Research Lead in Abingdon

Responsibilities

As Research Lead at T&F, you will own the qualitative understanding of our users. Reporting to the Head of Product Design, you’ll uncover users’ motivations, mental models, and unmet needs through interviews, usability studies, and diary studies. You are quantitatively literate enough to work alongside Customer Intelligence and Data Science, knowing when a hypothesis needs qual versus quant and how to triangulate between them.

Research Practice Leadership – Own research as a discipline at T&F, define and evolve our research practice, establish standards, methods, and ethical principles. Build and maintain a research programme that balances reactive support with proactive, generative research. Develop a research repository and knowledge management system to make user insights reusable. Build research literacy across product teams, coaching designers, managers, and analysts to conduct lightweight research confidently without creating dependency.

Generative & Discovery Research – Lead studies that open new problem spaces, not just validate existing solutions. Design and lead generative research studies: in‑depth interviews, contextual inquiry, diary studies, and ethnographic observation to build deep understanding of users’ goals and outcomes. Identify unanswered questions and build a proactive research agenda. Synthesize findings into sharp, decision‑relevant insight that is actionable for PMs and designers.

Evaluative & Usability Research – Evaluate how what is built works for the people. Design and run usability studies, concept tests, and prototype evaluations across product domains. Establish a continuous evaluation rhythm and integrate research early in the design process. Define standards for “tested with users”, including sample sizes, participant criteria, and criteria for design change.

Mixed Methods & Data Partnership – Bridge qualitative and quantitative research. Partner with Customer Intelligence and Data teams to bring qualitative context to behavioural signals and use quantitative data to prioritise qualitative investigations. Identify when qualitative findings need quantitative validation and design the right measurement approach. Contribute to survey instruments and quantitative research designs.

Insight Translation & Organisational Impact – Ensure insight moves from study to decision. Develop personas, journey maps, and experience principles grounded in research. Present findings to senior stakeholders, create feedback loops, and champion inclusive research practice.

Qualifications

• Significant years in user research with a portfolio demonstrating both generative and evaluative research across complex, consumer‑facing digital products.
• Mastery of qualitative research methods: in‑depth interviewing, contextual inquiry, usability testing, diary studies, and judgement of method fit.
• Mixed‑methods capability: quantitatively literate, comfortable interpreting behavioural data, and experienced working alongside data analysts to triangulate findings.
• Track record of research that changed product decisions, design directions, or strategic priorities.
• Strong synthesis and storytelling skills; able to distil long interview material into key insights.
• Experience building research practice, establishing standards, developing repositories, fostering research literacy in non‑researchers, and advocating for investment.
• Collaborative nature and ability to build genuine partnerships with designers, PMs, and data colleagues.

What You Should Know

• The role is based in the UK; you must have the right to work and live in the UK.
• You will work in‑person at Milton Park or London office three days a week or more, with flexible support to work from home or remotely for the rest of the time.
• Candidates should live within a commutable distance to our office to meet the in‑person requirement.
• Milton Park office will relocate to Oxford city centre in late 2027/early 2028.

Benefits

• Excellent work/life balance with flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Company‑funded single‑cover private medical insurance
• Employee assistance programme with 24/7 well‑being support
• Share match programme, pension scheme, life assurance, and optical and medical care

Equal Opportunity Employer

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed. We recruit, develop, and retain colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non‑merit‑based factor. If you have a disability, or face another barrier, and would like to request an adjustment to assist your participation in the hiring process and/or the advertised position, please contact careers@taylorfrancis.com. Your request will be reviewed and considered in the strictest confidence.