Senior Automotive Design Researcher

Position Title:               Senior Automotive Design Researcher

Duration:                      Contract  - Inside IR35

Location:                      Here East, Stratford. London

Position Description:

Our Client are looking for a Senior Design Researcher to join their XLab team, helping shape the future of automotive products and experiences. Working within a multidisciplinary team of researchers, experience designers, interaction designers, industrial designers, strategists and engineers, you'll bring a deep understanding of customers into the development of future vehicle experiences and products. You will: Lead end-to-end research across discovery, concept development, prototyping and evaluation. Align with designers and stakeholders to plan and deliver qualitative research with customers Explore behaviours, needs, motivations and pain points to uncover opportunities for innovation. Evaluate early-stage concepts using storyboards, digital prototypes, physical prototypes and vehicle bucks. Synthesise research into clear insights, customer needs, opportunity areas and design recommendations. Partner closely with designers to translate research into new and improved experiences. Facilitate workshops that help teams move from customer insight to concepts and propositions. Communicate findings through compelling storytelling that influences design, product and leadership decisions. Champion customer-centred thinking and high-quality research practices across the team.

Skills Required:

Strong qualitative research and customer interviewing skills. Excellent research planning and methodology selection. Strong synthesis and analytical thinking. Ability to identify patterns, unmet needs and meaningful opportunity areas. Excellent workshop facilitation skills. Strong storytelling and presentation skills. Ability to translate complex research into clear, actionable design direction. Strong collaboration and stakeholder management. Comfortable working with ambiguity and rapidly evolving projects. Customer-centred, curious and confident challenging assumptions with evidence. Able to work independently while collaborating effectively within multidisciplinary teams.

Experience Required:

Significant professional experience in Design Research, UX Research, Human-Centred Design or a related discipline. Proven experience leading qualitative research. Experience working within multidisciplinary product, design or innovation teams. Experience researching early-stage concepts, future experiences and propositions where the solution is not yet defined. Experience conducting research with prototypes across different levels of fidelity. Experience translating research into actionable recommendations for design and product teams. Experience managing research across multiple projects and stakeholders.

Experience Preferred:

Experience using Dovetail and discount to plan, conduct, analyse and synthesise customer research. Experience working within automotive, mobility, transportation, consumer technology or complex physical digital products is advantageous but not essential.

Education Required:

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent professional experience. Relevant disciplines may include Design Research, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), UX Design, Interaction Design, Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Human Factors or a related field.

Education Preferred:

Master's degree or postgraduate qualification in Design Research, HCI, Human Factors, Psychology, Anthropology, Service Design, Interaction Design or a related discipline. Additional training or certification in qualitative research, ethnographic research, human-centred design or research methods is advantageous.

Additional Information :

Travel: Nothing planned currently, but potentially depending on location of research studies Location: Hybrid, 4 days on site Monday to Thursday in Here East, Stratford

Why work through Contechs?

Contechs is a leading Automotive, Design, Engineering, Technology and Innovation Recruitment Consultancy. Founded in 1997, with an inhouse Contractor Care Team to support all external employees, acts as an employment agency for permanent and contract recruitment.

How to Apply

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