Design Researcher

About the role

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.

We are currently seeking an experienced Design Researcher with the ability to lead the research phases of projects and support on other aspects of projects. Front-end innovation and strategic design is key to growth at Ensera Design. We aim to bring our clients and teams closer to the end user, and be the leading voice on the macro trends shaping healthcare. This enables us to create future products and services destined for success.

In the role you’ll:

• Carry out desk research on topics and trends, creating clear territories to inspire ideas.

• Recruit participants, scope, plan and manage qualitative user research studies, translating observations into actionable insights and making recommendations to our internal teams and to our clients.

• Note, in addition to qualitative research, there is an occasional need to draft, manage and analyse simple quantitative surveys.

• Moderate research studies either in-person or online, depending on the requirements of the project.

• Structure and prepare visually engaging outputs that distil research findings into digestible learnings.

• Lead discussion about the research elements of projects in client meetings.

• With support from colleagues, prepare and co-facilitate inspiring workshops for our clients and internal teams that excite everyone about what is possible.

• Support proposal creation.

• Collaborate with other departments proactively, harnessing the diverse experiences of our team to get to the best project outcomes.

• Present effectively to clients and internal teams, demonstrating knowledge and evidence of human-centred design methods and techniques that can be applied to challenges.

• Draw upon a range of disciplines to solve challenges such as psychology, design, or anything else that is relevant.

About you

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.

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:

• Demonstrable consultancy experience within qualitative user research, preferably at a product design consultancy.

• Have experience working with creative & technical experts across multiple areas.

• Demonstrable experience and/ or passion for the healthcare sector.

• Demonstrable experience of planning global contextual research, creating screeners and organising recruitment.

• Demonstrable experience of moderating research sessions and facilitated discussions.

• Have experience of planning and co-facilitating workshops (and if you aren’t already doing this, be willing to work towards facilitating workshops independently).

• Be comfortable uncovering unmet needs and framing them into succinct recommendations and opportunities to clients.

• Demonstrable experience of defining, managing and delivering projects.

• Be comfortable building and delivering clear and engaging outputs and presentations to clients.

• Be willing to support with proposal writing (even if you haven’t before).

• Be willing to travel to conduct research across the UK and sometimes overseas (10% to 15% of your total working time across the year).

The salary for this role is in line with our Consultant salary band, which is £40,800 to £50,000. You will be asked to provide your preferred salary as part of your application.

Why work with us?

Ensera Design offers 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-organized activities, summer and Christmas parties, and more.

About us

We are based in an iconic Grade II listed building in the heart of Bristol. 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 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 careers_uk@enseradesign.com.

Please note we intend to sift applications as they come in and we reserve the right to close the vacancy if we have a high level of applications. We look forward to hearing from you!

At Ensera Design 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.