Design Researcher (12-Month FTC)

JOB TITLE: Design Researcher (12-Month FTC)

What we are looking for:

Core Skills

1. Full-funnel Research Strategy and Planning

Designs research programmes tailored to each phase of the innovation funnel — from open-ended discovery in Ideation and Problem Fit, through solution validation and MVP testing, to optimisation at Scale. Aligns methods to learning goals and risk assumptions at each phase.

2. Research Operations and Customer Panel Management

Establishes and manages reusable, segmented customer panels to support agile, ongoing research. Handles end-to-end operations including recruitment pipelines, consent and ethics, documentation, tooling (e.g. Maze, Dovetail, Gorilla), and governance. Enables self-service research when needed and ensures consistency in participant engagement.

3. Generative Research and Problem Framing

Conducts in-depth qualitative research — including interviews, ethnography, diary studies, and contextual inquiry — to uncover latent user needs, behaviours, and pain points. Synthesises insight into actionable opportunity areas that shape the team’s understanding of the problem space.

4. Evaluative Research and Solution Testing

Designs structured testing of product or service concepts to assess usability, desirability, clarity, and value. Uses tools like Gorilla, UsabilityHub, or Maze to run rapid remote tests and A/B comparisons. Collaborates closely with UX/UI Designers and Product Owners to ensure insight feeds directly into decisions.

5. Quantitative Research and Validation Techniques

Uses robust methods like surveys, conjoint analysis, card sorting, and benchmarking studies to understand user preferences, prioritise features, or estimate demand. Triangulates qualitative insight with behavioural data for more confident decisions.

6. Insight Synthesis and Storytelling

Makes sense of complex data, surfacing clear behavioural patterns and opportunity areas. Translates research into narratives, personas, and user needs that the team can easily work with. Communicates findings visually and verbally to inspire, align, and influence decision-makers.

Desirable Skills

1. Mixed-method and Triangulated Studies

Combines qualitative depth with quantitative scale. Designs research to answer “what,” “why,” and “how” questions in tandem — using behavioural analytics, usability data, survey insights, and interviews to validate decisions from multiple angles.

2. Inclusive and Ethical Research Practice

Designs studies that consider diverse abilities, perspectives, and contexts. Handles consent, privacy, and participant wellbeing with care — embedding ethical standards into recruitment, moderation, and data handling processes.

3. Collaborative Research and Influence

Works closely with designers, product managers, service teams, and analysts to ensure insights are well-integrated into decision-making. Facilitates sense-making sessions and participatory synthesis to help others own and act on insight.

4. Tooling and Documentation Mastery

Skilled in using and managing research tools such as Dovetail, Gorilla, Optimal Workshop, Lookback, or Maze. Documents findings in accessible, searchable formats and contributes to a growing knowledge base over time.

About working for us

Our focus is to ensure we're inclusive every day, building an organisation that reflects modern society and celebrates diversity in all its forms. We want our people to feel that they belong and can be their best, regardless of background, identity or culture. 

We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative. And it’s why we especially welcome applications from under-represented groups. 

We’re disability confident. So if you’d like reasonable adjustments to be made to our recruitment processes, just let us know.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%

• An annual performance-related bonus

• Share schemes including free shares

• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping

• 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top

• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies 

Ready for a career where you can have a positive impact as you learn, grow and thrive? Apply today and find out more!