Senior UX Designer

4,000 professionals, 0 days wasted, 1 incredible purpose. Together we will beat cancer.

£45,000 - £50,000 (+ Benefits)

Reports to: Lead UX Designer

Department: Marketing, Fundraising & Engagement

Contract: Until March 2027

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 16th August

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact us as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: Two competency-based interviews with an exercise

We are looking for a motivated Senior User Experience (UX) Designer to use their UX skills and expertise to support the delivery of work covering a range of products and initiatives across the organisation (depending on where there is the greatest organisational need and impact). Therefore, in this role, no day will be the same.

As a Senior User Experience Designer, you will lead and support user research and experience design work across several initiatives, supporting junior members of the UX team, and liaising with leadership to understand the work that can have the greatest impact. This will involve working on strategically important external and internal facing products and services, sensitively navigating research and co-design, partnering with stakeholders across the organisation to design user-focused solutions, and identifying opportunities for UX to add value across upcoming initiatives.

If you are an audience-focused Senior User Experience Designer who is research focussed with a wealth of experience leading and delivering multiple projects within multidisciplinary product teams, we would love for you to apply.

What will I be doing?

• Being part of a multi-disciplinary team as a UX expert, following the double diamond process through running research studies and designing innovative experiences to support Cancer Research UK's diverse audiences.
• Line managing 2-3 direct reports and playing a key role in mentoring, coaching, and supporting more junior UX design team members across the UX team.
• Supporting the development of medium to long-term UX strategy and driving its delivery through collaborative design leadership.
• Identifying opportunities in the UX capability to help develop Cancer Research UK's UX maturity across the organisation.
• Seeking out opportunities to lead and/or contribute to projects, products and initiatives where UX skill sets could be beneficial.
• Applying your UX skills and expertise to support the delivery of work for Cancer Research UK.
• Acting as an influential UX specialist across the organisation by sharing knowledge and presenting work to peers, stakeholders and the broader organisation.
• Maintaining the forefront of new developments within design and other related topics to utilise or develop own skills or expertise in an ever-changing technology landscape.
• Identifying and seeking resolution of complex problems within the UX capability and exploring new ideas and opportunities.
• Engaging and influencing a diverse range of internal stakeholders to deliver user-centred solutions.
• Training, coaching, and upskilling team members and colleagues across the organisation in the tools and techniques of user-centred design.
• Acting as a day-to-day point of contact for UX-related enquiries.
• Representing Cancer Research UK's UX offering both internally and externally.
• Building relationships with key staff across the organisation to maintain effectiveness in the role.

What skills will I need?

• Senior UX expert with in-depth experience independently leading, delivering, and completing multiple UX projects simultaneously.
• Empathy- with a proven ability and awareness of navigating sensitive topics in research with a wide range of audiences.
• Experience working with marginalised user groups or users within similar sensitivities would be advantageous (for example, healthcare and charities, etc.).
• Strong design skills covering key UX processes, including most of the following: User research, interviews, competitor analysis, persona/archetype creation, user journey mapping, running design workshops, design sprints, prototyping using Figma, usability testing (remote, in-person and Guerrilla), smoke tests, A/B testing and multivariant testing using Optimizely, analysing Hotjar or GA data, lean UX, accessibility and inclusive design, heuristic evaluations, contextual inquiry, survey writing, design system use.
• Ability to clearly communicate, present and articulate UX concepts, benefits of user research, your process, and design decisions to peers and stakeholders through innovative storytelling techniques.
• Agile methodologies with experience working within multi-disciplinary teams.
• Strong organisational, prioritisation, and planning skills with the ability to work independently and identify where your work has the biggest impact.
• Proven ability to build and manage strong stakeholder relationships across the organisation with a collaborative working style.
• Supportive team player who has operated within large design teams with varying levels of experience and diverse design skillsets.
• Continuous learning attitude and keeps up to date on new advancements in technology and UX ways of working.

What will I gain?

Each and every one of our employees contributes to our progress and is supporting our work to beat cancer. We think that's impressive. In return, we make sure you are supported by a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools, policies and processes to enable you to do your job well. Our benefits package includes a substantial retirement plan, a generous and flexible leave allowance, discounts on anything from travel to technology, gym membership, and much more. We don't forget people have lives outside of work too and so we actively encourage a flexible working culture. Our work – from funding cutting-edge research to developing public policy – will change the world. It's exciting to be part of our team.

For the full job description and more information about working with us view our candidate pack.

Cancer Research UK's Technology team is proud to be part of the Tech Talent Charter (TTC) for our efforts in driving equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Our vision is a digital world accessible to all, and we have always sought to draw from a diverse pool of talent and maintain an inclusive working environment.

For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.