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Senior Design Researcher

About The Role

Job level: 9

Deadline for applications: 11:59pm on Saturday 28th February 2026

As a Senior Design Researcher at TPXimpact, you will help lead and deliver design research within our client teams. Your efforts will contribute significantly to achieving our purpose, DT Ways, and Missions.

On client projects, you’ll work as part of multidisciplinary teams, including others in DT Design and across TPXimpact as well as associates and client teams to produce high-quality work that meets the needs of users.

In DT Design, you will actively contribute to the Research and Analysis practice, fostering a culture of sharing and learning, supporting business growth and the development of our service offerings, playing a crucial role in achieving our missions.

Responsibilities

Embedding best practice approaches within client work – delivering high-quality qualitative research to enable deep human-centred understanding, providing crucial strategic support, driving empathetic and evidence-based decision-making.
Adapt your approach depending on a client’s organisational culture, design maturity and appetite for change.
Support and coach other designers and client teams to promote design research best practice, to support delivery outcomes and individual development goals.
Actively contributing to your practice within TPXimpact, and to implementing the practice and Design strategy through internal impact time, skills development, knowledge management and sharing.
Foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement on teams and across the practice and Design.
Support business development activities, including contributing to design research proposals and sales bids, pitches and client presentations.
Line managing 1–2 researchers in the practice.
Continuously stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and methods in design research trends, and share this knowledge with others.
Continuously maintain and update skills and knowledge to stay current within your relevant field of expertise.

About You

Professional knowledge and experience

Experience problem framing and research scoping, working with teams to define assumptions and/or hypotheses within institutional complexity.
Previous experience designing and leading design research to GDS standards on complex, user facing products and services in client facing teams or projects.
Experience supporting the design of inclusive and accessible products and services, adapting research methodologies to suit diverse contexts and ensuring safeguarding of both team and participants and compliance throughout the research process.
Experience working with prototypes and/or pilot interventions using a mix of methods and/or within robust evaluation processes to drive evidence-base decision making.
Experience of working with delivery leadership to influence and shape design research and drive evidence-base decision making.
Experience working with other designers and researchers in a multidisciplinary team to deliver high quality design work
Experience of working with data, technology and change specialists in technical and complex programmes of work.
Experience mentoring and coaching others – in the practice and in client teams – to create quality, impactful and user-centred products and services, including in organisations and teams with low design maturity.
Experience operating in a fast-paced environment, balancing internal business priorities with external delivery and work on client projects.

Technical skills

Able to design appropriate and engaging research, with ethical and inclusive consideration at its core — including user grouping and segmentation design, designing approaches, and participant and research management.
Able to conduct research in compliance with GDPR, independently and with others using a variety of methods from exploratory, generative to evaluative research with transactional, operational users and/or governance stakeholders to understand people's behavioural context, culture, and lived experiences to help define, improve, and iterate products and services.
Able to independently analyse and synthesise qualitative data, as well as facilitate teams to enable continuous insight development throughout different stages of design and delivery, and enables evidence-based learning and decision-making.
Able to hold research operations for your project — tooling, knowledge management at scale within client team and research practice team.
Able to effectively convey the value and impact of user-centred design and research both within an organisation and in the broader public discourse.
Able to create visual and engaging artefacts for conducting and communicating research and representing users, and/or collaborate effectively with others to do so.
Able to work in the open — confidently shaping and communicating the story of your work and impact.
Able to work within and manage ambiguity — supporting the building of shared understanding and team clarity and direction.
Interest or first-hand experience in co-design, participatory, or mixed-method approaches.

Behaviours and PACT values

Purpose: You’ll be highly value driven, recognising that our clients needs are paramount. You’ll be able to approach client engagements with professionalism, creativity and flair, whilst balancing our commercial and operational needs. You’ll work to ensure we have clear processes and guardrails in place to deliver well through how we organise and operate within our Design functions.
Accountability: When in a leadership position on a client project,, you’ll be accountable for delivering your part of a project on time and under budget and working well with other leaders. You’ll set practice standards that align to our DT Ways and Missions. You will lead by example, promoting a culture where quality, client experience and the pursuit of imaginative solutions to client problems is foremost.
Craft: You’ll be able to balance multiple priorities while leading high performing teams and through establishing trusted relationships both inside and outside of TPXimpact. As a design or transformational leader who can lead others by example, you will need to navigate ambiguity and use your confidence here to quickly assimilate the direction and approaches that support positive outcomes for our clients and our business.
Togetherness: You’ll be able to collaborate effectively with others across TPXimpact. You’ll build strong relationships that demonstrate the importance of excellent delivery and client experience as a collective effort, rather than just focusing on your own area of expertise. You’ll thrive working with others, providing clarity around vision, objectives and holding high standards for our work through the capabilities your practice holds.

We would like to see a portfolio of your work as part of your application, so please don't be shy and share with us.

About Us

People-Powered Transformation

We're a purpose driven organisation, supporting organisations to build a better future for people, places and the planet. Combining vast experience in the public, private and third sectors and expertise in human-centred design, data, experience and technology, we’re creating sustainable solutions ready for an ever-evolving world.

At the heart of TPXimpact, we’re collaborative and empathetic. We’re a team of passionate people who care deeply about the work we do and the impact we have in the world. We know that change happens through people, with people and for people. That’s why we believe in people-powered transformation.

Working in close collaboration with our clients, we seek to understand their unique challenges, questioning assumptions and building in their teams the capabilities and confidence to continue learning, iterating and adapting.

Benefits Include:

30 days holiday + bank holidays
2 volunteer days for causes that you are passionate about
Maternity/paternity - 6 months Maternity Leave, 3 months Paternity Leave
Life assurance
Employer pension contribution of 5%
Health cash plan
Personal learning and development budget
Employee Assistance Programme
Access to equity in the business through a Share Incentive Plan
Green incentive programmes including Electric Vehicle Leasing and the Cycle to Work Scheme
Financial advice
Health assessments

We encourage hybrid working – our team is based across the country, both remotely and from our offices and hubs. Depending on your project, you will be typically expected to attend a Leeds, London or Manchester office once a week.

We’re an inclusive employer, and we care about diversity in our teams. Let us know in your application if you have accessibility requirements during the interview.

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