Staff UX Researcher - AI Agents

Staff UX Researcher - AI Agents

Bellevue, Washington; Chicago, Illinois; New York, New York; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Washington, DC

Secure Every Identity, from AI to HumanIdentity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. Were all in on this mission. If you are too, lets talk.You will proactively construct and own an AI-forward research roadmap for key product pillars at Okta, operating at the intersection of Identity, Security, and Artificial Intelligence. As a Staff-level individual contributor, you will drive both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to define user experiences for non-deterministic AI agents, automated workflows, and developer platforms. Additionally, you leverage agentic tools and AI workflows internally to scale qualitative coding, synthesis, and research operations across the organization. In this role, you'll get to: Drive AI Agent Research: Lead foundational and evaluative research on autonomous AI agents and the security thereof. Execute Balanced Mixed-Methods: Drive qualitative depth (contextual inquiry, cognitive walkthroughs) and quantitative rigor (large-scale surveys, behavioral telemetry, statistical modeling) to evaluate AI products. Pioneer AI Research Operations: Integrate AI tools, prompt engineering, and agentic research workflows into your daily practice to accelerate quality research outputs. Lead Cross-Discipline Collaboration: Facilitate research to drive cross-discipline clarity, executive alignment, and decision-making across complex security and admin workflows. Solve Complex Problems: Bring stakeholders together across multiple teams to scope problems and collaborate on research in ways that nurture a culture of curiosity and learning. Cultivate Empathy: Design mechanisms to build up customer empathy and deep knowledge of our partners, end users, consumers, administrators, and other identified audiences. Tell High-Impact Stories: Represent your research to diverse audiences across the organization by telling compelling stories that motivate others to solve complex needs with your insights. You could be a fit if you have: Staff-Level Expertise: 7+ years of hands-on UX research experience in complex B2B, developer, or enterprise software environments, with a track record of driving product impact at a Senior or Staff level. Mixed-Methods Research Knowledge: Demonstrated equal mastery across Qualitative and Quantitative research methodologies. AI Tool Practitioner: Active daily practitioner of AI tools and prompt workflows to streamline research processes and execution, including but not limited to synthesis, structuring unstructured data, and scaling insight delivery. Domain Experience: Experience with products made for developers, administrators, or other technical audiences; experience working on security products is a strong plus. Strategic Problem Solving: Strong ability to plan, prioritize, organize, and solve complex problems independently while working with technical and business constraints. Cross-Functional Communication: History of effective communication, storytelling, and alignment across all levels of leadership and cross-functional partners (Product, Design, ML Engineering, Data Science). Mentorship & Leadership: Voracious learner and coach to people around you, raising the methodological and technical bar for the team. Education: Master's or Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Data Science, Social Sciences, or equivalent industry experience. Nice-to-Have (Not required, but a plus): Advanced Quantitative Toolkit: SQL, R or Python, Cluster Analysis, Advanced Statistical Modeling, A/B Testing. AI Systems & Ops: Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) UX Evaluation, Advanced Prompt Engineering for Ops, Agentic Workflow Evaluation, Synthetic Data Validation.

#LI-Hybrid#LI-MMP16119_3519938The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between:$174,000-$240,000 USDBelow is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us. The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between:$156,000-$215,000 USDBelow is the annual salary range for candidates located in Canada. Your actual salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance, RRSP with a match, healthcare spending, telemedicine, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program, please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/can.The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in Canada is between:$140,000-$192,000 CADThe Okta Experience Supporting Your Well-Being Driving Social Impact Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.

U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Information

Read more

Individuals seeking employment at this company are considered without regards to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. When submitting your application above, you are being given the opportunity to provide information about your race/ethnicity, gender, and veteran status.

Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veterans discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Pay Transparency

Okta complies with all applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency rules. For additional information about the federal requirements, click here.

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305 Page 1 of 1 OMB Control Number 1250-0005 Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years. Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your "major life activities." If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally) Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS Blind or low vision Cancer (past or present) Cardiovascular or heart disease Celiac disease Cerebral palsy Deaf or serious difficulty hearing Diabetes Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders Epilepsy or other seizure disorder Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohns Disease, irritable bowel syndrome Intellectual or developmental disability Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD Missing limbs or partially missing limbs Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities Partial or complete paralysis (any cause) Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema Short stature (dwarfism) Traumatic brain injury

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Okta

The foundation for secure connections between people and technology

Okta is the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With over 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta customers can easily and securely use the best technologies for their business. More than 19,300 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Slack, T-Mobile, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.

Follow Okta