Lead User Researcher

Hippo is a rapidly growing AI enabled digital consultancy passionate about building and delivering transformative digital solutions for a diverse range of Public and Private sector clients. We are recruiting for Lead Consultants with a user research background to support our mission. We work at the intersection of strategy, design, and technology to solve complex problems and create lasting value. Our collaborative and agile culture empowers our teams to make a genuine impact.

As a Lead Consultant, you will be a research leader and an experienced practitioner. You will be responsible for shaping user strategy in and across projects - maintaining research standards, and helping to drive the successful delivery of valuable, user-centred outcomes on our most complex work. You will lead research in complex environments, align teams around outcomes for users, and drive direction in challenging client environments.

You will mentor and guide Senior and Intermediate researchers, contribute to the development and evolution of our research profession and capability, and act as a visible leader within both Hippo and our client organisations.

We are in particular encouraging candidates with extensive experience of using AI within their research or UCD practice, and/or working on products or services that embed AI in how they operate. We are looking for someone to help lead our approach to evolving our research practice as the industry evolves and AI changes how we work, and the types of projects we work on.

What you'll do

• Lead research on complex client engagements, driving a user centred approach across all projects and adding value across our most complex projects or a whole programme
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, using data, insight and primary research to influence decision-making and shape service direction and design to support better outcomes for users
• Lead teams to ensure that products and services meet the needs of all users and adhere to GDS (where appropriate), accessibility and other relevant standards.
• Contribute to Hippo's approach to research, promoting and evolving our practice, particularly in the context of the changes AI is bringing to research practice, ways of working within agile teams, and wider delivery models
• Act as a leader within Hippo's research profession and internal workstreams, supporting the rapid growth of the profession
• Recruit, lead and mentor and ensure the strong performance of Intermediate and Senior researchers, strengthening capability within Hippo's research profession, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement
• Support business growth through contributing to bids, adding value on existing client accounts, and helping clients understand the value of user research and user-centred delivery
• Represent Hippo's research and UCD capability internally and externally, contributing to thought leadership and the ongoing evolution of our research practice