Senior Researcher - Human-Computer Interaction

About the role

Huawei Canada’s Human‑Machine Interaction Lab is seeking a Senior Researcher to lead HCI and human‑AI interaction strategy for next‑generation intelligent terminal devices. The role focuses on agentic AI, multimodal interfaces, and hardware‑software integration across smartphones, wearables, and emerging devices.

Key responsibilities

• Define research plans, hypotheses, study designs, success metrics, and actionable recommendations that shape product vision and technical roadmaps.
• Conduct mixed‑method research (contextual inquiry, diary studies, hardware usability testing, controlled experiments, behavioral/log analysis) to evaluate user trust, control, and collaboration with AI systems.
• Prototype and test new human‑AI workflows, including conversational agents, proactive assistants, multimodal task delegation, and cross‑device handoff.
• Partner with AI researchers, hardware engineers, software developers, designers, and product managers to translate insights into system‑level interaction models and mass‑production requirements.

Required profile

• Master's or PhD in HCI, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Human Factors, Computer Science, Design Research or related field, or equivalent industry experience.
• 6+ years of applied HCI, UX or human‑AI interaction research in consumer electronics, smart hardware or embedded systems, with demonstrated research leadership.
• Strong command of qualitative and quantitative research methods and ability to design scalable evaluation frameworks for AI‑powered products.
• Working fluency with AI/ML concepts, including LLMs, multimodal models, agentic workflows, and responsible AI evaluation.
• Proven track record of publishing, filing patents, or shipping products that impact user experience and interaction models.

Required skills

• AI/ML concepts and large language models (LLMs).
• Multimodal interaction technologies (voice, touch, vision, gesture).
• Prototyping and proof‑of‑concept development for voice assistants, AR/VR, mobile/wearable devices.
• Hardware usability testing and mixed‑method research techniques.

What we offer

• Total target annual compensation ranging from $127,000 to $225,000 (based on 2,080 hours per year).