UX Research Scientist (PhD)

At Meta Reality Labs (RL), we are inventing the future. We bring together a industry-leading team of researchers, developers, and engineers to build the future of connection with technology. As a Research Scientist at RL, you are expected to have breadth and depth of scientific background in one or more areas such as human robot interaction, human perception, cognition, motor control and movement. You will be leveraging this background in service of defining, assessing and enhancing the form, function and dynamics of our hardware and software in building robots. You will break down ambiguous problems and master research methods, including but not limited to, design of experiments, expert review, psychophysics & threshold detection, biomechanics & ergonomics, and safety research approaches. You will prove highly effective at driving insights into actionable product engineering & development outcomes and metrics and collaborate closely with cross functional partners to help shape critical product and technology decisions across the product design and development life cycle. You will work across multi-disciplinary hardware and software teams to push the boundaries of RL products while enhancing the value users get from these products. Ultimately, your expertise and ingenuity in research must do more than just contribute to knowledge and assessment – you must also be skilled at driving measurable impact on the user experience of our products.

Responsibilities

• In Reality Labs, the focus areas of UX research scientists can vary from human robot interaction to biomechanics & ergonomics to health and safety. Regardless of focus area, the primary responsibility is to develop frameworks that clearly define the trade space between user variables and technology variables and to develop methodologies for investigating novel challenges
• Collaborate and work with cross-functional product teams to identify user goals and envision needs and create research frameworks
• Develop ergonomic, perceptual, or psychological research studies by utilizing appropriate methods, which may include experimental design, psychophysics and threshold detection, motion tracking and kinematics analysis, behavioral analytics, expert review and relevant safety research approaches
• Develop and track metrics for quality of performing fundamental human robot interaction tasks
• Investigate effects of human multisensory interactions, attention, and control dynamics on performance and safety of doing such tasks
• Analyze rich and multidimensional data, develop descriptive and analytical models, and shape actionable insights from research findings
• Effectively communicate outcomes and insights from studies, support decision-making and help setting specifications for Reality Labs hardware and software products, and drive measurable impact on the user experience
• Create close partnerships with a variety of leadership, research and product stakeholders to ensure a broad understanding of the product needs and priorities while driving UX goals
• Define metrics that establish overall system requirements and performance
• Collaborate with other researchers and engineers across teams at Meta to develop experiments, prototypes, and concepts that advance the state-of-the-art in robotics systems
• Improve data analysis pipelines with an emphasis on scalability and stability of various deployed systems

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Degree must be completed prior to joining Meta
• Currently has, or in the process of obtaining a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Centered Computing, Cognitive/Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Human Factors, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics or a closely related scientific or engineering field
• Demonstrated scientific background in human multi-sensory perception, cognition, motor control, movement, virtual characters/agents and/or Generative AI, with experience applying such knowledge in analyzing and improving immersive and social experiences or relevant human behaviors associated with novel systems
• Proven track record of rigorous scientific research, including development of metrics, frameworks and novel scientific approaches and/or psychophysical and empirical behavioral measurements
• Demonstrated track record of clear and concise communication, demonstrated experience translating technical concepts to drive understanding and buy-in from audiences, and proven experience of successfully building effective partnerships
• Experience in conducting research for novel products headed to market
• Experience in experimental design, psychophysics, behavioral analytics, and proficiency with inferential statistics
• Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in research across full product life-cycle
• Training and experience in related techniques such as human robot interaction, eye tracking, body motion tracking, postural stability measures, human motor control and kinematics analysis, EMG and other biometric sensing technology, and physiology measures
• Be an effective communicator, have an interest in understanding people, and curious about the evolving complex relationship between humans' sensorimotor and cognitive systems and the novel hardware and software technologies in development at RL
• Although candidates should have hands-on experience conducting in-depth studies in an industry setting, we are looking for researchers that also have demonstrated experience in understanding human behavior and limitations to directly influence product design
• Experience in experimental design, psychophysics, behavioral analytics, and proficiency with inferential statistics