Senior User Researcher

Hybrid in Seattle, or remote elsewhere on the West Coast (West Coast hours required)

$160,000–$195,000 base salary, plus a 10% target bonus

Sniffies is a fast‑growing, location‑based GBTQ+ app that connects people in real time. We're building a community rooted in openness, authenticity, and self‑expression, and a culture that values autonomy and trust, for our users and our team alike. We move quickly, we're small, and we take supporting our community seriously.

As our first dedicated User Researcher, you won't be slotting into an existing research function. You'll be helping to build one. You'll lead research that directly shapes where the platform goes next, grounding product decisions in real user understanding rather than assumption. You'll have outsized influence from day one, including on high‑stakes initiatives like Safe‑for‑Work and Age Verification experiences, where getting user trust, privacy, and compliance right genuinely matters.

• Define research goals and questions with Leadership, Product, and Design, then design and run the studies to answer them: interviews, usability testing, surveys, and mixed‑methods work across both prototypes and live experiences.
• Build out our research foundations from the ground up: participant recruitment, screening, and the operations that let research scale.
• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data into clear, actionable insight that shapes product strategy and prioritization.
• Tell the story well, presenting findings in ways that land with executive, product, design, and engineering audiences alike.

• Work alongside PMs, Designers, and Engineers to validate concepts and features against user needs, accessibility, and community expectations.
• Partner with Trust & Safety, Legal, and Customer Experience so user trust, privacy, and ethics are built into the product, including high‑stakes work like SFW and Age Verification and the compliance considerations (age‑gating, GDPR, COPPA, consent) that come with it.

• Develop a genuine understanding of Sniffies' users and the diverse, sex‑positive GBTQ+ community they're part of: their behaviors, motivations, and evolving needs. Champion experiences that reflect that diversity.

• 5+ years of experience in UX Research, User Research, Human Factors, Behavioral Research, or related fields.
• Proven experience leading end‑to‑end research initiatives in fast‑paced, consumer‑facing product organizations.
• Strong expertise in qualitative and mixed‑methods research methodologies.
• Experience conducting research for sensitive, trust‑based, identity‑driven, or privacy‑focused digital products.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills with the ability to synthesize findings into actionable recommendations.
• Experience collaborating cross‑functionally with Product, Design, Engineering, Data, Trust & Safety, and Executive stakeholders.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent research initiatives.
• A user‑first mindset with deep empathy for diverse communities and user experiences.

• Experience establishing research foundations including participant recruitment, insight repositories, research workflows, and stakeholder adoption practices.
• Experience working on consumer mobile products, social platforms, marketplaces, or location‑based experiences.
• Understanding of behavioral psychology, online communities, trust & safety systems, and user engagement frameworks.
• Passion for building inclusive, sex‑positive, and community‑centered digital experiences for the GBTQ+ community.

You'd be joining a small team at a moment when the decisions you make really matter. We're serious about understanding our users and getting the big calls right, and this is the role that owns how that understanding gets built: the research, insights, and evidence that product decisions run through.

We're an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants of every background, identity, and experience. If this role excites you but you don't tick every box, we'd still love to hear from you.