Principal UX Researcher

Worker Type:

Employee

Application End Date:

02-07-2026

We are using and creating technology to transform operations at sea to enable people and the planet to thrive.

We are open-minded and fearless in our approach to innovation and don't believe in boundaries. We challenge everything and have massive ambitions to drag aging industries into the tech era.

We take safety, equality and education very seriously, and our responsibilities don't stop at our front door. Our business is built on the belief that there's definitely a more environmentally responsible way to operate at sea.

We employ people who share our core values. We expect our people to be courageous, trustworthy, and conscientious, driven by a desire to do the right thing. We strive for excellence, work collaboratively, and are genuinely excited by our work.

We offer opportunities for our people to develop beyond their role and span a multitude of disciplines. These are open to all, regardless of background and experience level. Working with us means being part of a team that is harnessing technology and creativity to disrupt a traditional industry.

We are not your average workplace.

Ocean Infinity is seeking a Principal UX Researcher to lead and shape user research strategy across our technology platforms, products and operational systems.

This role will play a critical part in helping Ocean Infinity design products, tools and experiences that are intuitive, scalable and operationally effective across complex real-world environments including marine robotics, autonomy, remote operations and data-driven platforms.

You will work closely with Product Managers, Software Engineers, AI teams, Hardware teams, Operational stakeholders and Product Designers to deeply understand user behaviours, operational workflows and customer pain points.

As a senior individual contributor, you will act as the leading authority for UX research and strategy across the organisation, embedding user-centred thinking into product strategy, engineering decisions and delivery processes. Critically, this role defines the problems worth solving and informs product strategy before solutions take shape.

This is a highly cross-functional role requiring strong strategic thinking, excellent stakeholder engagement and the ability to operate comfortably in fast-moving, ambiguous and highly technical environments.

What will you do:

• Define and lead the UX research strategy across Ocean Infinity’s software and operational platforms.
• Conduct and oversee qualitative and quantitative research activities including interviews, usability testing, workflow analysis, contextual inquiry and field research.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, AI, Operations and Design teams to ensure products are informed by genuine user needs and operational realities.
• Translate complex technical and operational workflows into clear user insights and actionable recommendations.
• Help shape the future user experience of autonomy platforms, robotics interfaces, mission systems and data products.
• Build strong relationships with internal operational teams, offshore personnel, engineers and customers to understand how technology is used in real-world environments.
• Drive evidence-based decision making across product and engineering teams.
• Create scalable research frameworks, repositories and best practices that improve consistency and maturity across the organisation.
• Lead complex end-to-end research projects from planning and recruitment through to synthesis and presentation.
• Advocate for user-centred design principles throughout the product lifecycle.
• Support Product Designers and teams in translating research findings into practical product improvements.
• Facilitate workshops, discovery sessions and collaborative research activities with stakeholders across multiple functions.
• Identify emerging UX risks, usability issues and adoption challenges early within the development lifecycle.
• Mentor and guide other researchers, designers and product team members in research methodologies and best practice.
• Contribute to product strategy discussions, roadmap planning and prioritisation activities.
• Support the development of accessible, intuitive and scalable enterprise-grade experiences.

Who you are:

• You are an experienced UX Research leader who is passionate about understanding how people interact with technology in real-world operational environments.
• You are naturally curious, analytical and highly collaborative. You are comfortable navigating ambiguity, influencing senior stakeholders and working closely with highly technical teams.
• You enjoy solving difficult problems, uncovering hidden user needs and shaping products that genuinely improve the user experience.
• You are pragmatic and delivery-focused, understanding how to balance user needs, technical constraints and business priorities.
• You are capable of operating strategically while still remaining hands-on with research execution.
• Significant experience operating within Senior, Lead, Staff or Principal UX Research roles.
• Proven experience leading research strategy within complex technology or product-led organisations.
• Strong expertise across a range of qualitative and quantitative UX research methodologies.
• Experience conducting research across enterprise software, operational platforms or highly technical products.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Experience working closely with Product Managers, Engineers and Product Designers.
• Ability to synthesise complex findings into clear, actionable insights.
• Experience facilitating workshops and cross-functional collaboration.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving capability.
• Experience balancing strategic research planning with hands-on execution.
• Fluent written and spoken English.

Desirable:

• Experience within robotics, autonomy, AI, marine technology, aerospace, defence or industrial technology environments.
• Experience researching operational or mission-critical workflows.
• Familiarity with data-heavy platforms, geospatial systems or remote operations.
• Experience with ResearchOps and scaling research functions.
• Experience working within fast-scaling or transformation-focused organisations.
• Understanding of accessibility and inclusive design principles.
• Experience conducting field research within operational environments.

Salary for this position:

London - Up to £90,000 per annum

Porto - Up to €65,000 per annum

Salary: The salary varies for this position as we are recruiting in multiple regional locations and job grades. The salary process is based on skills, abilities, and experience required.

What you can expect:

At Ocean Infinity, we believe in creating equal opportunities for all, celebrating each and everyone’s differences. We are driven by transforming the industry, through our technology, thoughts, behaviours and actions. Being inclusive and respectful to all is fundamental to who we are. It is the right thing to do and enables innovation and creativity to thrive.

There is more work to be done, and we know that we aren’t perfect, but our commitment to these values is unwavering. They are central to our mission and the impact we have on the industry, meaning, we cannot live without them.