Senior User Researcher

We are passionate about entertaining the world with creative, innovative experiences, while being part of a vibrant gaming community. We are a global company with the resources to match, coupled with a place where everyone knows each other on a first-name basis, working together to create innovative experiences, one community at a time. Our world-class development Studios span the UK, France and Bulgaria. Known for quality and creativity above all else, our studios include Amplitude Studios, Creative Assembly, HARDlight, Sports Interactive and Two Point Studios.

We are looking for a Senior User Researcher to apply their expertise in evaluating gaming experiences alongside the product development and utilising world-class research. This role involves engaging with studio and publishing leaders across the organization to provide key insights, track UX progress during development and reveal what our users need from our products by conducting targeted usability studies and working with cross-functional teams. You are driven and excited to be part of a highly skilled and advanced UX research team that builds strong partnerships across the organization and helps shape the future of our company's games. We believe that delivering the best games relies on having the best people, so we are constantly investing in our people through our benefits package, flexible working, and our community-focused, people-centric culture. Our industry-leading compensation and benefits include competitive salary and bonus schemes, private medical insurance, private dental insurance, health screening, electric car scheme, home technology scheme, Microsoft package discounts, and much more!

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct usability testing to discover problems with UI and systems interactions, gauge user sentiment, review the presentation and interaction of game systems by employing various methods like prototype testing, 1:1 interviews, focus groups etc.
• Interact with and maintain good relationships with a variety of stakeholders to plan user research tests, understand and advise on the focus of tests.
• Help in supporting internal development studios to build and maintain a successful relationship with SOE Product Development.
• Align with game development teams to define actionable next steps from UX research.
• Provide creative and executional UX guidance to help improve product quality and innovation.
• Partner across organizational and Global teams with a variety of disciplines (analysts, designers, product owners, market researchers, producers, etc.) to generate feedback which deeply impact the trajectory of their product work.
• Effectively communicate UXR results to multiple levels of the organization in creative ways that drive impact.
• Create evolving UXR approaches to inform the development of new experiences.
• Travel to our other Development Studios and UK Publishing office as required.
• Maintenance of the Lab setup, tech checks and rehearsals.
• Documenting our Best Practices and processes for UI/UX.
• Any other research related tasks according to business needs.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• 3+ years of experience within a User Research role, ideally within the video game industry.
• Minimum BSc degree in HCI, Human Factors, Ergonomics, Psychology, UX Design, or any other relevant training or experience.
• Relevant training and/or certifications as a UX Researcher.
• Extensive knowledge and a broad range of skills in research design and qualitative and quantitative methods applied in a business environment. Some familiarity with HTML, SQL and R/Python is required.
• Great relationship building, collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to work on multiple titles at any given time.
• Great stakeholder management and project management skills.
• High attention to detail.
• Experience working with Designers and Programmers to improve the usability of products and other features.
• Effective communication skills (verbal and written) across all levels and organizations.
• Highly collaborative, team-minded person who consistently drives toward better outcomes for the business and the game development teams.
• Ability to quickly and effectively share UX research results.
• Ability to perform all research-related tasks including research, planning, evaluating, and iteration.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders and act as a strategic partner in product decisions.

Preferred Attributes

• Highly collaborative, team-minded person who consistently drives toward better outcomes for the business and the team.
• Fluency in Japanese is advantageous.
• A strong desire for creative problem-solving with a positive attitude.
• Knowledge of franchise development and long-term planning.
• Passionate about video games and possesses a knowledge of competitor products within the industry.