Lead User Researcher

Responsibilities

• Provide professional leadership for the user research community, shaping direction and promoting consistent, high-quality practice across the organisation
• Maintain and continuously evolve standards for user research, ensuring approaches remain relevant, effective and aligned with organisational priorities
• Contribute to the delivery of the user-centred design leadership roadmap in collaboration with Centre of Excellence Leads, aligning activity to strategic outcomes
• Assess and prioritise emerging demand alongside Centre of Excellence Leads, ensuring resource is focused on areas of highest value and impact
• Advance user research practice, building on existing foundations to develop capability and maturity across the community
• Deliver impactful work that supports outcomes focused on helping consumers avoid financial harm and promoting fair, effective markets
• Enable products and services to better meet the needs of firms, consumers and internal users by embedding user-centred insights into design and delivery
• Engage with and support a collaborative community of practitioners, contributing to a positive culture that advances user-centred thinking and organisational effectiveness

• Relevant user research experience at Lead or Head of Profession level
• Experience in working in project/programme environments involving business & IT change
• Research experience within any of the following types of organisations/sectors: financial services, government/regulatory body, technology, consultancy (IT consultancy)
• Prior experience helping adopt a wide range of user research methods organisationally, lead a community of practice to continually assure, improve and innovate user research, engage and persuade sceptical colleagues and stakeholders
• Effectively include all kinds of users in research activities, and advocate inclusive practices to design accessible services that work for everyone
• Demonstrate experience leading research within a product or technology organisation where user-centred design is embedded in decision-making
• Guiding adopting effective analysis and synthesis techniques, continually improving practices to deliver clear, meaningful and actionable findings
• Understanding how digital technology is shaping user behaviour, and identify the challenges and opportunities this creates for FCA service design and delivery
• Interpreting organisational goals and challenges, and align research across teams to inform policy development and service propositions
• Knowledge of the technologies used to build and run digital services, and collaborate effectively with colleagues across digital disciplines