Wealth Management Design Researcher

Design Researcher | Barclays

We are looking for an Design Researcher to help embed client insight across our digital Wealth Management products and journeys.

You will plan and deliver discovery and evaluative research, helping teams understand client behaviours, needs and expectations. Your insights will inform product, proposition and design decisions and identify opportunities to make investing and wealth management simpler, more intuitive and more accessible.

Working with Product, Proposition, Design, Data Science and Technology colleagues, you will turn research findings into clear recommendations and help ensure that client evidence remains central to decision-making.

You will provide teams with timely, reliable client insight that improves product, proposition and design decisions. Your work will help identify client needs, reduce friction across digital journeys and contribute to better Wealth Management. experiences.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead research workstreams across digital Wealth Management products and journeys.
• Plan and conduct discovery and evaluative research using appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Explore client behaviours, attitudes and needs, identifying friction points and opportunities for improvement.
• Synthesise research findings into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Support product, proposition and design teams in making evidence-led decisions.
• Work with multidisciplinary teams to inform product priorities and roadmaps.
• Communicate insights effectively to stakeholders through clear storytelling and practical recommendations.
• Challenge assumptions and help teams test ideas with clients throughout the development process.
• Contribute to consistent research standards, practices and knowledge-sharing.
• Support the development of research capability across the wider design and product community.

Essential criteria:

• Strong experience in UX research, design research, customer insight or service design research.
• Experience planning and delivering research across digital products or complex customer journeys.
• Good knowledge of qualitative research methods, supported by an understanding of quantitative approaches.
• Experience conducting both discovery and evaluative research.
• Ability to translate research findings into actionable product, service or design recommendations.
• Strong analytical, synthesis and problem-solving skills.
• Effective communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to engage a range of stakeholders.
• Experience working collaboratively within multidisciplinary product or design teams.
• Confidence managing research activities from initial scoping through to delivery and communication of findings.
• A strong commitment to client-centred and evidence-led decision-making.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience within Wealth Management, investments, banking, financial services or another regulated environment.
• Understanding of investing behaviours, digital wealth journeys or financial decision-making.
• Experience researching complex, sensitive or high-consideration products and services.
• Knowledge of inclusive research, accessibility and the needs of vulnerable or underserved clients.
• Experience combining qualitative insight with analytics or quantitative data.
• Familiarity with proposition development or service design methods.
• Experience supporting junior researchers or helping colleagues develop their research skills.

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

Various locations are available for the successful candidate.

Purpose of the role

To deliver the collection and analysis of research into customer needs, experiences and interactions, to support the creation of beautiful, useful, and innovative experiences and communications for our 20m UK customers. To put the Customer Voice at the heart of everything we do. 

Accountabilities

• Delivery of end to end research programmes which are highly synergistic with other research and analytics activities conducted by the business including Design/UX Research, Colleague research, quantitative research and CX tracking.

• Collaboration with various departments including Design, Product, Channel, Marketing, Transformation and Technology, to brainstorm innovative design concepts, ensuring that research findings are integrated into all stages of the innovation cycle.

• Development and testing of prototypes, mock-ups, or value propositions to support the analysis of concept development and usability feedback from customers and internal stakeholders.

• Monitoring of emerging technologies, industry trends, design best practices, societal changes, and economic trends that may impact the Customer landscape and influence Barclays strategic decisions.

• Utilisation of data analytics tools to extract insights from market research, customer surveys, and feedback sessions to identify new opportunities and understand evolving customer needs.

• Management of all risk relating to the Insight process, (and in particular Data Privacy risk) including identification of potential risks, development of strategies to mitigate those risks, and maintenance of alignment with Chief Controls Office and Data Privacy Compliance.

• Management of all Research programmes, including oversight of colleagues and their performance, implementation of departmental goals and objectives, oversight of department efficiency and effectiveness.

Assistant Vice President Expectations

• To advise and influence decision making, contribute to policy development and take responsibility for operational effectiveness. Collaborate closely with other functions/ business divisions.
• Lead a team performing complex tasks, using well developed professional knowledge and skills to deliver on work that impacts the whole business function. Set objectives and coach employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
• OR for an individual contributor, they will lead collaborative assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will identify new directions for assignments and/ or projects, identifying a combination of cross functional methodologies or practices to meet required outcomes.
• Consult on complex issues; providing advice to People Leaders to support the resolution of escalated issues.
• Identify ways to mitigate risk and developing new policies/procedures in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Take ownership for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work done.
• Perform work that is closely related to that of other areas, which requires understanding of how areas coordinate and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation sub-function.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategy.
• Engage in complex analysis of data from multiple sources of information, internal and external sources such as procedures and practises (in other areas, teams, companies, etc).to solve problems creatively and effectively.
• Communicate complex information. 'Complex' information could include sensitive information or information that is difficult to communicate because of its content or its audience.
• Influence or convince stakeholders to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.