Senior Design Researcher

The application window is expected to close on October 27, 2025

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

Our design practice is a vibrant mosaic, made up of the curious and the brave - product designers, researchers, content designers, operations specialists, and design engineers - who thrive on collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Together, we're building a culture of design excellence and operational efficiency.

We focus on human needs, working closely with cross-functional partners to deliver impactful design solutions that address complex challenges. The products we design and build have real results for our customers because our users are at the heart of everything that we do. We work directly with users to build a deep understanding of their goals and context, and we explore and iterate on solutions together.

Solving our customers' security challenges through our focus on simplicity and effectiveness is why we show up daily - and it's why you should join us.

Your Impact

As a Senior Design Researcher, you'll be part of the Security Design Research Team, while primarily supporting the AI Software & Platform team. In this role, you'll drive a deep understanding of users to shape the future of Cisco's security products and experiences across AI-powered solutions. You will:

• Lead end-to-end qualitative and quantitative research-from scoping and recruiting to analysis and delivery of insights.
• Conduct both generative and evaluative research to uncover the behaviors, motivations and needs of our customers.
• Inform product and design strategy through rigorous research executed to the highest standards.
• Balance research rigor with scrappiness and innovation as you work alongside a fast-moving AI product and design team.
• Translate research into actionable insights, reports, journey maps, and easily consumable artifacts.
• Partner closely with designers, product managers, and engineers to influence decision-making across the product lifecycle.
• Explore how AI can enhance security and networking experiences, identifying opportunities to integrate AI responsibly into our users' workflows.
• Support peers and junior researchers by building skills in research practice

Minimum Qualifications

• 6+ years leading qualitative and quantitative research projects from discovery through to presentation (discovery, planning, recruitment, execution, analysis, presentation).
• Experience partnering with product, design, and engineering teams to define and execute research studies.
• Experience applying a variety of research methodologies such as user interviews, usability testing, surveys, benchmarking, concept evaluations, journey mapping or data analysis to inform product and design decisions.
• Experience synthesizing and documenting research findings to guide product or design direction.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience framing and prioritizing research questions that align with business and product goals.
• AI-friendly research approach, incorporating AI into research workflows, excited by the challenges AI brings to experience design
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Can easily navigate ambiguity
• Strong quantitative and statistical analysis skills
• Excellent communication and presentation / storytelling skills
• Experience working in a B2B or B2C large enterprise

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era - and beyond. We've been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Simply put - we power the future.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you'll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.