Senior User Researcher

📋 Description

• • Own the end-to-end research lifecycle on high-impact projects for central and local government, NHS, voluntary, not-for-profit and private-sector clients. You will scope studies, choose the most appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods, run fieldwork, analyse findings and translate insight into actionable recommendations that shape policy, service design and digital products.
• • Lead multidisciplinary teams—often comprising interaction designers, content designers, developers and policy experts—through complex, ambiguous problem spaces. You will facilitate collaborative workshops, set research priorities, manage stakeholder expectations and ensure that inclusive, accessible and ethical research practices are baked into every sprint.
• • Champion user-centred design with clients who may be encountering UCD for the first time. You will run show-and-tell sessions, create lightweight research playbooks and coach product owners on how to use evidence rather than assumption to make decisions, steadily building a culture that values real user needs.
• • Line-manage and mentor junior and mid-level researchers, conducting quarterly appraisals, setting personal development goals and creating opportunities for them to lead studies. Your coaching will expand the team’s methodological toolkit and strengthen the studio’s reputation for world-class research.
• • Define and evolve the studio’s research practice by piloting new methods, codifying standards for consent, accessibility and data ethics, and integrating emerging technologies such as remote-moderated testing, diary studies and large-scale surveys. Your thought leadership will be shared at weekly meet-ups and through the NEC Digital Studio Design School.
• • Spot new business opportunities during discovery phases and client stand-ups. You will translate nascent client pain points into compelling research proposals, contribute to pitches and help shape budgets and timelines that balance rigour with pragmatism.
• • Rotate across sectors every 3–12 months, applying GDS standards in central government one quarter and improving customer buy-in for a commercial start-up the next. This deliberate variety keeps your skills sharp and gives you a panoramic view of how user research drives transformation in different contexts.
• • Collaborate closely with interaction and content designers to ensure that research insights are translated into accessible prototypes, service blueprints and content patterns. You will run iterative usability tests, synthesise findings into evidence boards and champion inclusive language that meets WCAG 2.2 guidelines.
• • Safeguard participant wellbeing and data privacy by designing ethical consent flows, anonymising sensitive data and ensuring that vulnerable users are supported throughout the research process. Your rigour will set the standard for the wider team.
• • Contribute to the NEC Digital Studio Design School by co-creating and delivering training modules on topics such as inclusive recruitment, journey mapping and evidence-based storytelling. Your teaching will upskill clients and internal colleagues alike, multiplying the impact of your expertise.