Optics11 is a fast-growing high-tech company based in Amsterdam, developing advanced fiber optic sensing systems for the most demanding environments. Our technology detects the earliest signs of failure in critical assets – from high-voltage energy infrastructure to subsea and defense applications – and gives our customers precise, real-time data they can act on. The Role As Senior Customer Experience Designer you will build a deep understanding of the use of both our hardware and software we supply to our defense partners and clients. You will be at the forefront of exploring, researching, and shaping the experiences that define our products, ensuring our unique technology not only meets but anticipates user needs across the complex, high-stakes defense industry. You will be part of the Product team in Underwater Security and work closely with Product Management, R&D, Engineering, Data science, Software, Sales, Projects and Application Engineering teams. In your role no two weeks will look the same. You might join an Application Engineer in the field, interview technicians, map a maintenance journey, test a demo flow, or work with Product and R&D to turn customer insights into practical hardware and software improvements. You will own how we understand and improve the end-to-end customer experience, ensuring real user needs guide decisions across technical, product and commercial teams. Within your first 6–12 months, you will establish a shared, evidence-based view of our customers through clear personas, journey maps, research practices and a structured insight repository. You will identify key experience gaps, introduce repeatable ways to validate new ideas and translate customer needs into product priorities—reducing development risk and helping us deliver technology customers can trust in demanding, high-stakes environments. Responsibilities • Lead customer and user research by planning and conducting qualitative, quantitative, and field studies across installation, operation, and maintenance, translating findings into product and design decisions. For example, by joining our application engineers in the field to do research • Own customer journey and service design by mapping end-to-end customer experiences and supporting internal processes, designing repeatable hardware and software demo flows, and facilitating workflow validation with responsible teams. • Develop personas and manage customer insights by leading the persona lifecycle, maintaining a central research repository, providing reusable research frameworks, and synthesizing learnings collected across the organization. • Translate customer needs into product solutions by creating product/service blueprints, journey maps, experience maps, prototypes, and workflow diagrams, and by collaborating with Product and R&D on hardware and software recommendations. • Validate and measure customer experience outcomes by testing whether features meet defined user needs and success criteria before and and reporting impact to stakeholders. •      Provide cross-functional CX leadership by partnering with Product Management, System Engineering, Product Ownership, Sales, Business Development, Application Engineering, Support, and Marketing to priorities development, reduce product risk, and advance user-centered practices within the Underwater Security team. •       Shape and propose enhancements and collaborate with product managers to ensure enhancements align with business objectives. Requirements • Master’s degree in engineering or design, or equivalent experience. • 5+ years of experience in Customer / User Experience Research, with a proven track record of conducting research in technical fields, preferably in defense, or similar industries. • Strong understanding of both hardware and software products, particularly in complex and regulated environments, e.g., industrial environments. • Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methods and tools, with the ability to translate data into actionable insights. • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, capable of conveying research findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. • Demonstrated critical thinking, adaptability to challenges, and a problem-solving mindset to creatively address user pain points. • Proficiency in industry standard tooling for user experience research and visualization such as Jira Product Discovery, Dovetail, Miro, Figma • Willingness to travel and do field research. • Drivers’ license B (or international equivalent) Nice to Have • Experience in defense industry or another industrial high-tech / high compliance environment • Experience in design leadership, system architecture, and design quality management • Proficiency in Dutch language is a plus Screening You will work with clients in the defense and security sectors. Obtaining a Certificate of No Objection issued by the AIVD, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, is mandatory. This means you will need to undergo a security screening. We will explain the process and guide you through the applicable requirements.