Hi, we’re DuckDuckGo, the online protection company and remote-first team of 300+ on a mission to raise the standard of trust online. Founded in 2008 and profitable since 2014, annual revenue now exceeds $100m USD and millions use our browser on Mac https://spreadprivacy.com/introducing-duckduckgo-for-mac/, Windows https://spreadprivacy.com/windows-browser-open-beta/, iOS https://spreadprivacy.com/duckduckgo-privacy-browser-ios14/, and Android https://spreadprivacy.com/introducing-app-tracking-protection/, our search engine https://duckduckgo.com/, and the DuckDuckGo Privacy Pro https://duckduckgo.com/pro. Our culture https://duckduckgo.com/how-we-work of trust, inclusivity, and empowered project management underpins everything we do, where each team member takes full ownership of their projects, from scoping and execution to postmortem. If you’re seeking end-to-end ownership of your work — you’ve come to the right place!

YOUR TEAM AND ROLE

Working on the User Insights team, you’ll lead a group of researchers embedded across DuckDuckGo’s product areas, turning user behavior and feedback into decisions that actually ship. The team works across qualitative and quantitative methods, partnering closely with product, data science, and leadership to make sure the right research reaches the right people at the right moments. Recent projects include:

1. Designing a cross-objective research intake system that surfaced upcoming product decisions 4-6 weeks ahead of roadmap commitments, enabling research to shape outcomes rather than document them.

2. Running a longitudinal study on AI feature adoption gaps to inform onboarding and acquisition messaging strategy for a major product launch.

3. Consolidating research findings across multiple objectives into decision-ready briefs, translating user constraints and invalidated assumptions into product language for engineering and design teams.

As a Director, User Insights, you’ll set the strategic direction for how research connects to product decisions across the company, making sure the team is working on what matters most, and that the insights they produce actually move things.

ABOUT YOU

– 15+ years of professional experience, including 4+ years of experience in senior leadership roles (Director, Head, VP levels) in user insights/research.

– Deep practitioner-level command of quantitative and qualitative methods: conjoint, MaxDiff, discrete choice, regression, multivariate analysis, moderated/unmoderated testing, diary studies, and metric framework development.

– Able to take an ambiguous product question with no established measurement approach and build one from first principles.

– Experience working at a consumer-facing tech company with a meaningful US userbase, and cross multiple product surfaces simultaneously.

– Background in environments with multiple daily sequenced A/B experiments where research is integrated into the shipping process.

– Track record of developing researchers — not just directing them — with measurable improvement in methodology, framing, and stakeholder communication.

– Comfort representing research strategy to senior leadership in terms of business outcomes, not just research outputs.

– Experience in resource-constrained orgs where sequencing decisions were as important as execution.

– Willingness to use AI and build effective workflows accelerating work through AI agents.

COMPENSATION

$243,800 USD annually and stock options. Compensation is identical within professional levels https://duckduckgo.com/how-we-work, regardless of geographic location or team. Compensation for each professional level is transparent across the organization.

Eligibility for company-sponsored health benefits is limited to team members based in the United States. This program does not extend to team members located in other countries, such as Canada or the UK.

Our Team Member Support Guide https://duckduckgo.com/assets/hiring/team_support_guide.pdf explains how we prioritize your wellbeing including paid parental leave, office setup, and co-working allowances.

HIRING PROCESS

Hiring works best when it’s a two-way street. Learn how we help you get to know DuckDuckGo, envision your future role here, and find out more about how we hire https://duckduckgo.com/how-we-hire.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

DuckDuckGo provides equal work opportunities to all team members and applicants, and it prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by our policies or federal, state, or local laws.

We want to ensure that our hiring process is accessible. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process because of a medical condition or disability, please