Job Summary

We’re looking for a full-time Senior User Experience Researcher to join our growing team. As the first UXR at Tailscale, you’ll help define what user experience research should look like. You’ll own the research priorities, develop a view of our users’ personas and critical user journeys. You’ll explore user behaviors by conducting self-managed research using mixed methods, such as interviews, usability testing, and logs analysis. Working cross-functionally with Product, Design, Engineering, Support and Data you will collect, synthesize and analyze research data to help deliver great user experiences. You’ll advocate for our users to make sure that we consistently exceed expectations.

Tailscale is a technical product, and our great user experience is what makes us stand out with everyone from hobbyists to seasoned IT professionals. Our product aims to help users understand complex security, networking, and privacy concepts, and make the secure way the easy way — not an easy task. We plan to keep investing in that experience, that’s why we need you.

We’re a fully-remote company, and you can’t just turn around and chat with the person two desks over, so we’re looking for someone who is comfortable working asynchronously and excellent at verbal and written communication.

Responsibilities and Duties

  • Conduct independent research on multiple aspects of the product. You’ll involve folks from other disciplines to foster empathy for our users and their needs.

  • Use both qualitative and quantitative approaches. You’ll conduct mixed methods research, and use the right tool for the research question(s) you’re working on.

  • Work collaboratively on new features, to test, iterate, and improve the user experience.

  • Define and maintain personas and critical user journeys for the product, based on your research.

  • Continually measure critical user journeys. You’ll work with Product, Design, Support, and Data to identify potential areas of improvement, deliver improvements in design, and prioritize these based on business needs.

  • Develop an in-depth understanding of how users use the product. You’ll interpret and incorporate complex technical and business requirements into your research.

  • Present your research findings and insights with internal teams like Product, Design, Engineering, and Support, in both verbal and written presentations.

  • Educate and evangelize the value of user research best practices - help us learn as we grow.

Qualifications and Skills

  • 3+ years experience in mixed methods user experience research

  • 1+ year experience with infrastructure or other technical products

  • Ability to collaborate with a diverse set of stakeholders in a fully remote company work

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills

It’s nice if you have:

  • Experience with B2B products

  • Experience with security, networking, or developer products

  • Experience with both qualitative and quantitative UXR

  • Experience with conducting UXR for multiple platforms (e.g., mobile, desktop, web)

  • Passion for user security and privacy

Please keep reading...

Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria — unlike majority candidates meeting significantly fewer requirements.

We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested: we’d love to know how you can amplify our team with your unique experience!

About Tailscale

Tailscale builds software that makes it easy to connect and secure devices, no matter where they are. Every day, banks and multi-national companies use Tailscale to protect their corporate networks. Hobbyists and start-ups trust Tailscale to collaborate and share access to tooling. We're building a future for the Internet that's easy, small and safe, like it used to be. Founded in 2019 and fully distributed, we're backed by Accel, HeavyBit, and Uncork Capital. 

Apply for this Job

* Required
resume chosen  
Dropbox Google Drive
(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)
Cancel
cover_letter chosen  
Dropbox Google Drive
(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)
Cancel

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Tailscale’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Form CC-305

OMB Control Number 1250-0005

Expires 05/31/2023

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor required by law to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We are also required to measure our progress toward having at least 7% of our workforce be individuals with disabilities. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had a disability. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we ask all of our employees to update their information at least every five years.

Identifying yourself as an individual with a disability is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer will be maintained confidentially and not be seen by selecting officials or anyone else involved in making personnel decisions. Completing the form will not negatively impact you in any way, regardless of whether you have self-identified in the past. For more information about this form or the equal employment obligations of federal contractors under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Autism
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, or HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or hard of hearing
  • Depression or anxiety
  • Diabetes
  • Epilepsy
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, or irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual disability
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Nervous system condition for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, or Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Psychiatric condition, for example, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, or major depression

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.