1

User Research Intern Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

What you'll do As a PhD intern, you will: * Collaborate with research scientists to advance methods ... User intent understanding (e.g. modeling vague queries, preference learning) * Contribute to ...

Combining persona-conditioned user-simulation techniques (e.g. evolved/adversarial personas, dual ... As a Generative AI Research Scientist Intern at Canva, you'll advance the frontier of agentic AI ...

New

Combining persona-conditioned user-simulation techniques (e.g. evolved/adversarial personas, dual ... As a Generative AI Research Scientist Intern at Canva, you'll advance the frontier of agentic AI ...

New

Conduct user research and usability testing to gather insights and improve design decisions. * Create wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity mockups using design tools such as Figma, Sketch, or ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

User Research Intern information

See California salary details

$2.1K

$6.4K

$7.7K

How much do user research intern jobs pay per month?

As of Aug 8, 2026, the average monthly pay for user research intern in California is $6,355.17, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $4,358.33 and $7,566.67 per month, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a user research intern, and why are they important?

To thrive as a User Research Intern, you need a foundational understanding of research methods, user-centered design principles, and basic data analysis, often supported by coursework in psychology, human-computer interaction, or a related field. Familiarity with tools such as survey platforms (e.g., SurveyMonkey), usability testing software (e.g., UserTesting), and spreadsheet or data visualization tools is usually expected. Strong communication, attention to detail, and curiosity set top candidates apart in this role. These skills and qualities are essential for gathering actionable user insights that inform product design and improve user experiences.

What are the typical responsibilities of a user research intern, and how do they contribute to the team?

As a User Research Intern, you can expect to support the planning and execution of studies such as user interviews, surveys, usability tests, and data analysis. Interns often assist in recruiting participants, collecting feedback, synthesizing findings, and preparing presentations to share insights with designers and product teams. You'll work closely with experienced researchers and cross-functional stakeholders, gaining hands-on experience in the user research process and learning how research impacts product decisions. This role provides valuable exposure to real-world research methods and is an excellent stepping stone for career growth in UX or related fields.

What is a user research intern?

A User Research Intern assists in collecting and analyzing user insights to help improve products or services. They support research activities such as conducting interviews, usability testing, and surveys. Interns work closely with designers, product managers, and researchers to identify user needs and pain points. This role provides hands-on experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods.

What are the most commonly searched types of User Research jobs in California? The most popular types of User Research jobs in California are:
What are popular job titles related to User Research Intern jobs in California? For User Research Intern jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What cities in California are hiring for User Research Intern jobs? Cities in California with the most User Research Intern job openings:
Infographic showing various User Research Intern job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 85% Full Time, 11% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $76,262 per year, or $36.7 per hour.

PhD Research Intern

Simular

Palo Alto, CA • On-site

Other

Re-posted 8 days ago


Job description

PhD Intern

Where multiple locations are listed for this role, the position may be based in any of those locations, with priority determined according to the order of listing.

What you'll do

As a PhD intern, you will:

  • Collaborate with research scientists to advance methods in:
    • Planning and RL for computer use (e.g. behavioral cloning, RL on model weights, RAG-based domain knowledge)
    • Multimodal grounding (e.g. vision-only models, tree search, hybrid methods with large models)
    • Reward/judge modeling (e.g. error analysis, human evaluation, training judge models)
    • User intent understanding (e.g. modeling vague queries, preference learning)
  • Contribute to building datasets, running experiments, and benchmarking results
  • Explore novel approaches and help derisk Simular's long-term technical roadmap
  • Document and communicate findings through internal reports or academic-style writing

You might be a fit if

  • Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field
  • Research background in at least one of: Reinforcement learning, Large language/vision-language models, Computer vision and multimodal perception, Representation learning
  • Experience conducting experiments and publishing or preparing papers in top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, CVPR, ACL, etc.)
  • Strong coding and prototyping skills in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch/JAX)
  • Curiosity, initiative, and interest in bridging fundamental research with applied AI