Drew Hopkins - UX RESEARCH DIRECTOR
Research that moves strategy forward.
From leading teams of soldiers to building research functions, my operational background taught me to invent creative and efficient frameworks; under pressure, zero-to-one and at scale.
I’ve led research across a global Fortune 500, a fintech start-up, and digital consultancy; shaping product decisions for millions of users through strategic systems and AI-native workflows.
$0→$4B
gained in assets shaped by research-driven product strategy
0→250K
customers acquired through research informed brand / marketing funnels
4x
faster insights through AI-native workflows
— WHAT I’VE ACCOMPLISHED
Business Leadership
Built the research function 0 to 1 for a new digital financial institution, Jenius Bank, establishing research frameworks, team strategy, intake / prioritization, and cross-team collaboration.
Led a transformational front-end redesign for global fintech leader, FIS, establishing personas, customer-first information architecture, and scalable research processes.
Led generative and evaluative research shaping brand identity, target customer, go-to-market strategy for new, innovative digital products.
Introduced AI-assisted workflows and standards for research that accelerated project preparation, concept ideation, competitive analytics, and insight generation.
Scaled research toolsets and market-learning systems to equip teams with structured insights on market positioning and emerging opportunities.
— PREVIOUS WORK
Featured Projects
DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Jenius Bank needed a structured way to understand customers and guide product decisions as a new digital platform. I built the UX research function from the ground up—establishing research processes, stakeholder collaboration models, and research programs that informed product strategy across the organization.
LEAD OF RESEARCH
Through the Digital Banking Accelerator initiative, I helped shape a customer-first redesign—using research insights to guide UX opportunities, information architecture, and reusable experience patterns that enabled our teams to build digital banking products more effectively.
What it’s like to work together
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"Drew is one of the most passionate and knowledgeable researchers I have had the pleasure to work with… He leans into to new ways of working and is always thinking of new tests or new technology he can use to improve speed and results. During his time at Jenius Bank, he led a team of 5 other researchers, many of whom were promoted under his leadership due to the guidance he gave them. Drew would make a strong addition to any research team and add value from day one."
— Andrew Harris | Head of Product, Marketing, and CX at Jenius Bank
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"Drew is a skilled leader in business partnership, team leadership, and analytical rigor. One specific project that we worked on together was developing an enterprise segmentation. He helped oversee qualitative and quantitative research to develop consumer profiles that helped rally the organization and centralized jobs to be done."
— Amanda Givens | Head Brand Strategy
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"I worked under Drew at Jenius Bank and he's one of the best managers I have had. He was a big advocate for research innovation, gave me real autonomy to own my work, and trusted me to shape how we could scale our mixed methods and quant practice across a research team that had leaned qualitative. He was also always in my corner, making sure my contributions got seen by the right people and that I had what I needed to drive that kind of impact. Managers like Drew are few and far between, and I'd work with him again in a heartbeat."
— Hannah Elbaggari | Sr. UX Researcher
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"Drew has a wonderful ability to turn research into strategy. His monthly insight sessions became a cornerstone for aligning product, marketing, and executive teams around the attitudes and behaviors of our customer. He and his team's analysis consistently showed both analytical depth with a clear focus on business impact, turning research into real product moves and positioning improvements that made a meaningful impact to our business. Drew balanced a wide array of stakeholders and consistently turned complexity into confident, customer-centered decisions."
— Lincoln Mongillo | VP, Product
Open to New Opportunities
Let’s work together
UX Director, Research Operations, Senior Researcher, AI Strategist — remote or relocate.