UX Researcher

Job Description

About the role

We’re building a centralised UX Research capability within a FTSE 250 financial services organisation — and this role is a key part of that foundation.

As a midweight UX Researcher, you’ll lead meaningful research that shapes product direction, builds shared confidence, and helps teams make better decisions earlier. You’ll be aligned to a specific business area (either Direct to Consumer or Advised) while sitting within a growing central UX Research team, giving you both focus and community.

This is a hands‑on role for a confident researcher who can independently plan and deliver high‑quality discovery research, work closely with designers and product teams, and clearly communicate insight to influence outcomes.

Lead generative and tactical discovery research end‑to‑end — from framing the problem through to insight and recommendations.

Select and apply appropriate research methods to meet research goals, with autonomy and confidence.

Partner closely with UX Designers on tactical discovery, supporting early exploration and shaping ideas before evaluative testing.

Conduct a mix of qualitative and quantitative research, including:

• Moderated discovery interviews
• Unmoderated think‑aloud studies
• Surveys
• In‑person observation where appropriate

Synthesise research into clear, actionable insights that teams can use immediately.

Present findings and recommendations to stakeholders, tailoring the message to different audiences.

Provide strong evidence to support decision‑making, helping teams move forward with confidence.

Contribute to the development of research practices, ways of working, and tooling as the function matures.

You can run discovery research independently and know how to adapt when things change.

You’re comfortable making methodological decisions and explaining why you’ve taken a particular approach.

Stakeholders trust your work and understand the value of research because you communicate it clearly.

You’re confident speaking up when evidence challenges assumptions — and you do it constructively.

You help establish thoughtful, pragmatic research practices rather than over‑engineering process.

• Proven experience working as a UX Researcher, leading studies independently
• Strong grounding in qualitative research, with experience applying quantitative methods where appropriate
• Confidence choosing and applying research methods to answer real product questions
• Experience collaborating with designers and product teams in an agile or iterative environment
• Ability to synthesise complex findings into clear, compelling insight
• Comfortable presenting research outputs to a range of stakeholders
• Experience working in regulated environments or financial services is helpful but not essential

We’re establishing a research culture that values thoughtful execution—doing just enough research to make confident decisions, without slowing teams down. You’ll be encouraged to challenge norms gently, bring strong evidence to the table, and help embed research as a strategic partner rather than a gatekeeper.

You won’t be expected to line‑manage in this role, but you will be expected to take ownership of your work and contribute to shaping how research shows up across the organisation.

AJ Bell is one of the fastest‑growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award‑winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 644,000 customers using our award‑winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £103.3 billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.

Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.

Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1,500 employees and have been named…