The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk

Principal Design Researcher

San Francisco · Principal

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 4 days ago
Data ScienceUX ResearchUX DesignAccessibilityProduct ManagementProduct StrategyResearchLeadershipCommunicationCollaborationPublic Speaking

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odds of building a lasting career here

38Risky
Cap-exempt (no lottery)0
Sponsors this role82
Entry-level history0
PERM / green-card track0
Lottery odds40
Fits your clock70

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Employer immigration record

from this employer's Department of Labor filings

Green-card intent detected

THE TRADE DESK, INC. obtained a prevailing wage determination for Project Management Specialists in New York, NEW YORK on 2026-03-04. No matching green-card filing appears in our data yet. The determination expires in 13 days (2026-09-19), and a green-card filing must follow before then or the employer starts over.+2 more active determinations on file

Green-card follow-through: 50%

Of 8 labor certifications old enough to have been used, 4 expired without the employer filing the next step. Median time from filing to decision: 515 days.100% of their filings were for a worker who already held the job.Only certifications past the 180-day window are counted — recent ones cannot have expired yet.

Files H-1B transfers

9 transfer filings in the last year, covering 9 workers. Median labor-condition decision: 7 days. An employer that already files transfers is one that can take over an existing H-1B.

Sourced from Department of Labor LCA, PERM and prevailing-wage disclosure data. Employer matching is by name, so figures may be split across an employer's legal entities. Absence of a filing means none appears in our copy of the data, not that none exists.

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About the role

  • Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet - from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.
  • Advertising powers the content people love.
  • When you work here, your impact is worldwide.

Nice to have

  • Translate ambiguous problems and complex workflows into clear research questions, and clear research questions into a well-evidenced point of view on where the product should go next
  • Bring a grounded, evidence-based perspective on human-AI collaboration and complex customer journeys in advertising workflows, shaped by direct observation of real customer behavior
  • Map the end-to-end Kokai customer journey, identifying moments of friction, delight, and opportunity across Core and Signature use cases
  • Ensure research accounts for accessibility, inclusion, and usability across a wide range of customer sophistication and contexts
  • Act as a primary research voice in strategy conversations with Product, Engineering, and Data Science leadership on the Kokai journey, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product opportunities
  • Position TTD as a company that grounds its product direction in genuine customer understanding
  • Contribute to broader UX research community conversations, publications, and thought leadership
  • Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Design, or a related field (Master's or PhD preferred)

Company info

  • Looking For
  • The Trade Desk is seeking a Principal Design Researcher to lead meaningful customer research that shapes our next-generation product vision - with a focus spanning the Kokai customer journey, our Core and Signature use cases, and emerging areas like AI. This is a senior individual-contributor research leadership role for someone who is energized by getting close to customers, uncovering what they truly need, and turning that understanding into a clear, evidence-based vision for where the product should go next. The Trade Desk is transforming the way advertising is bought, sold, and consumed as a global leader in the programmatic industry. As Kokai matures as the backbone of the end-to-end customer journey, and as our Core and Signature use cases continue to evolve, this role will build the customer understanding that informs what comes next: where our platform should go, what problems are worth solving, and how we know we're solving them well. Our industry is complicated, but we don't believe our platform should be.
  • As Principal Design Researcher, you will own the end-to-end research vision and execution across a defined set of strategic priorities: Kokai customer journey mapping, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product exploration - including AI where it serves genuine customer needs. You will anchor this work in a clearly defined set of customer stories that keep the whole design organization grounded in real customer needs rather than assumptions. You will bring a rare combination of rigorous research craft and product thinking, with a genuine curiosity about how people work, decide, and navigate complexity within our platform. This is
  • not a tooling or infrastructure role
  • The Trade Desk is seeking a Principal Design Researcher to lead meaningful customer research that shapes our next-generation product vision - with a focus spanning the Kokai customer journey, our Core and Signature use cases, and emerging areas like AI.
  • This is a senior individual-contributor research leadership role for someone who is energized by getting close to customers, uncovering what they truly need, and turning that understanding into a clear, evidence-based vision for where the product should go next.
  • The Trade Desk is transforming the way advertising is bought, sold, and consumed as a global leader in the programmatic industry.
  • As Kokai matures as the backbone of the end-to-end customer journey, and as our Core and Signature use cases continue to evolve, this role will build the customer understanding that informs what comes next: where our platform should go, what problems are worth solving, and how we know we're solving them well.
  • Our industry is complicated, but we don't believe our platform should be.
  • As Principal Design Researcher, you will own the end-to-end research vision and execution across a defined set of strategic priorities: Kokai customer journey mapping, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product exploration - including AI where it serves genuine customer needs.
  • You will anchor this work in a clearly defined set of customer stories that keep the whole design organization grounded in real customer needs rather than assumptions.
  • You will bring a rare combination of rigorous research craft and product thinking, with a genuine curiosity about how people work, decide, and navigate complexity within our platform.
  • not a tooling or infrastructure role; it is a hands-on research leadership role focused on deeply understanding our customers and using that understanding to inform what we build next.
  • You will serve as a strategic research partner to Product, Engineering, Data Science, and UX Leadership, bringing customer evidence into the room for major product direction decisions.
  • This role reports directly to the Vice President of UX Design and is a key member of the UX leadership team at The Trade Desk, as well as a key member of our Core UX team - looking across all design initiatives for the team, including current and next-generation initiatives.
  • What You Will Be Doing
  • As Principal Design Researcher at The Trade Desk, you will:
  • Build Deep Customer Understanding to Inform Next-Generation Product Vision
  • Lead research that uncovers what customers genuinely need, where they struggle, and where real opportunity lies - across the Kokai customer journey, Core and Signature use cases, and emerging areas like AI
  • Build and maintain a clearly defined set of customer stories that ground product and design decisions in real customer needs, not assumptions
  • Partner with UX Leadership and Product to align the research agenda with broader product and company strategy
  • Lead End-to-End Research Execution
  • Lead hands-on, rigorous research across the Kokai customer journey, Core and Signature use cases, and next-generation product concepts, including AI - from early generative discovery through detailed evaluative research and post-launch measurement
  • Test early concepts with customers to gather feedback and align stakeholders around a shared, evidence-backed direction before heavy investment
  • Design and drive research programs that explore how customers build trust, adopt new capabilities, and adapt their workflows as the product evolves
  • Maintain and evolve the team's set of customer stories, keeping them current as customer needs shift
  • Partner closely with Data Science and Engineering to ensure product direction and customer understanding evolve together, not in isolation
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