Staff Design Researcher

Remote - US: All locations

Staff Design Researcher

Role Description

As a Staff Researcher for Dash, you will be instrumental in shaping the product and organizational strategy for one of Dropbox’s most ambitious bets. You’ll lead strategic research initiatives and programs that illuminate new problem spaces, define long-term vision, and inspire product innovation across multiple teams. 

This is a role focusing on identifying opportunities that expand the value, adoption, and scalability of Dash in a rapidly evolving landscape. Your work will extend beyond informing individual product decisions, and will guide how Dash evolves, scales, and delivers AI-powered experiences that redefine how knowledge workers discover, connect, and act on content.

In this dynamic and fast-paced environment, you’ll operate as both a craft leader and strategic thought partner, embedding deeply with cross-functional stakeholders across research, design, product, engineering, sales, and marketing. You’ll be expected to influence team-level execution and executive decision-making alike, ensuring Dash builds experiences that are deeply useful, magical, and grounded in human needs. Your work will influence Dash’s offerings and help create magical, reliable, and delightful experiences that redefine knowledge work.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex, multi-quarter research initiatives and programs that influence product and business strategy across Dash and adjacent areas.
• Drive strategic thinking across product, design, and leadership teams, using research to shape vision, goals, and product architecture.
• Identify foundational and emergent research opportunities that align with company priorities and fuel long-term innovation.
• Own and evolve research practices, mentoring other researchers, championing methodological excellence, and elevating research quality across the org.
• Deliver high-signal insights through rigorous triangulation across qual, quant, and behavioral data.
• Proactively influence decision-making at the executive and cross-functional leadership levels through compelling synthesis and narrative craft.
• Build enduring partnerships across product, design, engineering, sales, and marketing, fostering alignment and shared understanding.
• Represent Dash Research externally, contributing to thought leadership and helping Dropbox attract and retain top research talent.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in UX Research, with a proven track record of driving product and strategic decisions at scale.
• Deep fluency in a broad range of research qualitative and qualitative methodologies across the product lifecycle, from early generative to evaluative and longitudinal.
• Demonstrated experience in shaping product vision, working across complex product ecosystems or B2B/enterprise environments.
• Skilled at operating in 0→1 contexts, rapidly synthesizing ambiguity into clarity and direction.
• Strong executive presence and storytelling ability, and able to influence through insight and empathy across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Actively mentor peers, contribute to team rituals, hiring, and foster a collaborative research culture

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Psychology, or a related field.
• Familiarity with emerging research practices (e.g., AI-integrated research, simulation testing, metrics-driven validation).
• Experience building research functions or leading strategy in fast-scaling orgs or innovation labs.
• Background in complex industries such as AI, knowledge management, SaaS platforms, or data systems.

Compensation

US Zone 1

$205,700—$278,300 USD

US Zone 2

$185,100—$250,500 USD

US Zone 3

$164,600—$222,600 USD

The range(s) listed above is the expected annual salary/OTE (On-Target Earnings) for this role, subject to change.

Please note, OTE are for sales roles only.

Salary/OTE is just one component of Dropbox’s total rewards package. All regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or a sales incentive (target included in OTE) as well as stock in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Dropbox takes a number of factors into account when determining individual starting pay, including job and level they are hired into, location/metropolitan area, skillset, and peer compensation.  We target most new hire offers between the minimum up to the middle of the range.

Dropbox uses the zip code of an employee’s remote work location to determine which metropolitan pay range we use. Current US Zone locations are as follows:

• US Zone 1: San Francisco metro, New York City metro, or Seattle metro
• US Zone 2: California (outside SF metro), Colorado, Connecticut (outside NYC metro), Delaware, Illinois (Chicago metro), Indiana (Chicago metro), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (Chicago metro), New Hampshire, New Jersey (outside NYC metro), New York (outside NYC metro), Oregon, Pennsylvania (D.C. metro), Pennsylvania (outside NYC or DC metro), Texas (Austin metro) Virginia (DC metro), Washington (outside Seattle metro), Washington DC metro, West Virginia (DC metro), Wisconsin (Chicago metro)
• US Zone 3: All other US locations

Dropbox is a Virtual First company and is open to hiring candidates in all authorized locations.

Company Description

Dropbox isn’t just a workplace—it’s a living lab for more enlightened ways of working. We're a global community of bold visionaries and resourceful doers who are shaping the future of Dropbox—and with it the future of work. Our Virtual First model combines the autonomy of a distributed workplace with the power of human connection, making space for both meaningful work and meaningful relationships. With our start-up mindset and enterprise-level opportunities, you can be who you are and grow into who you’re meant to be. Here, you can own your impact to make work more intuitive, joyful, and human—for you as a Dropboxer and for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. If you're ready to push boundaries—and yourself— Dropbox is ready for you.

Team Description

The Dropbox Design & Research Team creates experiences that make work feel effortless. We're problem solvers and innovators, combining research insights with thoughtful design to craft solutions that make users’ lives easier. Through iterative design and deep user research, we uncover, understand, and solve fundamental problems that impede enlightened work. We don't just make things look good—we make complex technologies feel intuitive and joyful by putting human needs at the center. If you're passionate about creating products that are equally thoughtful, powerful and delightful, join our Design & Research team. Areas of work include Research Program Management, Customer Access Programs (CAPS), User Experience Design, User Research, Visual Design, Interaction Design, Design Systems, Accessibility Design, Content Design, and Prototyping.

Benefits

Dropbox is committed to investing in the holistic health and wellbeing of all Dropboxers and their families. Our benefits and perks programs include, but are not limited to:

• Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) plan with a generous company match and immediate vesting
• Flexible PTO/Paid Time Off, paid holidays, Volunteer Time Off, and more, allowing you time to unplug, unwind, and refresh
• Income Protection Plans: Life and disability insurance
• Business Travel Protection: Travel medical and accident insurance
• Perks Allowance to be used on what matters most to you, whether that’s wellness, learning and development, food and groceries, and much more
• Parental benefits including: Parental Leave, Child and Adult Care, Day Care FSA, Fertility Benefits, Adoption and Surrogacy Support, and Lactation Support
• Access to over 10,000 global co-working spaces through Gable.to, making it easy to book flexible workspaces for collaboration or individual work
• Quarterly Cell phone and internet allowance
• Mental health and wellness benefits
• Disability and neurodivergence support benefits

Additional benefit details are available upon request.

 

Dropbox is an equal opportunity employer. We are a welcoming place for everyone, and we do our best to make sure all people feel supported and connected at work. A big part of that effort is our support for members and allies of internal groups like Asians at Dropbox, BlackDropboxers, enABLE, TODOS (Latinx), Pridebox (LGBTQ), Vets at Dropbox, and Women at Dropbox.