UX Researcher — Audience and Product Experience Research

ABOUT THE PROJECT The Epoch Times is revamping its digital membership across news, health, video, life & culture, games, and newsletters. We want to understand what makes these products genuinely valuable to people, improve their everyday experience, and give them clear reasons to join, return, and continue paying. We are looking for an experienced, hands-on UX Researcher to lead and personally execute the qualitative and evaluative research supporting this work. You will collaborate directly with our CMO/CPO and cross-functional partners in Product, Design, Analytics, Engineering, Editorial, Marketing, and Customer Service. You will also help our junior product team develop practical, day-to-day research skills. 1. Clarify Our Product Portfolio & Customer Value • Investigate who our products serve, the circumstances in which people use them, their Jobs to Be Done (JTBD), alternatives, unmet needs, and desired outcomes. • Evaluate and refine existing customer segments and personas as new evidence emerges. • Distinguish the reasons people initially subscribe from the value they experience through sustained, habitual use. • Investigate acquisition, engagement, retention, and cancellation journeys to pinpoint where perceived value declines and what ultimately causes churn. • Plan and conduct customer interviews, JTBD switch interviews, direct observation, and targeted surveys. • Work with internal teams to screen, recruit, and schedule participants (including new, active, lapsed, and former subscribers, as well as prospective readers). • Produce evidence-backed customer profiles, JTBD findings, journey maps, and Strategyzer Value Proposition Canvases to identify gaps, overlaps, and strategic priorities across our portfolio. 2. Define Success & Goals • Help Product and Analytics define success from the customer's perspective: whether people accomplish their job, experience clear value, or encounter friction. • Combine qualitative feedback with quantitative measures in product and membership scorecards. • Help establish baseline metrics, define research measures, and inform targets. 3. Establish a Continuous Improvement Cycle • Turn findings into testable hypotheses and help prioritize research and experimentation backlogs. • Conduct concept, prototype, and usability tests; evaluate customer experience before and after release. • Align on success criteria prior to testing. • Use Strategyzer Test Cards and Learning Cards to document assumptions, methods, observations, and next steps. • Share objective findings that support, challenge, or overturn proposals—recommending whether to expand, pivot, stop, or investigate further. Note on Communication: Excellent spoken and written English is essential. You will independently conduct in-depth interviews with American customers. You must be able to build rapport, pick up on nuance, ask neutral follow-up questions, and communicate findings clearly and concisely. WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR • Proven experience independently planning and executing end-to-end UX research that directly influenced product decisions and business outcomes. • Strong portfolio or case studies demonstrating your personal, hands-on contribution across generative and evaluative studies. • Mastery of in-depth customer interviewing, neutral moderation, switch interviews, and usability testing. • Deep practical experience with frameworks such as Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) and Strategyzer (Value Proposition Canvas, Test/Learning Cards). • BIG BENEFIT: Analyst background or experience with product analytics tools (e.g. Mixpanel, Clarity, Google Analytics etc) • Exceptional listening and communication skills; adept at presenting actionable insights to executive leadership and mentoring junior teammates. • AI-proeficient but not AI-dependent MixpanelMixpanel, Clarity, Google Analytics Remote-friendly. Competitive pay. Mission-driven company.