The trouble with UX job titles is that nobody knows what they mean.

Prior to becoming a UX Researcher, I was a Customer Insights Manager. That tells you both the job (market research plus about 90% of what we call UX research) and its seniority (mid-senior, management grade).

This was not a job you got to after 2 years or even 5 years. It took me 9 years to officially get that title, though I'd been doing it unofficially for a few years beforehand.

In that kind of traditional-company environment, I trained in research techniques under the close supervision of my manager, after taking a formal nationally-recognised Ofqual-regulated qualification. Not only is my own work regarded as substantially better than the work of most "regular" UX researchers, but everyone they hire with a similar background to me is up to that calibre.

More formal training + more supervised experience = better work.

When I started working in UX at a tech company, I was pretty shocked to be working alongside researchers and designers with only 1-2 years experience with the job title as me, presumably earning a similar salary that was higher than non-tech companies were paying senior managers.

It annoys me when someone shows up to a job interview and is clearly undertrained and inexperienced. It's disrepectful, and dangerous for the company in a role that makes or breaks it products.

For a senior, that's a senior manager, so I expect the skills that any enterprise company has a right to expect from its senior managers:

* Commercial business acumen. An MBA is the gold standard, but you can aquire those skills from other sources: the important thing is knowing your net present value from your EBITDA.

* Understanding of business-as-a-system. Knowing what every department does and how they all fit together.

* Understanding of the basic components of strategy. How decisions are made, what needs to be considered, and how to write a strategic plan.

* Stakeholder management and change management techniques and theories. I expect you to know your Freeman from your Kotter.

Your list is good, but it's reflective of what I consider appropriate for a midweight.

For the salaries these jobs are paying, I expect the players to up their game.