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UX Researcher (m/w/d): discovery and user research at an SMB or scale‑up

[Company name], a B2B SMB in [industry] based in [city], [X] employees, [X] M€ ARR, is hiring a UX Researcher to strengthen a product team of [X] people.

Your role

You plan, run and communicate user research across the entire discovery cycle (qualitative studies, quantitative validations, mixed‑methods plans), independently on known topics and in alignment on structuring studies. You report to the [Head of Research / Head of Design / Head of Product / CPO].

Key responsibilities

• Own studies from the research question to the documented recommendation: clarify the discovery need, justify the method choice, plan the sample, coordinate recruiting, moderate sessions, create the synthesis, convey the recommendation to stakeholders.
• Maintain a continuous discovery pipeline: rolling study planning on a quarterly rhythm, prioritization in alignment with product and design, parallel strands between deep and lightweight studies.
• Contribute to strategic product discussions (new persona hypotheses, new market segments, larger functionality questions) and back them with discovery plans.
• Ensure research quality: methodical critique of colleagues’ study designs, application of the conventions, maintenance of the shared repository.
• Work with PM, engineering, design and management on research briefs; constructively challenge requests that are not decision‑relevant or not methodically sound.
• Document important research findings and method conventions; maintain the repository for findability.
• Enable PMs and designers in DIY research: provide lightweight guide templates, offer pair sessions on smaller studies, give regular internal training on method basics.

Profile

• Essential: [3 to 7] years of professional experience in UX research or an equivalent role (user research, design research, product research); method breadth across at least three different study formats (usability tests, discovery interviews, surveys, analytics synthesis); demonstrable impact on product decisions (studies that led to documented design decisions or roadmap adjustments); mastery of at least one repository tool (Dovetail, EnjoyHQ or comparable); a portfolio with 2‑3 deeply explained case studies (research question, method choice, sample, findings, follow‑up decision).
• Desirable: experience in a product phase close to ours [early‑stage / established scale‑up]; familiarity with analytics tools (Mixpanel, Amplitude or equivalent) for quantitative pre‑analysis; experience building or maintaining a research repository; enablement experience with PMs and designers.
• Disqualifying: an exclusively market‑research background without product application; a pure usability‑test routine without a discovery or synthesis share; a gatekeeper posture toward DIY research; defensive behavior in methodical critique.

What we offer

• Gross annual compensation: [55-85] k€ by experience. No structural variable; possibly VSOP / ESOP depending on the company’s phase.
• Model: [full‑time, hybrid 2‑3 days / week on‑site, based in [city] / remote‑friendly].
• Benefits: [company pension, bike leasing, employee shares, vacation days, home‑office policy, hardware budget, training and conference budget, access to recruiting and research tools].
• Tooling: [to complete: Dovetail or EnjoyHQ for repository, Lookback or Maze for remote sessions, Respondent or User Interviews for recruiting, Mixpanel or Amplitude for quantitative analysis, Notion or Linear for specification].

Salary band

Base salary, gross annual

25th percentile €55,000

Median €68,000

75th percentile €85,000

Gross fixed salary per year for a mid-level UX Researcher (3 to 7 years of experience) at a German SMB or scale‑up in the SaaS or tech space. Berlin and Munich in the tech scale‑up scene pull the range up (75-95 k€); the classic Mittelstand and provincial locations (Hannover, Dortmund, Leipzig) tend to pull it down (50-62 k€). Profiles with demonstrable mixed‑methods experience (qualitative plus quantitative, tests plus analytics reading) and senior‑stakeholder composure pull it up; pure usability‑test profiles without discovery strategy tend to pull it down. Variable compensation is atypical in this role; scale‑ups additionally offer VSOP or ESOP (virtual shares).