Full-Time Director, User Insights

Hi, we’re DuckDuckGo, the Internet privacy company for everyone who wants to take back their privacy now. For over a decade, we've been building our all-in-one product, developing new privacy technology, and working with policymakers to make online privacy simple and accessible for all.

Our browsers and extensions have been downloaded over 250 million times with our built-in private search engine, which has delivered over 100 billion searches and is the 2nd largest search engine on mobile in the United States and 17 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Poland, and Spain. Our private search engine is also 3rd in market share in the U.S. and over 20 major markets. Oh, and we've been profitable since 2014, with annual revenue exceeding $100 million!

The DuckDuckGo browser’s uniquely comprehensive privacy protections are used by tens of millions of people to protect their everyday online activities on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, from searching to browsing, emailing, and more. We also offer Privacy Pro, a three-in-one subscription service that includes a VPN, Personal Information Removal, and Identity Theft Restoration.

We’re looking for a Director, User Insights to help shape our all-in-one privacy solution and join our mission to show the world that protecting your privacy online can be simple.

The Opportunity

As a Director on the User Insights team, you'll be at the forefront of our effort to scale user research and our data-informed approach to decision-making. You will lead high-complexity projects involving cross-functional teams to shape everything from upcoming product features and current user experience to our brand positioning and insights.

You'll have a voice in our highest impact product decisions and lead projects that scale across millions of users. You'll identify problems impacting our product and brand goals, work with others to define and test against evolving success criteria and market landscapes, and ensure that product and brand decisions are grounded in qualitative and quantitative data.

You will coach and mentor talented and high-performing team members, advancing their functional expertise and career growth while deepening your knowledge of their key strengths to delegate resources across all product areas. You'll help the team maintain consistent output and efficient workflows, as well as guide them to carry out rewarding and impactful work.

What You Will Bring to DuckDuckGo

• 10+ years of experience in research related roles, with 4+ years in relevant leadership-level positions (e.g., Director, Principal) at significant global consumer brands.
• Expertise leading high complexity, cross-functional research initiatives, with a strong understanding of both user-centered design and broader market research.
• You're a proactive coordinator, working with other leaders to identify, scope, and prioritize research projects that support upcoming roadmaps and long-term planning, and collaborating with product owners to establish measurable success criteria and reduce discrepancies in data analysis.
• Ability to advise User Insights team projects across multiple product areas to drive strategic alignment from research.
• Proven organizational and leadership skills, with experience mentoring teams and driving accountability.
• Expertise in presenting research findings in a concise, written format that recommend follow-up projects and drive decisions.
• Expertise running high-complexity quantitative research, namely survey questionnaires, end-to-end.
• Expertise in hands-on qualitative research skills, like executing diary studies, in-depth interviews, and usability testing.
• Mindset focused on creating impact within a flat organization rather than leading through hierarchy.
• Experience using research to shape product roadmaps, feature development, and marketing strategies while prioritizing privacy, accessibility, and usability.
• Ability to define best practices to help the team evolve and scale, such as leveraging data analysis plans and efficient insights collection and distribution.