Utari is a senior researcher specializing in qualitative. She is highly skilled in data analysis and conducting ethnography, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and non-mainstream data collection methods such as photo diaries. 

Before taking an unpaid study leave to undertake her PhD at the University of Western Australia, Utari led the qualitative team of the RISE Programme in Indonesia from 2017 to 2018. She was instrumental in the inception phase of the RISE Programme in Indonesia. 

Utari first joined SMERU in 2009 as an editor and translator. She moved into the research team after completing her master’s degree in development studies in 2013.

Utari was the team leader for a study on unpaid care work, which explored opportunities to increase the profile of unpaid care work in public policy discourse. Unpaid care work has rarely been explored in development policy discussions in Indonesia. SMERU is one of the few institutes in Indonesia that research unpaid care work comprehensively, independent of other topics.

Prior to joining SMERU, Utari worked as an interpreter and translator for a variety of organizations, including CAVR de Timor Leste, UN Women, UNDP, KKP Indonesia-Timor Leste, GTZ, FAO, International Livestock Research Institute, and MercyCorps Indonesia. She also worked as an English tutor at Universitas Indonesia (UI) and Pusat Pelayanan Bahasa UI Depok & Salemba (Language Service Center of Universitas Indonesia, Depok & Salemba), and as a marketing and production assistant for Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia, Mojokerto, East Java.

In 2022, Utari won a postgraduate bursary at the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) Conference. In 2024, Utari received a fellowship at the 19th Graduate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore.