Senior User Research Manager – Metasearch (12-Month FTC)

About Skyscanner

Everyone loves travelling, but planning is not without its challenges. That’s why we’ve spent 20 years building tools that turn travel‑planning chaos into a breeze. Today, around 100 million travellers count on us every month to skip the whole “47 browser tabs open” phase and find flights, cards, and hotels quickly and easily. Joining Skyscanner means becoming part of a global brand that’s striving to become the planet's go‑to travel hack accessible for all. Our vision? To be the world's number one travel ally.

About The Role (Hybrid)

You’ll lead our mighty Metasearch Research team — the crew dedicated to understanding how travellers choose, compare, and book the best options across Flights, Hotels, Packages, and Cars. This role is all about elevating insight, shaping strategy, enabling great decision‑making, and championing the traveller at every turn. Reporting directly to the Director of Research within our Customer Experience (CX) team, you’ll partner closely with Product and Design leaders to shape the future of decision‑making across our marketplace.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading Strategic Research Initiatives: You’ll scout the horizon for the big questions before they land — designing forward‑looking, mixed‑method research that unlocks long‑term business opportunities.
• Guiding Core Product Development: You’ll provide hands‑on direction across the Flights, Hotels, Packages, and Cars workstreams, ensuring insights glide effortlessly into product decisions.
• Deepening Mixed‑Method Expertise: You’ll raise the bar on methodology — directing sophisticated frameworks and championing robust, actionable research that solves real business problems.
• Team Management: You’ll mentor and empower researchers, helping them refine their craft while adopting new tools and technology that boost both quality and scale.
• Cross‑Disciplinary Collaboration: You’ll partner with CX, Product, Design, and Analytics to shape questions, uncover truths, and craft narratives that inspire genuine action.
• Voice of the User: You’ll make sure travellers’ needs echo through every decision — using evidence, insight, and a learning mindset to cut through complexity.
• Data Integration & Reporting: You’ll join forces with Analytics to weave behavioural data and research findings into a single, powerful decision‑making engine for the business.

About You

• Extensive Mixed‑Methods Research Expertise: You’ve led impactful research programmes blending qualitative depth with quantitative confidence — from running in‑depth interviews and concept evaluations as you are synthesising behavioural data, usability metrics, or large‑scale survey results.
• Comprehensive Research Methodology Knowledge: You have expertise in product/user research and know when to use what, tailoring methodologies to fit diverse product and business challenges (bonus points for brand/marketing experience).
• Strong Leadership & Mentoring Skills: You thrive on coaching researchers, levelling up capability, and fostering a culture of curiosity and growth.
• Clear, Impactful Storytelling: You turn complex findings into sharp, compelling narratives that motivate teams and influence senior stakeholders.
• Growth‑Oriented Mindset: You navigate ambiguity with creativity, balancing user needs, business value, and strategic context with finesse.
• Experience in Dynamic Environments: You’re energised by pace, able to juggle multiple projects, and confident steering research through shifting priorities.
• Deep Analytical & Data‑Driven: You connect qualitative nuance with quantitative validation, making decisions grounded, empathetic, and strategically sound.
• Autonomous Self‑Starter and Influencer: You partner confidently with senior leaders, shaping strategy rather than simply responding to requests.

What It’s Like Here

We are the real deal — no corporate gloss, no empty promises. Just a team of genuinely curious, caring humans, building things that help travellers explore the world a little easier. Skyscanner is made up of brilliant humans from every corner of the world. We believe travel makes the world better — and that the same is true of our diverse teams. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and products that are accessible to all.

Sound like your kind of adventure? Apply now and help us shape the future of travel. We’re committed to ensuring our application and recruitment processes are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments or accommodations for interviews, and/or wish to apply under the Disability Confident scheme, please let your recruiter know. If you’d like more information on any of our policies, such as hybrid working or Parental Leave policies, our recruitment team can provide more information on these.