Senior User Researcher

The opportunity

As a Senior User Researcher, you will plan, design and carry out user research activities within key services and products. Through primary research with users, you will help our teams to get a deep understanding of our current and potential students and staff members’ needs and behaviours.

Your research will inform the development and improvement of products, services and processes from discovery stage (exploratory, formative research) onwards. You’ll work on developing insights, using evidence to move from ‘what is’ to ‘what if’ and then into implementation in proposition, product and service design. Some initiatives are big and ambitious, some are small and yet meaningful, all are focused on helping services and systems work better for our students and staff.

In this recruitment round, we are seeking a Senior User Researcher to expand our User Centred Design function, working across our Research, Knowledge Exchange & Enterprise service area. The RKEE Service is supporting the activity in academic research and knowledge exchange, as well as UAL Short Courses and other enterprise areas.

We welcome applications from people across a range of sectors who want to join our growing community of practice in User Research and play a key role an organisation committed to social purpose.

This is a 2.5-year fixed term contract position.

Your profile

Experience

• Demonstrable experience of and a passion for, holistic, insightful, people-focused research
• Deep understanding of the end-to-end service design process and how research contributes to this in shaping concept development, continuous iterative development and championship of user needs
• Experience balancing exceptional understanding of people’s needs and service requirements with organisational expectations and translating insights into actionable recommendations.
• Demonstrable experience of designing, facilitating and analysing a wide range of qualitative and quantitative user research methods (and an understanding of the strengths and limitations of different research methods) including for complex user journeys
• Excellent communication, collaboration, storytelling and influencing skills, in addition to strong stakeholder management skills
• Confident operating in a multidisciplinary team, working with change in an agile product and service development environment

We are UAL

University of the Arts London (UAL) generates and inspires the creativity the world needs for a better future. Since 1842, our colleges have been defining creative education. With curiosity, imagination and intent we make work which creates lasting change for people and our planet. London is core to who we are, a place where we meet and share ideas with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Our creative network influences learning, culture, industry and society on a global scale. Our academics and practitioners deliver creative education and inspire new ways of thinking through research and innovation. We work with students at every level from pre-degree and short courses to postgraduate and online learning, enabling them to build the careers they want. Together, we are a community of makers, thinkers, pioneers and storytellers redesigning the future.

As a University, we are ranked second in the world for Art and Design. We are formed of 6 Colleges with unique histories and identities: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Arts. UAL also has 4 Institutes, 5 Research Centres, 1 Pre-Degree School and 2 subsidiary companies delivering specialist activities.

We are a global University, welcoming over 22,000 students and 6,000 staff from 130 countries. We aim to be a university where people can be themselves and feel supported to reach their full potential. That’s why we are proud to hold a Bronze Award from the Race Equality Charter (REC), are members of the Business Disability Forum and Employers for Carers, and maintain our status as a Disability Confident Scheme and Living Wage employer.

Application process

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Thus, you will need to create an account and submit an application through our job board. As part of this, you will need to provide a supporting statement/answer some competency questions to demonstrate your suitability. Our recruitment process involves: Application, Shortlisting, Interview and Assessment, Offer, Onboarding.

We understand the benefits of using AI in work. But, if you are thinking of using it to submit an application, we ask you to think about what value it adds. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

If we receive a high volume of applications, the closing day date might close early. We aim to communicate any changes to the closing date with at least 24 hours’ notice. If you have any general questions or have accessibility needs, please refer to our Contact us page.

Start your application

Candidates are advised to submit applications early.