Senior UX Researcher, Qualitative

ABOUT SUNO We're building the world's first creative entertainment platform, where the entire world can feel the joy and fulfillment of making music. Music is for everyone: Our users include everyone from grandmothers creating songs for their loved ones, to Grammy winners using Suno Studio, our power tool, to make the most popular hits in the world. Building the future of entertainment requires ambition. The pace is fast, the problems are hard, and the work demands ownership and intensity. For the right people, it’s incredibly rewarding: a chance to shape a new medium, work with a small team that cares deeply about quality, make music, drink too much coffee, and build something that millions of people use to express themselves in ways that were never before possible. Suno is the fastest growing consumer entertainment company and the leader in AI music. We are backed by leading investors including Bond Capital, Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, IVP, Forerunner, Union Square Ventures, Alkeon, Quiet, Matrix Partners, Schroders Capital and, NVentures (venture arm of NVIDIA). Founded in 2023 by Harvard alumni with a shared passion for music, Suno has quickly grown to 250 employees while empowering more than 100 million people to create original songs. In 2026, we raised a $400 million Series D at a $5.4 billion valuation to continue building innovative products that amplify creativity and imagination. ABOUT THE ROLE For most people, making music has always felt out of reach. Suno is changing that, and mobile is where that change will happen for the majority of people. We are looking for a Senior Qualitative UX Researcher to own the deepest questions about the people we haven't reached yet. Not the users who already know what a stem is, but the ones who open the app with no idea what's possible and no vocabulary for what they want. Understanding how creative confidence gets built, across a very wide range of ages and levels of experience, is one of the highest-leverage research problems at the company right now. You'll be the research partner to the PM and designer leading mobile create and working alongside them to address shared product questions. You’ll also collaborate with the researcher focused on rapid mobile evaluation, ensuring that usability insights and foundational research inform one another. This is a senior individual contributor role with significant ownership. You’ll develop and advocate for the research roadmap, adapt it as priorities evolve, and confidently revise your perspective when new evidence emerges. Listen to the song we made about this role! https://suno.com/s/Asd2doVRgxJzjenY WHAT YOU'LL DO Own the foundational research agenda for mobile create - Define and run the generative studies that shape where the product goes: ethnography, diary and longitudinal studies, in-context observation, concept work. Decide what's worth studying, and say no to what won't change a decision. Go where the creating happens - Lead in-person and in-field research, including in-home sessions and sessions with more than one participant at once, such as household and family settings. Some of the most important behavior here will never show up in a remote unmoderated test. Be a true partner, not a service desk - Sit with the mobile create PM, designer, and engineers as decisions are being made. Bring user signal early enough to change the shape of the work, not late enough to only validate it. Turn findings into things the org keeps using - Segmentations, journey and jobs-to-be-done frameworks, opportunity maps, design principles that outlive any single launch and get cited in rooms you're not in. Connect qual to the numbers - Pair depth with survey and behavioral data. Work with data science as a peer to size what you find, and with growth partners to translate insight into acquisition, onboarding, and retention bets. Raise the craft bar - Mentor, review study designs, and unblock other researchers. This is an IC role with real influence, not a management track. WHO YOU ARE - 5+ years of industry UX research experience, with deep specialization in qualitative methods and consumer mobile products - A track record of research that shifted strategy, not just UI. You can name the roadmap decisions, product bets, or reversals your work drove - Experience running in-person research with groups, including in-home and in-context sessions, sessions with more than one participant at a time, and the consent and assent workflows that come with them - Rigorous methodological judgment and the range to match method to question rather than reaching for the same study every time - Sound instincts about ethics and participant comfort with people who are not professional research subjects - Fluency with quantitative data. You can read an experiment readout, design a survey that holds up, and hold your own with a data scientist - Genuinely self-directed. You find the important question before anyone assigns it, and you have a high tolerance for ambiguity, shifting priorities, and moving faster than feels comfortable - The ability to influence senior stakeholders without authority, and to hold a position when the room disagrees - Excited by consumer products, creativity, music, and AI, and by the idea that the interaction patterns for this category don't exist yet WHAT YOU'LL NEED - Startup experience, especially as the first or only researcher, or as a founder (even with a research team around you, this role runs on ownership rather than process) - Experience in sensitive product areas such as safety, trust, or wellbeing - Background in consumer mobile in audio, music, or social - Experience researching AI and generative products, where user mental models are still forming NICE TO HAVES - PhD in HCI, Human-Centered Computing, Psychology, Learning Sciences, or a related field, combined with real industry experience. - You know of a good UX research lab or in-person session space in LA that we could use, and bonus points if you've worked out of it - Bonus points if you've used Suno to make music Additional Notes - You must be authorized to work in the United States - You must be willing to work 5 days per week at our Venice Beach office - Some travel for team meetings and field research Perks & Benefits for Full-Time Employees - Company Equity Package - 401(k) with 3% Employer Match & Roth 401(k) - Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance (PPO w/ HSA & FSA options) - 11 Paid Holidays + Unlimited PTO & Sick Time - 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave - Creative Education Stipend - Generous Commuter Allowance - In-Office Lunch (5 days per week) Compensation The annual salary range for this role is: $176K-$220K (before equity) Suno is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the Massachusetts Fair Chance in Employment Act, NYC Fair Chance Act, LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.