Reliability Labs User Research Engineer

The Reliability Labs User Research team ensures Apple products can handle the challenges of real-world use. Using mixed research methods, we study how customers interact with our products, evaluate wear and damage, and refine testing strategies to improve reliability. Product reliability delivers customer brand loyalty- customer satisfaction is our guiding principle.

This role offers a collaborative and stimulating environment, working closely with cross-functional design and reliability engineers to enhance product durability. We focus on understanding genuine user behavior, reducing bias, and using creative and analytical approaches to solve challenges. Our research, backed by data and insights, helps shape testing methods and establish design success criteria enabling decision making rigor supporting all Apple products.

Come join our team!As a User Research Engineer, you will shape test strategies and guide design decisions with cross-functional teams. You'll design and run studies, analyze data, and deliver user perception insights that drive meaningful improvements and exceeding high customer satisfaction expectations.

We're looking for someone who excels under pressure, communicates effectively, and is passionate about understanding customer interactions with physical products. This role requires adaptability and self-motivated initiative, balancing research rigor with fast paced and structured product schedule needs. Your work will have a direct customer impact with senior engineering and reliability leadership looking to your findings as a basis for improving product quality and innovation.

You'll join a team focused on clarity, ethical research, and continuous improvement. Success means delivering clear, actionable insights that help engineers create better test specifications, refine designs, and assess risks, always keeping the human experience front and center - unsurpassed customer satisfaction is our aim.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Collaborate with teams to design studies that explore real-world product use.
• Plan, set up, and coordinate studies to ensure smooth execution and high quality data.
• Conduct in-person studies to capture authentic user behavior while minimizing bias.
• Apply statistical analysis methodology creating clear, visually compelling reports engaging technical audiences, driving design change
• Support a team culture of curiosity, inclusive of diversity, ethical research, and continuous growth.

Ph.D. in human factors, biomechanics, psychology, or industrial design,Knowledge of ethical and legal guidelines for human research and data handling.Understanding of mechanical or materials engineering for product durability.Familiarity with hardware development processes.Experience with characterization methods like sensors, motion capture, and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a plus.Experience with scripting for data processing such as Python or RExperience using AI or Large Language Models (LLMs) for data processing and analysisArray