UX Research Manager (Maternity Cover, 12 months)

Detailed Description From Employer:

UX Research Manager (Maternity Cover, 12 months)

Who we are:

interactive investor is an award-winning investment platform that puts its customers in control of their financial future.

We've been helping investors for nearly 30 years. We've seen market highs and lows and been resilient throughout. We're now the UK's number one flat-fee investment platform, with assets under administration approaching £75 billion and over 450,000 customers.

For a simple, flat monthly fee we provide a secure home for your pensions, ISAs and investments. We offer a wide choice of over 20,000 UK and international investment options, including shares, funds, trusts and ETFs.

We also bring impartial, expert content from our award-winning financial journalists, highly engaged community of investors, and daily newsletters and insights.

What we stand for:

It's simple ... we want to help people confidently take control of their financial future, for interactive investor to go from strength to strength and be a workplace where we can all thrive. Our customer-driven approach and bold values sit at the heart of this. We are honest, straight talking and transparent with our customers and our colleagues. We are decisive and take ownership of what we say and deliver. We are ambitious and passionate and encouraged to fight for what we believe is right for our customers, our teams, ourselves and interactive investor.

Key Responsibilities of a UX Research Manager:

• Collaborate with Managers: Partner closely with the UX Operations Manager, and UX Design Manager to align research strategies with broader business objectives and delivery squads. Ensure that research insights are seamlessly integrated into the design process, shaping user-centered experiences.
• Ensure High-Quality Research Standards: Lead the research team to maintain rigorous standards across all projects, employing robust methodologies and best practices to deliver high-quality, actionable insights that drive user-centered designs.
• Consistency in Research Across Products: Establish and uphold a consistent approach to research across all products and service, ensuring a cohesive experience for users informed by comprehensive insights. Work in partnership with the Brand team to ensure research considers brand identity.
• Brand Ally: Collaborate with the Brand team to ensure that research supports and enhances the brand's consistency across products and services, helping to inform and refine brand-aligned design decisions.
• Champion Digital Accessibility in Research: Advocate for accessibility-focused research to ensure digital products meet accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG). Ensure that insights about users with diverse abilities are integrated into design practices to create inclusive, accessible experiences.
• Mentor and Develop the Research Team: Provide leadership and mentorship, fostering an environment of continuous learning, professional growth, and research excellence within the team.
• Facilitate Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as a bridge between research, design, development, product, and marketing teams. Ensure that research findings inform business objectives and align with technical feasibility.
• User-Centered Research Advocacy: Champion a user-centered research approach across the organisation. Ensure that user needs and feedback are at the forefront of strategic decision-making and product development processes.
• Test and Research with Users with Disabilities: Prioritise research that includes users with disabilities, using a variety of methods such as usability testing, interviews, and observational studies to assess and address accessibility needs. Partner with accessibility specialists to identify and address pain points, ensuring that our products are usable and enjoyable for all users, regardless of their abilities.
• Drive Innovation in Research Methods: Lead the exploration of innovative research methodologies, tools, and industry trends to keep the research team at the forefront of the field, enhancing research capabilities and insights.
• Foster a Collaborative Team Environment: Cultivate a team culture that values open communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Enable professional growth and continuous improvement in research practices.
• Empower UX Researchers for Insightful Innovation: Support UX researchers in exploring and testing innovative methods to gain new insights. Encourage creativity and ensure that research aligns with broader business objectives and user needs.
• Conduct and Lead Research Critiques: Organize and facilitate regular research critique sessions, providing constructive feedback and fostering an open environment where team members can discuss and refine their work to achieve optimal research outcomes.
• User Journey Insights and Optimisation: Work with product managers, designers, developers, and other stakeholders to map and analyze user journeys. Identify pain points and opportunities for improvement, providing data-driven insights that inform journey optimisation efforts.
• Evidence-Based Design Advocacy: Promote data-driven design decisions by ensuring that user insights are actively incorporated into design iterations, leading to continuous improvement of the overall user experience across all products.

Requirements

Skills & Experience Required:

Leadership and Team Management: Proven experience in leading, mentoring, and managing a team of UX researchers, fostering a collaborative, evidence-based, and innovative work environment.

User-Centered Research: Deep understanding of user-centered research principles, with experience in a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including user interviews, surveys, usability testing, personas, and journey mapping to derive actionable insights that inform design.

Research Tools Proficiency: Expertise in industry-standard research tools for both qualitative and quantitative analysis, including usability testing software, survey tools, and data analysis platforms (e.g., UserTesting, UserZoom, Content Square, Hot Jar).

High-Quality Insight Generation: Strong ability to translate complex user behaviors and needs into clear, actionable insights, providing depth in areas like user motivations, pain points, and opportunities for improvement. Skilled in synthesizing research findings to guide and elevate the overall user experience.

Design System and Accessibility Research Contribution: Experience contributing research insights to design systems, ensuring that the design system supports usability and accessibility standards across multiple platforms and products. Skilled in gathering user feedback on design components to ensure consistency and efficiency in design.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, design, and marketing, to ensure research aligns with and supports broader business goals. Actively incorporates stakeholder input into research planning to maximize impact.

Digital Accessibility Expertise: Knowledge of digital accessibility standards and best practices (e.g., WCAG) with experience in conducting research with users of all abilities. Skilled in accessibility testing and usability assessments for users with disabilities to ensure inclusive product experiences.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to analyze user data, feedback, and research metrics to inform decision-making and drive continuous improvement. Proficient in identifying patterns within data to address user needs and business goals effectively.

Communication and Presentation Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present research insights, methodologies, and strategies to stakeholders at all levels. Skilled in translating complex research findings into clear, actionable recommendations for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Stakeholder Management and Expectation Setting: Strong ability to manage relationships and set clear expectations with stakeholders at all levels. Skilled in communicating research goals, timelines, and outcomes effectively to ensure alignment and transparency. Capable of balancing stakeholder needs with research objectives to prioritize projects that deliver the highest impact.

Personal attributes:

Straight talking Moving with speed Owning the outcome

• Clear communicator
• Strong team player
• Demonstrated passion and drive for delivering the best outcome
• Moving with speed - delivering faster and better
• Decisive and take ownership of outcomes
• Not afraid to challenge and be open to challenges