curious and the brave — product designers, researchers, content designers, operations specialists, and design engineers — who thrive on collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Together, we're building a culture of design excellence and operational efficiency.

We focus on human needs, working closely with cross-functional partners to deliver impactful design solutions that address complex challenges. The products we design and build have real results for our customers because our users are at the heart of everything that we do. We work directly with users to build a deep understanding of their goals and context, and we explore and iterate on solutions together.

Solving our customers' security challenges through our focus on simplicity and effectiveness is why we show up daily — and it's why you should join us.

As a Lead Design Researcher, you'll be part of the Security Design Research Team, while primarily supporting the AI Software & Platform team. In this role, you'll drive a deep understanding of users to shape the future of Cisco's security products and experiences across AI-powered solutions. You will:

• Lead end-to-end qualitative and quantitative UX research—from problem framing and scoping through to analysis and delivery of actionable insights.
• Inform product and design strategy through rigorous generative and evaluative research executed to the highest standards.
• Balance research rigor with scrappiness and innovation as you work alongside a fast-moving AI product and design team.
• Partner with PMs to define UX metrics and telemetry plans, then synthesize data into narratives that guide product decisions or future research.
• Explore how AI can enhance security and networking experiences, identifying opportunities to integrate AI responsibly into our users' workflows.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience
• Experience leading qualitative and quantitative research projects in the enterprise environment from discovery through to presentation (discovery, planning, recruitment, execution, synthesis, analysis, presentation)
• Experience partnering with product, design, and engineering teams to define and execute research studies
• Experience applying a variety of research methodologies such as user interviews, usability testing, surveys, benchmarking, concept evaluations, journey mapping or data analysis to inform product and design decisions

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated success conducting UX research in the field of AI
• Actively incorporating AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI tools and automating workflows. Role model this practice for others.
• Experience synthesizing and documenting research findings to guide product or design direction
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Can easily navigate and bring clarity to ambiguity
• Experience defining UX success metrics, creating telemetry plans, analyzing behavioral product data
• Excellent communication and presentation / storytelling skills
• Experience working in a B2B or B2C large enterprise

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We've been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you'll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.