Lead UX Researcher/ Designer

Want to join a team with a mission to improve and save lives? We continually look for motivated and skilled individuals who are interested in supporting our customers – healthcare professionals who use our products to help patients and their communities. Elekta is looking for a Lead UX Researcher/ Designer to join our global Design organisation and help us to lead the user experience and design strategy with user insights. Elekta’s products enable the treatment of cancers with radiation therapy. Improving the design and user experience of our products enhances the life and work of patients, oncologists and other healthcare professionals around the globe. The position will be based in either our Crawley, UK office or in our Helsinki, Finland Office.

Design at Elekta: At Elekta, UX Research synthesizes insights from a clinical team of physicians, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and physicists and feeds these insights into product development, to ensure the clinical team can provide the best care for cancer patients. As a member of our multidisciplinary global design team, consisting of 26 professionals from the UK, US, Finland, and China, you will collaborate with experts in Industrial Design, UX Design, UX Research, and UX Development to create cohesive, user-centred experiences for our users and their patients.

What you’ll do at Elekta: UX Research goes beyond user understanding and focuses on turning insights into business advantage, ensuring clinical workflows are safe, effective and as smooth as possible. The Lead UX Researcher will be responsible for leading user-centric design and conducting hands-on UX research and usability activities from concept ideas to production and post-production stages. Reporting to the UX Research Manager, this role will collaborate closely with other design verticals, including Industrial Design, UX Design and UX Development, as well as stakeholders in Product Management, Engineering and Service.

• Leads and delivers hands-on research tasks for a large and complex product or a workflow solution consisting of several products.
• Acts as the single point of contact for their area of responsibility.
• Takes holistic responsibility for the user experience of a complex product or a workflow solution.
• Acts as the subject matter expert and lead designer for the end-to-end workflow / user journey.
• Drives the long-term UX vision for the responsibility area.
• Defines UX research strategy and leads its execution, aligned with regulatory frameworks and business targets.
• Coordinates the prioritization of the discovery and user-centred design activities within their own responsibility area with the respective product manager.
• Independently plans, facilitates and documents contextual user research studies, interviews, surveys, task and use error analyses, user reviews, heuristic evaluations, and usability testing.
• Takes responsibility for completion of tasks aligned with project timelines.
• Balances the methods with available resources to meet the business objectives.
• Drives progress and decision-making that affects user experience.
• Plans and facilitates workshops for collaborative ideation, journey mapping, service blueprint, and concept design.
• Collaborates closely with product leaders.
• Networks actively outside their immediate working group to ensure wider alignment on decisions.
• Presents and shares the progress of user experience design with wider audiences.
• Adapts their approach and style according to the audience.
• Understands and articulates the value that user-centred design brings to the business.
• Acts as the expert in regulatory usability requirements for medical devices and usability engineering principles.
• Manages subcontracted agencies for test participant recruitment, and for formative and summative evaluations.
• Instructs, coaches, and delegates work to more junior colleagues as required.

The right stuff: Expert thought-leader with confidence and credibility to influence senior stakeholders and direct cross-functional alignment on design. Expert storyteller with excellent presentation skills. Experience guiding and mentoring design professionals both across and within functions. Solid academic writing skills and ability to create clear and understandable documentation.

What you bring:

• Master’s degree in human factors engineering, Human Computer Interaction, experimental or cognitive psychology, cognitive engineering, User-Centred Design or equivalent learning/training.
• Knowledge base acquired from 5+ years of experience as an individual contributor in human factors, UX research, usability, or Service Design.
• Experience of working within complex and regulated product environments.
• Strong knowledge of qualitative and quantitative user research methods.
• Fully proficient in applying user-centred design and research methodology in a complex product environment to ensure good user experience.
• Proficiency in leading discovery and concept exploration activities to support product management in defining the product direction.
• Skilled in planning and facilitation of the workshops to support product innovation.
• Proficiency in use of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and common workshopping tools (like Miro, FigJam, LucidChart).
• Prior experience of working with the needs and priorities of clinicians and other healthcare professionals would be nice to have but is not essential.
• Familiarity with medical devices and their related regulatory frameworks would be nice to have but is not essential.

What you’ll get: In this role, you will work for a higher purpose; hope for everyone dealing with cancer, and for everyone regardless of where in the world, to have access to the best cancer care. In addition to this, Elekta offers a range of benefits for those located in Crawley.

• Hybrid work option (you are required to work from the Crawley or Helsinki HQ at least 3 days/week)
• Up to 25 paid vacation days (plus bank holidays)
• Holiday Purchase Scheme
• Private Medical Insurance
• Attractive Employer Pension Contribution Package
• Cycle to work scheme
• Life Assurance
• Onsite subsidized restaurant, offering budget-friendly dining
• Love electric (Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme)

If you are located in Helsinki, Finland:

• Flexible work @ Elekta (this is a hybrid role – you will need to be in our Helsinki office 3 days a week)
• Lunch Benefit
• Sport and culture Benefit
• Occupational Healthcare
• OP Health Insurance
• Mobile Phone Benefit

Hiring process: We are looking forward to hearing from you! Apply by submitting your application and résumé in English, via the “Apply” button. Please note that we do not accept applications by e-mail.

Your Elekta contact: For questions, please contact the Global Talent Acquisition Partner responsible, Sarah Elmasry, at Sarah.Elmasry@elekta.com. We do not accept applications through e-mail.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.