User Researcher

About us

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide.

At the FT, curiosity thrives and ambitious thinking is rewarded. Here, you’re given the chance to reach millions, create work that matters and deliver impartial journalism in a polarised world.

In our warm, collaborative culture, you’ll connect with a diverse community of experts who support your growth, career aspirations and wellbeing.

Your future at the FT will be filled with opportunities that challenge and inspire you. With no fixed path, you’ll discover new skills and forge a career that can take you anywhere.

Build a newsworthy career at the FT.

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion 

We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. A supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups.

Job Description

We’re looking for a User Researcher to join the Product Research & Design team in our London Office.

You’ll be working in our Professional pillar, using a wide range of research methods to help us get a deeper understanding of our audiences.

You’ll work alongside a fully empowered team of engineers, designers, product managers, with support from relevant stakeholders from around the FT such as Commercial, Data, Editorial, and Marketing.

You’ll help deliver end-to-end product experiences, from exploratory research to opportunity definition, from ideation to concepts, testing, shipping, and iterating.

You’ll receive regular guidance and support from your team, your line manager, our Director of Product Design & User Research, and of course the whole User Research team. We work hard to foster a safe environment where we proactively share and discuss our work to inspire, support and guide each other.

What you’ll be doing week to week:

• Planning and prioritising. You’ll have an equal stake in your team's direction. You’ll always be learning, planning and prioritising your areas of focus and approach together.
• Continually collaborating. Jumping into and leading team activities with product managers, designers, and engineers through all stages of the development process. Creating a shared understanding of user needs, motivations and behaviours in relation to product and business goals.
• Researching and learning about users. Designing, planning and conducting relevant research activities to best meet team objectives and timelines. To understand the behaviours, motivations and mental models of customers and users, using varied and appropriate methods. Recruiting an appropriately wide range of participants to ensure we're building in an accessible way from the start.
• Empathy and experience mapping. Understanding users' feelings, motivations and expectations. Mapping experiences, journeys and flows, to help us understand and prioritise pain points and opportunities, taking the team along on the journey. Providing a broader picture to inform strategic decisions.
• Ideating, iterating and testing with integrity. Working with teams to help evolve ideas into concepts, to shape these concepts with research, and iterate based on what you learn. Contributing to high ethical standards throughout the design process.
• Synthesising learnings and sharing insights creatively. Taking what you've learnt and disseminating knowledge in the most impactful forms for your team, pillar, and the business. Ensuring your work is reusable and contributes to our shared understanding of all kinds of users.
• Evolving! We strive to continually improve and evolve. Evolving our process by adding new or unfamiliar techniques and abandoning obsolete ones. Evolving our product until we achieve objectives, rather than stopping once we’ve shipped.

What we’re looking for from you

We welcome applications from people who can demonstrate strong end-to-end User Research competencies. 

• You have experience shipping features and iterating across a few products. You’ll likely have been practising user research for around two years.
• Proven research skills. You have experience of using a range of methods and techniques to deliver insights that impact product decisions.
• Inclusive. You're thoughtful about who you involve in your work to ensure our products are the best they can be.
• Clear communication and presentation skills. You present a compelling customer narrative with qualitative and quantitative data.
• Strong initiative. You proactively solve problems, manage workload and set expectations.
• Enthusiastic collaborator. You know how to contribute and influence through finding common ground and building rapport with teams.
• Deep curiosity. You're excited to understand how and why people use digital products and how FT can best meet their needs.
• A degree or strong interest in psychology, anthropology, sociology, HCI, or another related field is a bonus.

What’s in it for you? Our benefits

Our benefits vary by location but we are committed to providing best-in-class perks across all our offices. These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and opportunities to give back to the community. Full details of our benefits are available here.

We’ve embraced a 50% hybrid working model (averaging two to three days onsite) that fosters trust and remote adaptability while encouraging in-person camaraderie and peer learning. Additionally, we are open to accommodating specific flexible working pattern requests for all roles where feasible.

Accessibility

We are a disability confident employer and Valuable 500 signatory.

Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments/personalisation as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements or have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Further information

At the FT, we embrace innovation and the use of technology and appreciate that individuals may leverage AI tools as part of their job application process. Whilst we are happy for you to use AI to assist with your application, it is essential that all information provided is authentic and accurately represents your skills, experience, and qualifications.

Candidates should be aware that the use of AI throughout the application process may be monitored to ensure a fair and transparent hiring process for all.