Senior UX Researcher (12 months)

Senior UX Researcher (12 months)

Full-Time 36000 - 60000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
NatWest Group

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead user research and design strategy for impactful projects.
  • Company: Dynamic organisation focused on user-centred design and innovation.
  • Benefits: Remote-first work environment with opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Collaborative culture with a focus on inclusivity and diverse perspectives.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping user experiences and leading teams.
  • Qualifications: Strong understanding of user-centred design and research methods.

The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.

Join us as a Senior UX Researcher. In this dynamic role, you’ll have the chance to make a real impact by contributing to the user research and experience design strategy, as well as leading the delivery of associated strategic initiatives.

You’ll lead user research for mid-size and increasingly complex projects, ensuring designs are user-centred, inclusive, and aligned with experience design, business area, and enterprise strategies. This is an opportunity for you, as an evolving leader, to lead teams toward achieving project goals while continuing to develop your leadership skills and capabilities. We are offering this role for a period of 12 months.

What you’ll do:

  • Lead the scoping, direction, and planning of user research for mid-size and increasingly complex projects and programmes, while also contributing to the development of the overall user research strategy.
  • Oversee and execute user research activities across the business area, ensuring outputs are validated, aligned with user needs and business requirements, and free from delivery barriers.
  • Make project- and programme-level research decisions within your defined authority, maintaining momentum, resolving blockers, and ensuring that deliverables support informed, user-centred design decisions that balance user needs with business goals.
  • Collaborate closely across design disciplines and other functions, engaging key stakeholders to ensure alignment and effective delivery of projects, programmes, and strategic initiatives.
  • Create, evolve, and promote user research guidelines and standards to drive consistency, quality, and scalability across the bank.
  • Coach, mentor, and give constructive feedback to colleagues, helping to build capability and advance the maturity of research and design practice.
  • Ensure that research activities generate high-quality, inclusive insights that reflect diverse user perspectives and enable meaningful, user-centred decision-making.

In addition, you’ll be:

  • Enabling collaboration across multiple disciplines and functions for programmes and complex projects, ensuring clarity on responsibilities and deliverables for each discipline.
  • Communicating the value and impact of user research decisions for projects and programmes to a wide range of audiences in a clear and compelling way.
  • Acting as a key contact for stakeholders, managing expectations, influencing decisions, and resolving risks, conflicts, and alignment issues within defined authority and escalating when necessary.
  • Shaping and evolving guidelines and standards to drive scalability, consistency, quality, accessibility, and inclusion in user research and design, ensuring all outputs comply with necessary regulations.
  • Supporting user research capability by coaching and mentoring colleagues, sharing best practice, contributing to community engagement, and proactively improving your own user research skills.

Skills and Qualifications:

We’re looking for someone with a strong understanding of user-centred design and comprehensive knowledge of user research methods and practices. You must also have a solid grasp of how to embed accessibility and inclusion into both research and design. Experience delivering user research for mid-size and increasingly complex projects and programmes as part of digital product and service development is essential too, supported by a portfolio that showcases your ability to gather and communicate diverse user perspectives to inform design decisions.

To succeed in this role, you’ll need experience working in multidisciplinary teams and collaborating effectively with cross-functional partners, along with proven leadership skills. Strong stakeholder management is also key, with a focus on clear communication, expectation management, and the ability to present the rationale behind your work while advocating for the value and impact of design.

Other key skills and experience you’ll need:

  • Experience defining and leading user research projects and programmes at pace, using agile delivery methods.
  • Strong skills in design thinking, research, data analysis, and facilitation.
  • Experience supporting user research capability development including coaching and mentoring, as well as sharing constructive feedback and knowledge with colleagues.

Additional skills and experience that will be beneficial:

  • Supporting product designers in iterating experiences and switching between mixed methods in response to new learnings and evolving business objectives.
  • Knowledge of improving customer experience and understanding of complex lending products, particularly in the SME space.
  • Familiarity with more complex corporate banking platforms, products and services and recruiting niche users for research, particularly through liaising with customer-facing teams.
  • Experience of developing new and enhanced customer experiences within complex and constrained legacy systems.

Hours: 35

Job Posting Closing Date: is not yet published.

Ways of Working: Remote First

Senior UX Researcher (12 months) employer: NatWest Group

Join a forward-thinking organisation that values innovation and user-centred design, offering you the chance to lead impactful user research initiatives as a Senior UX Researcher. With a remote-first work culture, we prioritise flexibility and inclusivity, providing ample opportunities for professional growth and collaboration across diverse teams. Here, your contributions will not only shape user experiences but also enhance your leadership skills in a supportive environment committed to excellence.

NatWest Group

Contact Details:

NatWest Group Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Senior UX Researcher (12 months)

Tip Number 1

Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the UX field and let them know you're on the lookout for opportunities. You never know who might have a lead or can put in a good word for you.

Tip Number 2

Show off your skills! Create a portfolio that highlights your best user research projects. Make sure it’s easy to navigate and showcases your ability to gather diverse user perspectives—this is key for landing that Senior UX Researcher role.

Tip Number 3

Prepare for interviews by practising common UX research questions. Think about how you can communicate the value of your past projects and how they align with user-centred design principles. Confidence is key!

Tip Number 4

Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are proactive about their job search.

We think you need these skills to ace Senior UX Researcher (12 months)

User-Centred Design
User Research Methods
Accessibility and Inclusion
Digital Product Development
Stakeholder Management
Agile Delivery Methods
Design Thinking

Some tips for your application 🫡

Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Senior UX Researcher role. Highlight your experience with user-centred design and research methods, and don’t forget to showcase your leadership skills and how you've collaborated in multidisciplinary teams.

Showcase Your Portfolio:Include a link to your portfolio that demonstrates your ability to gather diverse user perspectives and inform design decisions. We want to see real examples of your work, especially those that align with mid-size and complex projects.

Be Clear and Compelling:When writing your application, communicate your ideas clearly and compellingly. Remember, you’ll need to present the rationale behind your work, so show us how you can effectively convey the value and impact of user research.

Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way to ensure your application gets to the right people and shows your enthusiasm for joining our team at StudySmarter!

How to prepare for a job interview at NatWest Group

Know Your User-Centred Design

Make sure you brush up on your understanding of user-centred design principles. Be ready to discuss how you've applied these in past projects, especially in complex environments. Highlight specific examples where your research directly influenced design decisions.

Showcase Your Leadership Skills

As a Senior UX Researcher, you'll be expected to lead teams and mentor others. Prepare to share experiences where you've successfully guided a team through challenges or helped colleagues develop their skills. This will demonstrate your capability as an evolving leader.

Communicate Clearly with Stakeholders

Practice articulating the value of user research to various audiences. Think about how you can convey complex ideas simply and effectively. You might even want to prepare a few anecdotes that illustrate how your research has resolved conflicts or aligned stakeholder expectations.

Prepare for Agile Discussions

Since the role involves agile delivery methods, be ready to discuss your experience with agile frameworks. Think about how you've adapted your research approach in fast-paced environments and be prepared to share examples of how you've iterated based on new learnings.