UX Engineer in Colchester

User‑centred design (U-CD) is seeking an experienced Principal UX Designer to lead complex digital and service design engagements within the medical technology and healthcare sector. This role is suited to a senior practitioner who combines strategic thinking, hands‑on design leadership, and the ability to influence clients operating in regulated environments.

The Principal UX Designer will work in close partnership with client organisations within the medical device industry, supporting the design and delivery of human‑centred solutions across the full episode of care. Engagements focus on balancing the needs of multiple user groups, including surgeons, clinical staff, patients, and caregivers, while aligning to regulatory, technical, and commercial constraints.

You will operate as a trusted advisor, embedding with client teams across R&D, Human Factors, Engineering, and Marketing to shape product and experience strategy from early discovery through delivery.

• Lead the definition and delivery of digital usability and UX strategies for medical technology programmes, ensuring alignment with client objectives, regulatory context, and user needs.
• Partner with client stakeholders across disciplines to translate complex requirements into clear, actionable design direction.
• Provide senior‑level design leadership across engagements, setting standards for quality, rigour, and consistency.
• Mentor and guide consultants and client‑side designers, championing best practices in user‑centred and human‑factors‑informed design.
• Apply deep contextual understanding through activities including competitive UX and market benchmarking, generative design and workflow‑led information architecture, visual storytelling and narrative development to support alignment and decision‑making, creation of mid‑ to high‑fidelity UX/UI prototypes for both physical and digital touchpoints, and planning and execution of formative and summative user testing, in collaboration with human factors and engineering teams.
• Build strong working relationships and formal networks across client organisations, supporting informed decision‑making that accounts for technical, regulatory, and organisational constraints.
• Communicate design rationale, insights, and recommendations clearly to senior client stakeholders, contributing to programme success and long‑term partnership value.
• Represent the end‑user and customer perspective throughout new product development initiatives, ensuring usability, safety, and experience quality remain central.

• Degree (Bachelor’s or Master’s) in User Experience Design, Human‑Computer Interaction, Industrial Design, or a related discipline.
• Years of experience delivering UX and human‑centred design outcomes, ideally within consultancy, agency, or complex enterprise environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in UX strategy and interaction design, design research and usability testing, high‑fidelity prototyping and storytelling, and design system creation, governance, and application.
• Proven ability to lead multiple client initiatives with differing objectives while maintaining usability, quality, and brand coherence.
• Strong consulting skills, including stakeholder management, facilitation, negotiation, and delivery of clear design recommendations.
• Extensive experience planning, moderating, documenting, and reporting usability studies.
• Working knowledge of relevant standards and guidance, including HE 75, IEC 62304, IEC 60601, IEC 62366, WCAG, and FDA human factors guidance.
• Experience working within medical devices or other safety-critical industries is strongly preferred.
• Fluent in English; additional European languages such as German or French are advantageous although not essential.