Senior User Researcher

Hybrid - Minimum 2 days on-site in London, Tower Bridge HQ

Do the best work of your life!

Zoopla is one of the most recognised and loved UK consumer property brands. Our mission is to connect everyone to their home and give them better choices around it, whether moving, managing or financing. Over 60 million people visit Zoopla every month to access comprehensive data and information on every UK property, search over 500,000 homes for sale and rent, find the best agents and secure the latest mortgage deals. Zoopla is part of Houseful, the leader in residential property software, data and insight, and is sister brand to Hometrack and Alto among others.

At Zoopla we know what a home is really worth, but more importantly, we know how it should make you feel. Since 2008 we’ve been helping to make a house a home, and supporting you every step of the way. Our market-leading data means we’ve always got our finger on the pulse, and you’ll want to be a part of it!

We're hiring a Lead User Researcher on a 12-month fixed-term contract (maternity cover) to help us achieve our big ambitions.

Zoopla is more than just a property searching portal. We’re part of Houseful, a collection of trusted brands which power the property industry with data, software, insight and great user experiences. Across our catalogue of brands, we cater to people and professionals across the property industry. Not just buyers, sellers, renters - but also Estate Agents, Conveyancers and Solicitors, Mortgage Lenders etc.

We’re re-imagining the industry, and the core to doing that is understanding the problems that those various people face. Research insights are essential in helping us do that.

We care deeply about making Houseful more welcoming, fair and representative every day. We’ll consider everyone who applies for this role in the same way, regardless of your ethnicity, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical disability, neurodiversity status, family or parental status, or how long you’ve spent unemployed.

In this role, you’ll help define what we should build next and how, and work within multidisciplinary teams to make that happen. You’ll be key in helping us deliver against our ambitious goals. There remain lots of gaps in knowledge we need to address so we can get the details right of what we design and build.

• You’ll lead research across our Software business unit. You’ll identify knowledge gaps and high-risk assumptions we're making as a business unit and you’ll scope and deliver research to address them.
• You’ll take ownership of product delivery informed by research. You’ll work with Product Designers, Product Managers and Engineers (among others) to develop exceptional product experiences. You’ll use your research insights to guide product and design decisions and be accountable for their success, driving changes - where needed - to improve user outcomes and business goals.
• You’ll help shape the roadmap. With ambitious goals in place, you'll work closely with design and product leadership to prioritise and implement product changes, armed with data and insight to support decisions.
• You’ll collaborate across the organisation. While you’ll work closest with Product Designers, Product Managers, and Engineers within your business unit, your role will extend across teams. You’ll act as a connector, ensuring others have access to existing research, or guiding them on how to conduct their own. You'll help bridge gaps between teams, ensuring research is understood and shared effectively throughout the organisation.
• You’ll share findings in beautifully written reports, Slack summaries and engaging presentations. You’ll provide your teams with the details they need to execute. You’ll communicate a compelling story to the wider organisation.
• You’ll own product areas to deliver against
• You’ll support multiple product squads as a research expert. You’ll identify where you can be most impactful – whether that’s doing the research yourself, outsourcing, delegating or not doing it at all.

The ideal candidate is comfortable both in research and in translating insights into product solutions, working closely with teams to implement, test and iterate product changes or introduce new features.

You’ll be at home if...

• You’re passionate about re-imagining an industry to help people find a home they love. You recognise that property is about the people behind it, and appreciate the real impact we can have on people’s lives.
• You've led research before in different multidisciplinary teams and you're able to contextualise and prioritise insights. You’ve made a demonstrable impact on the direction of the product or service in the past.
• You have 8+ years of hands-on experience across the entire toolkit of exploratory and evaluative qualitative and quantitative research methods. You have scoped and run end-to-end lots of studies at all stages of the product development lifecycle.
• You know how to say ‘no’. You’ll get a lot of requests for your time, so you’ll need to be comfortable focusing on the highest leverage work and turning down low-value asks.
• You have a business mindset. You’re pragmatic in your approach, not dogmatic. You know what “just enough research” means.
• You’re a strong communicator and love presenting your work and writing compelling research summaries. You enjoy sharing learnings with different groups of stakeholders, from product teams to senior leadership. You’re a great storyteller and writer.
• You believe in the mantra that “research is a team sport”. You're highly collaborative, communicative and by default set up research so everyone can get involved.
• You’re proactive, kind and adaptable. You have a mature, resilient and positive mindset. You understand that large-scale change doesn’t happen overnight and takes a long-term horizon. You generously give feedback with kindness. You practise empathy with your team, not just your users.
• You care about building accessible products and know how to deliver research that supports this.

This opportunity may not be the perfect fit for you if...

• You prefer to stop at research insights. This role goes beyond delivering research reports. You’ll be expected to actively collaborate with Product Designers and Product Managers to turn insights into solutions that meet both user and business (commercial) needs.
• You want to work within a large research organisation or team. This is an Individual Contributor role, and our team of researchers is small but mighty. You’ll be uniquely positioned as a research specialist within multidisciplinary teams.

Benefits

• Everyday Flex - greater flexibility over where and when you work
• 25 days annual leave + extra days for years of service
• Day off for volunteering & Digital detox day
• Festive Closure - business closed for a period between Christmas and New Year
• Cycle to work and electric car schemes
• Free Calm App membership
• Enhanced Parental leave
• Fertility Treatment Financial Support
• Group Income Protection and private medical insurance
• Gym on-site in London
• 7.5% pension contribution by the company
• Discretionary annual bonus up to 10% of base salary
• Talent referral bonus up to £5K