Staff User Researcher

About Ethos

Ethos was built to make it faster and easier to get life insurance for the next million families. Our approach blends industry expertise, technology, and the human touch to find you the right policy to protect your loved ones. 

We leverage deep technology and data science to streamline the life insurance process, making it more accessible and convenient. Using predictive analytics, we are able to transform a traditionally multi-week process into a modern digital experience for our users that can take just minutes! We’ve issued billions in coverage each month and eliminated the traditional barriers, ushering the industry into the modern age. Our full-stack technology platform is the backbone of family financial health.

We make getting life insurance easier, faster and better for everyone. 

Our investors include General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Google Ventures, SoftBank, and the investment vehicles of Jay-Z, Kevin Durant, Robert Downey Jr and others. This year, we were named on CB Insights' Global Insurtech 50 list and BuiltIn's Top 100 Midsize Companies in San Francisco. We are scaling quickly and looking for passionate people to protect the next million families! 

About the role

We’re looking for a Staff User Researcher to help establish and grow the research function at Ethos. This is a foundational role: you’ll be the first dedicated researcher on the team, setting the vision for research across complex user journeys—ranging from life insurance agents navigating our portals, to consumers applying for coverage through intricate application flows.

If you love making sense of complexity, thrive in ambiguous environments, and are excited about shaping a new discipline in a high-impact space—we’d love to meet you.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Establish the research function at Ethos: Define processes, methods, and research operations for a growing design and research team
• Own and drive strategic research initiatives: Lead research across complex user journeys and systems—including agent tools, quoting flows, application pipelines, and customer onboarding
• Dive deep into complexity: Understand and simplify multi-step workflows, decision-making contexts, compliance constraints, and multi-user systems
• Build scalable research frameworks: Develop systems for continuous discovery, satisfaction measurement, longitudinal tracking, and feedback loops across our customer and agent experiences
• Lead mixed-method research efforts: Design and execute both qualitative and quantitative studies using advanced methodologies (e.g., survey science, behavioral data analysis, experiment design)
• Synthesize across data sources: Combine research findings with usage data, operational metrics, and market insights to tell compelling stories and identify clear product opportunities
• Communicate with clarity and influence: Deliver high-impact narratives and visualizations that resonate with technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executives
• Shape product strategy: Translate insights into roadmap recommendations, influence prioritization, and advocate for user-centered thinking at all levels of the company
• Mentor and scale: Guide and support future researchers and designers, and help build a strong, insight-driven product culture
• Innovate with tools and tech: Leverage AI-enabled research tools or custom frameworks to accelerate learning and improve research efficiency and impact

Qualifications and Skills: 

• Extensive experience: 7+ years in user research, preferably in complex product ecosystems (e.g., B2B SaaS, financial services, or enterprise tools)
• Quantitative and qualitative depth: Expert in designing, executing, and analyzing research studies using a range of methods—surveys, user testing, interviews, behavioral analytics, experimental design, etc
• Clear communicator: Skilled at transforming data and research into compelling, concise stories that influence product and business decisions
• Strategic presence: Demonstrated ability to influence leadership, guide priorities, and connect user experience to measurable business impact
• Systems thinker: Comfortable with cross-platform journeys, multi-user systems, and building frameworks to support broad insight generation
• Builder mindset: You enjoy ambiguity and see opportunity in starting from scratch; you’re proactive, highly autonomous, and thrive when laying foundations
• Collaborative operator: Experience partnering with product, engineering, design, sales, operations, and data teams in fast-paced environments

Bonuses: 

• Experience in life insurance, fintech, or regulated industries
• Advanced academic background (e.g., PhD or MS in HCI, Behavioral Science, Psychology, Economics, or related)
• Expertise in advanced research techniques like conjoint analysis, choice modeling, or predictive modeling

#LI-AG1 #LI-Remote #LI-Hybrid

The US national base salary range for this full-time position is $126,000 - $224,000. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. 

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include applicable bonus, equity, or benefits. 

You can find further details of our US benefits at https://www.ethoslife.com/careers/

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. At Ethos we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace.

We are an equal opportunity employer who values diversity and inclusion and look for applicants who understand, embrace and thrive in a multicultural world. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Pursuant to the SF Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrests and conviction records.

To learn more about what information we collect and how it may be used, please refer to our California Candidate Privacy Notice.