Job profile

Welsh University of the Year 2021 by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. 

Our performance in this year’s Guide is exceptional. Our University was the biggest riser in Wales, and the third biggest in the UK, placing us in the UK top 40 for student satisfaction with teaching quality and the wider student experience. 

We are very pleased that our strong performance has resulted in the University attracting high numbers of well qualified students and we are now seeking additional staff in both our academic schools and professional services departments.

The opportunity

PDR the International Centre for Design and Research is a major award winning, multidisciplinary design consultancy and research centre with a global client base.  With extensive facilities and capabilites across many design and advanced prototyping and manufacturing we undertake work with companies from across the UK, Europe, the Far East and US.

We’re looking for a core member of PDR’s User Centred Design (UCD) team, who has in-depth knowledge of design research, prototyping and testing across design disciplines. You’ll join a team running commercial design research projects, that covers product, service, digital and broader strategy level projects. We’re looking for someone with good research and analytical skills who can also work collaboratively to embed understanding of users into multidisciplinary design teams internally and with clients.  

You will be an enthusiastic and friendly professional with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

What you’ll do – key duties

• Undertake UCD design activities on a consultancy basis from user, market and technical research through to planning and translation into product design and related solutions.
• Undertake product design and support activities as required to assist in interpretation of UCD findings and/or in contribution to general product design consultancy activity as required.
• Contribute to assigned projects and work autonomously with support from the Senior Design Staff.
• To plan and manage UCD and Design projects from initial brief conception to delivery.
• To be the main point of contact for client communications, as directed by Senior Design and Management Staff, liaising throughout the process to ensure clients remain up-to-date with project progress as well as ensuring all follow-up action has been adhered to such as enquiry processing and contractual obligations.
• Support other members of the UCD and Design teams in meeting with clients, to discuss, negotiate and assist in identifying commercial project needs and to assist interpretation and translation of these into agreed project proposals and specifications.
• Undertake technical and project research activities in areas including visual language and semantics exploration, user insight and interpretation, sector and design trends and the presentation and support of such work to the design team and commercial clients as appropriate.
• To present research and design process outcomes externally, to clients and/or at industry at a senior level and at industry events and conferences as required.
• To assist in the review and selection of appropriate research methods (including qualitative and quantitative UCD related research methods) and tailoring these to project needs.
• To assist and contribute to the team’s identification of research objectives and to assist in the dissemination of research findings by contributing to conference, journal and other publications.

What you’ll bring – essential experience & strengths

• Experience in planning and executing usability studies and related user insight research
• Experience of writing and presenting complex technical and design based issues at a senior level
• Experience of running and facilitating design exploration and problem solving workshops involving a broad stakeholder base
• Experience working in a commercial design environment
• Experience working on commercial design research projects
• Effective organisational & interpersonal skills
• Ability to prioritise tasks, meet deadlines
• Highly self-motivated
• Ability to write and present complex subject matter
• Flexible work ethic with the ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Well-developed communication skills

What you’ll have - essential qualifications

• Degree in Product / Industrial Design, User Experience, Interaction Design or a related subject.

Our total reward package

We have a range of great benefits for employees including:

Annual leave of 25 days, rising to 30 days after 1 years’ service, plus 12 bank holiday / concessionary days

Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme with generous contributions

Flexible and remote working opportunities

Award winning sports and fitness facilities with subsidised membership, plus subsidised physiotherapy/complementary therapy/sports massage

Access to all library facilities

Salary sacrifice schemes including cycle to work

How to apply

If you would like to talk with us about this opportunity please contact Alistair Ruff, User Centred Design Lead, at aruff@pdronline.co.uk

To start your application please visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/jobs

When applying for this position please submit a CV, Portfolio and a covering letter explaining how you meet all of the essential criteria.

Closing date: Monday 8 March 2021, 4:30 pm

Should a high volume of applications be received, we may need to close this vacancy early. We therefore encourage you to apply as early as possible.

We are committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. Our Strategic Plan underpins our commitment to recruit and retain the best talent and we welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds.  We appoint on merit.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic all of our recruitment is being conducted virtually. We aim to respond to your application as soon as possible.

Further Information

Full Job Description and Person Specification

Our Candidate Pack

Please visit our website for information about working for us, our culture, benefits, work-life balance and our career progression and development opportunities.