Senior Design Researcher

Ensera Design; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 51,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic design consultancy in Bristol is seeking a Senior Design Researcher to explore and understand user behavior in healthcare. The role involves leading projects, conducting qualitative user research, and delivering thought leadership. Ideal candidates are passionate about healthcare with experience in moderating sessions and project leadership. The position offers a salary range of £51,000 to £62,500 and extensive benefits, including hybrid working and performance-related bonuses.

Benefits

Performance-related company-wide bonus

Flexible hybrid working policies

Private healthcare

Enhanced parental leave

Salary exchange pension scheme

25 days of annual leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to Work scheme

Death in service benefit

Training and development opportunities

Company lunch on the first Monday of each month

Qualifications

• Considerable experience in consultancy, preferably at a design consultancy.
• Experience moderating research sessions and facilitating discussions.
• Experience and/or passion for healthcare preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead recruitment and project setup for research.
• Conduct qualitative user research and workshops with clients.
• Deliver thought leadership presentations and articles.

Skills

Consultancy experience leading projects

Moderating research sessions

Passion for healthcare

Experience with qualitative user research

Planning workshops

Job description

Ensera Design is a world-class user-centred innovation and product development consultancy, specializing in the medical and consumer health sectors with offices in Bristol, Colorado and New Jersey. As part of Ensera, we collaborate globally with contract manufacturing facilities in Europe, the USA, and Asia.

About the role

We’re looking for a Senior Design Researcher to join our growing team. This is a pivotal role focused on discovery and exploration—understanding the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ behind user behaviour and translating insights into actionable opportunities for product design and development.

It’s important that you have a passion for healthcare as well as user research. You’ll be excited about the diversity of projects and topic areas that working in a consultancy brings and be comfortable with the natural peaks and troughs that come with this.

You’ll lead large-scale, cross-expertise projects as well as smaller research-only projects, managing budgets and delivering high-quality work. Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading recruitment, project setup, and logistics
• Conducting desk research on topics and trends, creating clear territories to inspire ideas.
• Moderating qualitative user research with confidence and empathy
• Occasional need to draft & analyse simple quantitative surveys
• Facilitating engaging workshops with clients and internal teams
• Capturing (or brief the capture of) compelling video & photo footage of insight and discovery (including ‘behind the scenes’ footage)
• Analysing observations and synthesising actionable insights
• Creating engaging presentations, experience maps, infographics, or service blueprints
• Presenting effectively to clients and internal teams
• Collaborating across departments to achieve the best outcomes
• Raising the bar for research and strategy through new methods and deliverables
• Leading proposal writing
• Supporting briefs and sales opportunities, suggesting new approaches and methods
• Delivering thought leadership e.g. conference presentations, articles, webinars
• Ensuring compliance with QMS and GDPR requirements
• Occasional travel in the UK and overseas (10–15% of your time)
• Helping to develop the team by coaching and mentoring junior colleagues.

Your skills and experience

Whilst you do not need to meet all of these points, please ensure you meet the majority of them before making an application:

• Considerable consultancy experience leading cross-expertise projects as well as smaller research-only projects, preferably at a product design consultancy.
• Experience working with creative & technical experts across multiple areas.
• Experience and/ or passion for the healthcare sector.
• Experience of leading global contextual research, creating screeners and organising recruitment.
• Experience of moderating research sessions and facilitated discussions.
• Experiencing of planning and facilitating workshops.

The salary for this role is £51,000 to £62,500. You will be asked to provide your preferred salary as part of your application.

Why work with us?

We offer interesting and varied work combined with a supportive team culture to provide a stimulating environment where you will have the opportunity to develop and learn from others. We offer flexible working policies where working patterns are agreed with our line managers, taking into account the role, needs of the individual, and the team.

We recognise that we are only as good as our people and we know how important it is to support our team.

We offer:

• Performance-related company-wide bonus.
• Flexible hybrid working in line with our core hours (Mon–Thu, 9:30am–12:00pm & 2:00pm–4:00pm; Fri, 9:30am–12:00pm).
• Private healthcare for you and your family.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
• Salary exchange pension scheme.
• 25 days of annual leave, plus the option to purchase up to one working week and additional days for length of service.
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme and digital wellbeing platform.
• Cycle to Work & Electric Vehicle Lease schemes.
• Death in service (x4 gross salary).
• Training and development opportunities, including dedicated learning days and regular knowledge-sharing sessions.
• A free lunch the first Monday of every month alongside our company-wide meeting.
• Free breakfast every Wednesday, and plenty of opportunities to socialise, including team-organised activities, summer and Christmas parties, and more.

About us

Our Bristol office is based in an iconic Grade II listed building in the heart of the city. Our vibrant workspace houses state-of-the-art labs, a design studio, usability suites, and collaborative meeting spaces. Nestled in a lively neighbourhood with independent shops, we’re just a short walk from Park Street, the Harbourside, and St. Nick’s Markets.

We are proud of our values:

• Find a way:We work as one team, combining our knowledge and experience to unite around a shared goal. We trust each other and do what’s needed to get things done and exceed expectations.
• Pull together:We believe anything is possible. When faced with challenges we take the initiative, using our creative spirit and determination to find bold solutions and deliver results that move us forward.
• Care:We act with integrity, take pride in our work, and support each other. We each play our part to make a positive impact for our customers, our colleagues, and our planet.

Our diverse, multidisciplinary design and product development team spans research, design, human factors, engineering, prototyping, manufacturing, and beyond. Together, we deliver cutting-edge solutions for clients ranging from global leaders to innovative start-ups, with a particular focus on medical devices, drug delivery, orthopaedics, and diagnostics.

Do we sound like a good match for you?

If you’d like to discuss the role or would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments you may need to make your application, we’d love to hear from you. If you think you might be the right person for us but want an informal chat first then get in touch via [e-mail].

Please note we reserve the right to close the vacancy if we have a high level of applications. We look forward to hearing from you!

We believe that designing for people means including all people, starting with the team behind the work. Our human-centred design ethos is rooted in empathy, and our values – pull together, find a way, and care – guide us in building a team that reflects the diversity of the world we design for.

We know that different perspectives lead to better ideas, stronger collaboration, and more meaningful outcomes. If you meet the skills and experience for this role, we welcome your application – whatever your background, identity, or path into design. What matters to us is that you share our belief in purposeful, people-first design.