Lead User Researcher - Public Sector

About Kin + Carta

At Kin + Carta, we work with large, global businesses and organisations that require seamless end-to-end experiences that elevate their brands, products and services and put the user at its heart. 

As part of the team you'll be working on products and services for some of the world’s most influential organisations. UX Researchers through to Product Designers work in dedicated teams, anyone who has worked at a startup or in a product company will feel right at home. We are involved from planning through to execution, being an advocate for the user at every step of the way. You'll help the team to make informed design decisions, placing the needs of the user and the business at the centre of every piece of work.

About you

You’re primarily focused on user-centred design, applying your abilities in facilitation, user research, interaction design, information architecture and user testing – amongst others. You'll enjoy engaging with users and project partners to understand the product’s context, and synthesize your findings into easily digestible formats for your team.

About the role

We're looking for an experienced lead User Researcher to join a multi-disciplinary agile team to help deliver rapid but great-quality experiences for users. 

You will apply, and mentor others in, best practice in facilitating research interviews, usability tests and client workshops. You will plan ongoing user research programmes and define information architecture and interaction design solutions.

You will aim to continually improve the user experience and aid the user in achieving their primary outcomes simply, while always thinking about how to add delight. As a result you build trust with your clients.

You enjoy engaging with users and project partners to understand the product’s context, and synthesise your findings into easily-digestible and memorable formats for the product team.

You’ll play a key role in developing the User Researcher craft in Kin + Carta’s growing design practice.

Designers at Kin + Carta are:

• Collaborative and ego-free, able to give and receive feedback to and from all team members regardless of role or level
• Designing, prototyping and building products and services used by people every day
• Confident using a variety of tools like Miro and are happy to learn the ones they don’t know
• Client-facing, taking an active role in the presentation of the team's latest design work
• Inquisitive and eager to continuously improve and learn
• Enthusiastic about agile methodologies, and software development practices
• Actively involved in growing the design team by finding and attracting talent
• Experienced in Agile methodologies, and software development practices.

As a Lead User Researcher at  Kin + Carta you:

• Are a master of your craft, enabling the team to deliver on challenges that are new to them.
• Are the gatekeeper for the quality of the work and research produced by the Design team.
• Set the UX Research and Design agenda and help plan the cadence for the whole team.
• Coach other User Researchers and Experience Designers to rapidly progress their careers and support them in their contribution to Kin + Carta.
• Help plan the careers of team members, and guide individuals to reach senior level faster than they thought possible.
• Set the strategic agenda of the Design team with the Head of Design and other design leads.
• Consistently hold others on product teams to Kin + Carta standards.
• Bring others on the journey to establish new and innovative ways of working.
• Look at the bigger picture to give the client customer context for design decisions.
• Willing to accelerate K+C's design offering through working with our sales team in creating and delivering pitches
• Understand the needs of live and prospective projects, matching them with the right Design team skills.
• Use past experience and client knowledge to be the first to spot and resolve problems and blockers before they escalate.
• You are a key point of escalation for major product issues.
• Take on challenging conversations and situations to ensure the best possible product.
• Are industry-leading in your craft and can use this to attract and retain talent.
• Support the team to represent Kin + Carta through their participation in talks, events and conferences.
• Drive Kin + Carta’s strategic vision within Design by shaping the team's goals.
• Can articulate the business benefit and impact to our clients of the UX research and design that you lead.
• Understand the importance of data analytics in providing the right solution to product problems.

• Pragmatic approach to user research and product development in a public sector context, balancing rigour with what is achievable within budget and technical constraints.
• Analysing research findings and synthesising them into actionable outputs which the team can translate into intelligent design solutions.
• Ability to identify long-term value, strategic insights as well as what is important to help your team move forward in the immediate term.
• Good awareness and understanding of ethical considerations related to research.
• Previous experience conducting appropriate research activities with users with access needs.
• Previous experience of mentoring/coaching more junior researchers to develop their knowledge and skills.
• Worked extensively in Agile teams.
• Previous experience working in the public sector to GDS standards
• Been through a number of Service Assessments

• An assessor and has assed government services 

Applying for the role

Please share examples of your work as PDFs or online case studies with your application. We’re interested in the activities you go through as you research, test and present your thinking and conclusions. For example; use of data, interviews, workshops, sketches, concepts, flows, experience maps, prototypes etc. ‘Finished’ visual designs are not the only focus here. All supplied examples will be handled in complete confidence.

K+C believes in creating a culture where diversity, regardless of its form, is just a part of who we are. We empower every one of our Kin to share what matters to them, creating a culture where every person, regardless of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status is treated as a valued member of K+C.

Here’s what to expect from the interview process at Kin + Carta: 

Intro Call with the Talent Team (30 mins) – If your skills and experience match the role requirements, our Talent team will contact you to arrange a call.  The aim of this call is to get to know you and for you to find out more about Kin + Carta. This call can be held either by telephone or Zoom. After this call, if we feel like you are a good match for the role, you’ll be invited to a first-stage interview.

First-Stage Interview (60 minutes) - This will typically be a Q&A style interview via Zoom with two of our senior design team members. The interview will last approximately 60 minutes. This process is designed to help our team find out about your skills and experience but also what you enjoy and what motivates you. You will be asked to bring along a sample of work that you are proud of to this interview. It’s a great opportunity for you to ask our team questions and learn more about us! If you are successful in the first stage interview, you will progress to the next stage of our interview process. 

Second-Stage Interview (60 minutes)- This interview will also be a Q&A style interview via Zoom this time with two of our senior leaders. The interview will last approximately 60 minutes. It’s a chance for our team to see how you apply your skills and experience and assess how that matches our expectations for the role. It’s also a chance for you to meet more of our Kin (that’s what we call our colleagues here at Kin + Carta).

Making a Decision - Following the interview process, our hiring team will get together to discuss feedback and make a final decision. We aim to get back to you as soon as we possibly can! 

Our average recruitment process takes around four weeks. You will be assigned a dedicated member of our Talent team  to support you throughout the process. 

We will always do our best to accommodate any reasonable adjustment requests. Please just let us know how we can make the interview process more accessible for you.

Here at Kin + Carta, we believe in building a better and more welcoming world for everyone. We want you to know that whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whoever you love, you are welcome at Kin + Carta. We put our commitment to our global IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Awareness) programme at the centre of everything we do. We’re also a certified B Corp, which means we are committed to being a force for good and operate to the highest social and environmental performance standards.