Principal UX Researcher

Major League Baseball is on a multi-year mission to reimagine the fan experience. We believe the opportunity ahead of us requires a deep understanding of fans, thoughtful consideration of every aspect of their journey, and a commitment to elevating every touchpoint. In short, research and design working hand in hand to shape the future of the game.

The Product Design team at MLB works across the entire fan journey, from primary research with fans and Clubs, to in-park experiences, websites, apps, streaming, and interactive products. We take pride in creating fan-focused experiences that enhance the sport, while constantly raising the bar on entertainment and delight across every aspect of the MLB ecosystem.

We’re looking for a Principal UX Researcher to help shape product strategy and roadmap decisions by defining how we understand fans across all touchpoints, including MLB app, web, streaming, ticketing, and in-venue experiences. This role will play a critical part in identifying opportunity spaces, influencing what we build, and ensuring our products and services are grounded in real fan needs.

This role is focused on driving a deep, actionable understanding of fans across their end-to-end journey, identifying opportunities to improve and unify experiences across MLB’s ecosystem.

You’ll lead research that informs how fans discover, watch, attend, and engage with baseball. You will help teams move beyond point-in-time insights toward a more continuous, system-level understanding of fan behavior, motivations, and unmet needs.

As a Principal UX Researcher, you will operate as a strategic partner to Product, Design, and Engineering leadership. You will play a key role in shaping vision, informing roadmap priorities, and guiding teams toward the highest impact opportunities across MLB’s ecosystem.

Responsibilities 

• Partner closely with Product, Design, and Engineering leadership to shape product vision, strategy, and roadmap priorities through research-driven insights
• Define and lead end-to-end research initiatives that identify opportunity spaces across the full fan journey, from discovery to engagement to participation
• Proactively identify gaps in understanding and bring forward research that influences what teams build, not just how they build it
• Design and execute a range of research methods including qualitative and quantitative studies such as interviews, surveys, field research, usability testing, and behavioral analysis
• Synthesize findings into clear, actionable insights that drive alignment and decision-making across teams
• Connect insights across studies to build a holistic, system-level understanding of fan needs and behaviors
• Translate insights into frameworks and artifacts such as personas, journey maps, and opportunity spaces that inform strategy and design
• Facilitate workshops and working sessions to help teams internalize insights and apply them to product direction
• Partner with teams to define success metrics and evaluate the impact of research-informed decisions over time

You may be a good fit if:

• You are a systems thinker who can connect insights across products, touchpoints, and teams into a cohesive understanding of the fan experience
• You are comfortable operating at multiple altitudes, from deep qualitative work to high-level strategic framing
• You excel at turning complex research findings into clear, compelling narratives that drive action
• You understand how to balance rigor and speed, delivering insights that are both credible and timely
• You have experience working in complex, multi-product environments where alignment and influence are critical
• You are highly collaborative and know how to partner effectively with Product, Design, and Engineering
• You are outcome-oriented and focused on ensuring research leads to measurable impact
• You can manage a portfolio of research initiatives across different time horizons and levels of ambiguity

Qualifications

• 10+ years in user experience research or a related field, with a strong portfolio demonstrating impact on product strategy and experience design
• 3+ years in senior IC roles such as Principal, Staff, or Lead Researcher
• Experience working across multiple platforms or ecosystems such as mobile, web, connected devices, and physical environments
• Expertise in a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels
• Experience building or scaling research practices within an organization is a plus
• Ability to balance long-term strategic research with near-term product needs