Senior UX Research Consultant

Purpose of the role

Working collaboratively with designers, developers, analysts and other digital professionals within a product team, you’ll research and support creating world-class products and services that meet the needs of real people, and equally, provide commercially successful solutions for our clients.

Working in partnership with clients and peers, you will lead and facilitate the full product lifecycle by employing a range of research and experimentation methods, qualitative data and quantitative insight to inform your thinking. You will be proficient in explaining why your chosen program of work is suitable in each individual context.

From problem through to solution, you will continue to lead the research through production, experimentation and build ensuring the final product experience is delivered in line with the original vision to the highest standards of craft and utility.

We need you to roll your sleeves up, but also be a natural leader and mentor. Your position in the team means juniors, peers and clients will be looking to you for guidance and research leadership.

Role Band: 3

(Band Guide: 1:Junior 2:UX Researcher 3:Senior UX Research Consultant 4:UX Research Consultant Lead. 4.5:Head/Principal. 5:Director)

Salary: £40k-£55kThe salary banding for this role is dependent on your experience.

We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to promoting inclusivity and diversity at Code. We are actively encouraging applications from black and ethnic minority groups and women in engineering.

Key Responsibilities

• Planning design research programmes - helping teams to plan and organise research objectives that can be broken down into methods to help the teams gather insight or make decisions.
• Research mindset - help embed continual research as part of build, measure, learn in product teams.
• Joined up research approach - work with other leaders and disciplines to ensure experimentation is part of Code's design research DNA to create and test innovative approaches to user research and experience design.
• Produce tools - help to develop the appropriate design deliverables and structures to inform product thinking, e.g. journey maps, service blueprints and user profiles.
• Make effective decisions – use sound judgement, data, evidence and insight to arrive at accurate, expert and professional decisions and advice.
• Collaborative - working with other disciplines and clients in your product team to define research programmes that enable innovative and effective product experiences.
• See the big picture – Ensure your research activity is contributing to the wider product strategy and adds customer and commercial value.
• Commercial experience design – balance user goals and business objectives with brand, time, budget, and technology.
• Empathy – always forming and testing ideas, design ideas and solutions with the needs of real people in mind.
• Client centric – creating and maintaining good relationships with clients for the programmes you are working on.

Your skills and experience

Essential

As a Senior UX Research Consultant, you will be comfortable with using different research methods as part of your own research programme. Consider your experience for the following skills:

• Organising, selecting, planning and running qual and quant design research activities and drawing insight from research findings and creating appropriate research deliverables for your programme of work.
• Facilitation: Ability to facilitate a broad range of progressive design research methods, e.g., face-to-face interviews, observations, stakeholder workshops, remote sessions.
• Critical thinking: Desire and ability to interrogate a variety of sources when faced with a problem, always looking for answers beyond the obvious.
• Communication: Delivering actionable insights in formal and informal settings and creating tools that ensure user needs are considered at all times.
• Persuasion: Ability to convince stakeholders and team members of the value of user research.
• Peer review and critique projects: throughout design and development for experience quality, usability, and business value.
• Strategic thinking: using insights to inform product and service strategies across clients.

Desirable

• Plan and conduct stakeholder interviews.
• Proficient at creating, planning and facilitating collaborative workshops with peers and clients.
• Knowledge of modern product management and development practices.
• Propose and test IA, taxonomies, navigation and key product journeys.

Good to have

• Specialist in areas like Brand, art direction and motion research.
• Survey writing skills.
• Leading and facilitating design sprints.
• Work with Product Owners to plan project activities and estimate costs.

Leadership

Essential

• Self-leadership – be responsible and accountable for your own actions and growth.
• Design activity – be responsible for delegating or conducting appropriate design activity to drive the product forward.
• Programs of work – Select design research methods and lead the definition of appropriate programs of work needed to meet specific design challenges.
• Insight culture in teams – Create, nurture and champion a continual insight-led approach within your product team.

Desirable

Product direction – Collaborate and lead routines to help the team make strategic recommendations to drive the product forward.

People - management and coaching of junior designers to facilitate their professional development.

A bit about EM Code...

We are EM Code, formerly Code Computerlove. We are a Customer Experience, AI and Innovation Agency in Manchester.

Since our inception in 1999, we have navigated substantial industry transformations and consistently adapted our attitudes, beliefs, and approaches to stay ahead.

For over 25 years, EM Code has helped shape some of the UK’s leading brands and businesses. We are renowned for our human-centred thinking, digital design excellence, and modern engineering practices.

Recognising the need for constant evolution, our agency is structured always to help our clients and partners adapt to rapidly changing customer and market needs.

We are officially recognised as a Great Place to Work, with 98% of our team saying the working environment is welcoming, friendly, and fun.

We’re part of something bigger...

Since 2017, we have been part of EssenceMediacom North. Together, we reside at the vibrant WPP Manchester Campus, located in the heart of Spinningfields.

What we value...

• We value people who are brilliant in their capability and the things that they make together.
• We value people who improve; continually improve themselves and the world around them to make a difference.
• We value people who collaborate, who are a joy to work with and who get more from themselves and those around them, by working together effectively.

The package

We offer a competitive salary, negotiable depending on qualifications and experience. On top of this we have a generous benefits package, including pension scheme, medical insurance, flexi-start, 25 days holiday growing to 30 days over time, paid social events, bike schemes, child care schemes, etc.

It's not all about work

• Make-Change Friday afternoon – dedicated self-improvement time.
• An annual training budget of at least £500 so you can develop your skills.
• Medical insurance with eyecare and dental included.
• Generous maternity and shared parental leave package.
• £25 per month wellbeing budget.
• Corporate discounts with the likes of John Lewis and Made.com.