Senior UX Researcher (12 months)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX Researcher (12 months)

Company: RBS

Location: London, United Kingdom (with potential for Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: User Experience Research / Design Operations

Date Posted: 2026-02-13

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years inferred)

Remote Status: Remote First (with office presence in specified locations)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic direction and delivery of user research initiatives for complex projects and programmes, ensuring user-centricity and alignment with business objectives.

• Drive the development and implementation of user research guidelines and standards to enhance consistency, quality, and scalability across the organization.

• Mentor and coach colleagues to build user research capabilities and advance the maturity of research and design practices within the bank.

• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure effective delivery of strategic initiatives, managing stakeholders and advocating for user needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Remote First" work arrangement, coupled with multiple UK office locations (London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester), suggests a hybrid model where individuals can work remotely but are expected to be present in an office for specific meetings, team sessions, or project kick-offs. The 12-month contract nature indicates a project-based need, likely for a significant initiative or to supplement existing team capacity. The "Senior" title and inferred experience level (5-10 years) point to a role requiring a high degree of autonomy, strategic thinking, and leadership in research execution.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the scoping, direction, and planning of user research for mid-size and complex projects and programmes, contributing to the overarching user research strategy.

• Oversee and execute user research activities, ensuring outputs are validated, aligned with user needs and business requirements, and free from delivery barriers.

• Make project- and programme-level research decisions within defined authority, maintaining momentum, resolving blockers, and ensuring deliverables support informed, user-centred design decisions.

• 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 provide constructive feedback to colleagues, fostering capability development and advancing research and design practice maturity.

• Ensure research activities generate high-quality, inclusive insights that reflect diverse user perspectives and enable meaningful, user-centred decision-making.

• Communicate the value and impact of user research decisions to a wide range of audiences clearly and compellingly.

• Act as a key contact for stakeholders, managing expectations, influencing decisions, and resolving risks, conflicts, and alignment issues within defined authority.

• Support user research capability by sharing best practices, contributing to community engagement, and proactively improving personal user research skills.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "complex projects and programmes" and "strategic initiatives" indicates this role requires a researcher capable of navigating intricate organizational structures and large-scale digital transformation efforts. The responsibility for "making project- and programme-level research decisions within defined authority" highlights the need for a proactive and decisive individual who can operate with a significant degree of autonomy.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Design Research, or a related field is typically expected for senior-level UX research roles.

Experience: 5-10 years of progressive experience in user experience research, with a demonstrated track record of leading research for complex digital products and services.

Required Skills:

• Strong understanding of user-centred design principles and methodologies.

• Comprehensive knowledge of diverse user research methods (e.g., ethnography, usability testing, interviews, surveys, diary studies, card sorting, tree testing).

• Proven ability to embed accessibility and inclusion into both research processes and design outputs.

• Experience delivering user research for mid-size and increasingly complex projects and programmes within digital product and service development lifecycle.

• Demonstrated experience in leading research initiatives and making informed, user-centred design decisions.

• Proven leadership skills, with experience mentoring junior researchers or guiding teams.

• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, including presenting complex information clearly to diverse audiences.

• Experience working in multidisciplinary teams and collaborating effectively with cross-functional partners (e.g., Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, Business Analysts).

• Proficiency in design thinking, research, data analysis, and facilitation techniques.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience supporting product designers in iterating experiences and adapting research methods in response to new learnings and evolving business objectives.

• Knowledge of improving customer experience within complex, regulated environments.

• Understanding of complex lending products, particularly in the SME space.

• Familiarity with corporate banking platforms, products, and services.

• Experience recruiting niche users for research, especially through liaising with customer-facing teams.

• Experience developing new and enhanced customer experiences within complex and constrained legacy systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "5-10 years" experience level is an inference based on the "Senior" title and the scope of responsibilities, which include leading complex projects and mentoring colleagues. The emphasis on "embedding accessibility and inclusion" is a critical requirement for modern UX research roles, particularly within large financial institutions.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing a range of user research projects, demonstrating your ability to gather and communicate diverse user perspectives to inform design decisions.

• Case studies that highlight your approach to research planning, execution, analysis, and the impact of your findings on product or service development.

• Examples of how you have embedded accessibility and inclusion considerations within your research methodologies and recommendations.

Process Documentation:

• Ability to create, evolve, and promote user research guidelines and standards, demonstrating a structured approach to process development and documentation.

• Documentation of research plans, methodologies, findings, and recommendations that are clear, concise, and actionable for multidisciplinary teams.

• Experience in developing processes that ensure research outputs are validated, aligned with user needs and business requirements, and effectively integrated into the product development lifecycle.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior UX Researcher role, a portfolio is paramount. It should not just show what was done, but why and how, with a clear articulation of the impact on user experience and business outcomes. The ability to formalize and standardize research processes is a key differentiator for senior roles.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Senior UX Researcher role in London with 5-10 years of experience, the estimated salary range is £60,000 - £85,000 per annum. This is an estimate based on industry benchmarks for similar roles in London, considering the seniority and the financial services sector.

Benefits:

• 12-month fixed-term contract.

• Full-time employment with a structured working week.

• Opportunity to work on significant, complex projects within a major financial institution.

• Exposure to diverse business areas and customer segments, including SME and corporate banking.

• Development opportunities through coaching, mentoring, and continuous learning.

• Potential for flexible working arrangements under the "Remote First" policy.

• Access to RBS employee benefits (specifics would need to be confirmed with the hiring team, but typically include pension contributions, potential for performance-related bonuses, and other standard corporate benefits).

Working Hours: 35 hours per week. The "Remote First" approach suggests flexibility in how these hours are structured, though core working hours for collaboration will likely be expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on industry data for Senior UX Researchers in London. The 12-month contract nature may influence the overall compensation package compared to a permanent role. Specific benefits should be clarified during the interview process.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Banking and Financial Services. RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) is a major UK-based bank with a significant digital transformation agenda. This means a focus on improving customer experience through technology and data.

Company Size: Large enterprise (RBS is a major global financial institution). This implies a structured environment with established processes, but also opportunities for impact within specific projects or departments.

Founded: Royal Bank of Scotland was founded in 1727. This long history suggests a company with deep roots, but also one that must continually adapt to modern market demands and technological advancements.

Team Structure:

• The UX Research team likely operates within a broader Experience Design or Digital Transformation function.

• This role involves leading research for "mid-size and increasingly complex projects and programmes," suggesting collaboration with multiple project teams and potentially a matrixed reporting structure.

Methodology:

• Emphasis on user-centred design, accessibility, and inclusion.

• Application of agile delivery methods.

• Data analysis and facilitation are key skills, suggesting a data-informed approach to research and decision-making.

• Focus on creating, evolving, and promoting user research guidelines and standards, implying a desire for process maturity and best practice adoption.

Company Website: https://www.rbs.co.uk/ (Note: The provided URL was to the job application portal, this is a general company site.)

📝 Enhancement Note: Working for a large, established bank like RBS means navigating a complex organizational landscape. The "Remote First" approach indicates a modern outlook on work, but the company's core business in banking requires a strong emphasis on security, compliance, and customer trust.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Senior Individual Contributor / Team Lead. This role sits at a senior individual contributor level, with significant leadership responsibilities in guiding research strategy, execution, and mentoring junior staff. It offers a pathway to more strategic research leadership or potentially management roles within UX or product development.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly detailed, a Senior UX Researcher typically reports to a Head of UX Research, a Design Director, or a Head of Product Design. The role will involve close collaboration with Product Managers, Lead Designers, and Programme Managers.

Operations Impact: The role directly impacts the success of digital products and services by ensuring they meet user needs and business goals. This includes shaping the user experience strategy for complex initiatives, which can have a significant impact on customer acquisition, retention, satisfaction, and operational efficiency within the bank.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in specific research methodologies, accessibility standards, or domain knowledge (e.g., SME lending, corporate banking).

• Leadership Development: Enhance coaching, mentoring, and strategic planning skills. Potential to lead larger research programmes or a small team of researchers.

• Cross-functional Exposure: Gain broader understanding of banking operations, product development lifecycles, and stakeholder management within a large enterprise.

• Specialization: Develop expertise in niche areas like complex system design, financial product research, or inclusive design for vulnerable customer segments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The 12-month contract provides a focused opportunity to gain experience on significant projects within a major financial institution. While it's a fixed term, the skills and experience gained can be highly transferable and valuable for future roles, potentially even within RBS if opportunities arise.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The "Remote First" policy combined with office locations in London, Bristol, Birmingham, and Manchester suggests a hybrid working model. Employees are primarily remote but are expected to leverage office spaces for collaborative activities, team meetings, and specific project needs. The offices likely offer modern co-working spaces, meeting rooms, and collaboration hubs.

Office Location(s): London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, United Kingdom. This provides geographical flexibility for candidates within commuting distance of these major cities.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: Expect a blend of independent remote work and in-person collaboration. The role requires engagement with diverse teams, fostering a collaborative atmosphere.

• Operations Tools & Technology: Access to standard enterprise collaboration tools (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Slack), project management software, and potentially specialized UX research platforms and tools.

• Team Interaction: Regular virtual and in-person interactions with UX researchers, designers, product managers, and other stakeholders are integral to the role.

Work Schedule: 35 hours per week. The "Remote First" arrangement implies flexibility in daily scheduling, allowing individuals to balance work and personal life, provided project deadlines and collaboration needs are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Remote First" designation is key here. It means the default is remote work, but the presence of physical office locations indicates that in-person collaboration is valued and will be required at certain times. Candidates should be prepared for a mix of remote and on-site engagement.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

1. Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your application and CV, assessing alignment with the core requirements and experience.

2. Hiring Manager Interview: A deeper dive into your experience, research philosophy, leadership capabilities, and understanding of user-centred design and agile methodologies.

3. Portfolio Review & Presentation: You will likely be asked to present a selection of your work, focusing on 2-3 key projects that demonstrate your skills in leading complex research, stakeholder management, and driving impact. This is a critical stage.

4. Team/Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews with potential colleagues (e.g., other researchers, designers, product managers) to assess cultural fit, collaboration style, and technical depth.

5. Final Interview: Potentially with a more senior leader to discuss strategic alignment and overall fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best showcase your ability to lead research for complex initiatives, handle stakeholder management, and drive tangible outcomes. Include examples of how you've embedded accessibility and inclusion.

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your role and approach, the methodologies used, key insights, the design decisions influenced, and the resulting impact (quantifiable metrics are a plus).

• Highlight Leadership & Mentorship: Showcase instances where you've guided research strategy, mentored junior team members, or influenced cross-functional teams.

• Demonstrate Process Thinking: Explain how you develop and refine research processes, and how you contribute to establishing guidelines and standards.

• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your decision-making process, how you handle conflicting stakeholder opinions, and how you measure research success.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be ready for a practical exercise or case study that might involve analyzing a research problem, outlining a research plan, or critiquing an existing design.

• Prepare to discuss how you would approach research within a complex banking environment, considering regulatory constraints and diverse user needs (e.g., SME owners, corporate clients).

• Practice articulating the value of UX research to non-research stakeholders, focusing on business impact and ROI.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio review is likely the most crucial part of the application process for this role. Candidates should prepare to articulate not just their research findings, but their strategic thinking, leadership, and the business impact of their work.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• User Research Platforms: Experience with tools for usability testing, surveys, and feedback collection (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback, Maze, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey).

• Collaboration & Project Management: Proficiency in tools like Jira, Confluence, Asana, Trello for agile project tracking and documentation.

• Design & Prototyping Tools (Familiarity): Understanding of tools used by designers, such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, to better collaborate and interpret design iterations.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Familiarity with data analysis tools to interpret quantitative research data and complement qualitative findings. This could include Excel, Google Sheets, or potentially more advanced analytics platforms if the role involves deeper data integration.

CRM & Automation:

• While not a primary focus for a UX Researcher, familiarity with CRM systems (like Salesforce) and understanding how user data is managed can be beneficial for context.

• Understanding of how research insights can feed into automation strategies for customer journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: While this isn't a typical "operations" role in the sense of Sales or RevOps, a Senior UX Researcher in a large enterprise will interact with various systems. The key is adaptability and the ability to learn new tools quickly. The emphasis is on research execution tools and collaborative platforms.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and advocating for the user in all decision-making processes.

• Data-Driven Insights: Valuing robust research and analysis to inform strategy and design, moving beyond assumptions.

• Collaboration & Inclusion: Working effectively with diverse teams and ensuring research and design consider all user segments.

• Continuous Improvement: A drive to evolve research practices, learn new methods, and enhance the quality and impact of research outputs.

• Integrity & Trust: Upholding high ethical standards in research and contributing to building customer trust within the financial sector.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Actively partnering with Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Business Analysts to ensure research is integrated throughout the product lifecycle.

• Constructive Feedback: Providing and receiving feedback openly to improve research quality and team dynamics.

• Knowledge Sharing: Proactively sharing research findings, best practices, and learnings across teams and the wider organization to build collective capability.

• Agile & Iterative: Embracing an iterative approach to research, adapting plans and methods as needed based on project progress and new learnings.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture at RBS, as inferred from the job description, emphasizes a strong, user-focused approach within a structured, collaborative, and data-informed environment. The "Remote First" policy also suggests a culture that values trust and autonomy.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Complexity: Working within a large, established financial institution with potentially complex legacy systems and intricate organizational structures.

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: Managing diverse stakeholder expectations and priorities while championing user needs and research integrity.

• Pace of Change: Adapting research approaches to meet the demands of agile delivery and evolving business objectives within a 12-month project scope.

• Recruiting Niche Users: The specific mention of recruiting niche users for research, particularly in SME and corporate banking, can be a significant challenge requiring strong outreach and relationship-building skills.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Domain Expertise: Gaining in-depth knowledge of complex financial products and services, particularly in SME and corporate banking.

• Strategic Research Leadership: Developing skills in shaping research strategy for large-scale programmes and influencing senior stakeholders.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Deepening understanding of product management, engineering, and business strategy within a financial services context.

• Mentorship & Coaching: Honing leadership skills by guiding and developing junior researchers and contributing to capability building.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the need for a resilient, adaptable, and strategically minded researcher. The growth opportunities are substantial, offering a chance to develop specialized domain knowledge and advanced leadership capabilities within a respected financial institution.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex project where you led user research from end-to-end. What were the key challenges, how did you overcome them, and what was the impact of your research?" (Focus on leadership, problem-solving, and impact).

• "How do you embed accessibility and inclusion into your research process? Provide specific examples." (Demonstrate your commitment to inclusive design).

• "How would you approach building a user research strategy for a new digital banking initiative aimed at SMEs?" (Showcase strategic thinking and domain understanding).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about working for RBS, and specifically within financial services UX research?" (Show your research into the company and industry).

• "How do you contribute to building research capability within a team or organization?" (Highlight your mentoring and knowledge-sharing experience).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select Impactful Projects: Choose 2-3 projects that best represent your ability to lead complex research, demonstrate strategic thinking, and drive measurable impact.

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly outline the problem, your role, methodology, key insights, design recommendations, and the outcomes (quantify where possible).

• Highlight Leadership: Emphasize your role in scoping, planning, and guiding the research, as well as any mentoring provided.

• Be Concise and Engaging: Practice your presentation to ensure it flows well and stays within the allotted time, focusing on clarity and key takeaways.

• Prepare for Deep Dives: Be ready to answer detailed questions about your methodology, decision-making, and challenges faced.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will heavily rely on your ability to articulate your research process, demonstrate strategic thinking, showcase leadership, and clearly communicate the impact of your work, particularly within a complex, regulated industry like banking.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior UX Researcher position:

• Submit your CV and Portfolio: Ensure your CV highlights your experience with complex projects, leadership, and agile methodologies. Your portfolio is critical; tailor it to showcase your strengths relevant to this role.

• Craft a compelling cover letter (if applicable): Briefly explain why you are a strong candidate for this 12-month contract and how your experience aligns with RBS's goals in user research and digital transformation.

• Prepare your portfolio for presentation: Select 2-3 key projects that demonstrate your ability to lead research for complex initiatives, manage stakeholders, and drive impact. Rehearse your presentation.

• Research RBS and the financial services sector: Understand their current digital offerings, any recent news, and the specific challenges and opportunities in banking UX.

• Anticipate interview questions: Practice answering questions about your research process, leadership, stakeholder management, and how you embed accessibility and inclusion.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.