Experienced Game User Researcher - Player Research

Keywords Studios is the ultimate hub for talent in the AAA game development industry. We're a major player in gaming, with a global network of over 70+ studios across 26 countries, each with its own unique culture and expertise. Our collaborative approach sets us apart as the top choice for technical and creative services for renowned console and mobile game developers worldwide. We offer industry-leading solutions such as game development, art services, marketing, globalization, quality assurance, player support and more.

Now, we extend a warm invitation for you to explore new career opportunities with us.

About Player Research

At Player Research we want the world to experience brilliant games; ones full of adventure, surprise and intrigue – the ones you can’t put down, and those you talk about for days.

Across the world we partner with game development teams to realize their creative visions by providing meaningful insight into how real players experience play.

We are the world’s premier partner for games user research.  From our Brighton and Montreal studios we design and conduct award-winning user experience studies for video games: usability testing, expert reviews, engagement diaries, full playthroughs, training courses, accessibility testing… and so much more.

We uncover insights that drive game development forward.

As an external research studio we collaborate far and wide: game developers, publishers, platform owners, incubators, indies, and beyond. Around one third of our projects are commissioned by games user research teams inside studios and publishers to extend their reach and capabilities.

Hundreds of game development studios rely on our insights into usability, UX, appeal, and play.

Our projects come in all shapes and sizes, from testing user interfaces to interviewing super-fans; game console UI improvement, to toys-to-life; AAA full-playthroughs, discovery research, difficulty balancing, narrative comprehension, and so much more. Our consultant Researchers are brought into the heart of design decision-making in projects of all types. Some spanning years of development, some as one-off studies.

We are exceptionally proud of our decade-long reputation for authenticity, transparency and rigor. And we’d love to make you a part of it.

Player Research is an exceptional place to work and grow.

Our team is a healthy mix of expert practitioners and academically trained staff, each bringing their unique perspectives; each offering rich insight to our client studios, and one another.

We maintain a strong vision of company culture and values: rooted in deeply-held trust and empathy among peers, deliberate communication, self-determination, and taking pride in the work we deliver together.

Do you fit the role?

You are a few years into your games user research career, in a commercial setting. You bring a passion for games, psychology, and applied user research. You’re winning the trust of your stakeholders and colleagues, and you want to take on bigger challenges. You’re ready for a career turbo-charge: more stakeholder time, more ownership of projects, and more responsibility for insight.

We expect you to bring unique and relevant knowledge from your prior academic and industry experience, and in turn help your co-workers deliver evermore persuasive consultative guidance to our client teams.  You’ll work alongside Researchers, Participant Coordinators, Client Relations Managers and more, building your knowledge and practice of user research as a key part of our vibrant and impactful agency.

You’re passionate about seeing effective research delivered, be that longform or short form studies. You have a strong instinct for what good study design looks like, can anticipate obstacles and identify solutions to tackle them. You are ready for the move from tactical execution towards strategic client partnership, all toward making unforgettable games through player-centric development.

All of our Games User Researchers execute research as part of small, agile teams. Partnered with our highly experienced, world-class Games User Researchers, you will confidently contribute to the entire process of running successful playtests and expert-led research.  Our smoothly run and insightful studies reliably help developers understand their audience and improve game design.

Core Responsibilities

• Being our clients’ trusted point-of-contact for advice and consultancy, nurturing long-term, high-quality client relationships
• Applying our client-centric strategy, in partnership with our client Relations team, focusing on meeting client needs through campaigns of research; overseeing how each project matures our clients’ understanding of research, and joining-up both processes and insights from one project to the next
• Building research roadmaps and proposals for insightful individual studies, promising extraordinary business and creative value: wowing our clients and winning our pitches
• Using your initiative to improve our internal processes for the benefit of colleagues and clients
• Capturing your knowledge in training materials, articles, talks, and mentoring your colleagues.  Acting as an ambassador, speaking, writing and educating the world on the importance of games user research
• Designing, scoping, project managing and delivering exceptional games user research, on time and on budget
• Executing a variety of methods including large lab playtests, usability playtests, writing competitor and expert analyses, remote research studies, desk and secondary research
• Presenting to clients. Owning the responsibility to effectively embed our findings and player-centric design philosophy into their development processes
• Applying continuous improvement of yourself through training, writing, and evaluating video game UX

Management: You’ll have two managers: a People Manager and a global Head of Research Craft, ensuring your professional and technical skill growth respectively.

• 4+ years’ commercial User Research experience either in a games or mainstream technology setting OR previous experience in a commercial game development role
• We are seeking candidates with diverse academic backgrounds, such as human computer interaction (HCI), psychology, interaction design, or product design. Providing that you have the commercial experience, we will review all candidates regardless of university degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD) or equivalent industry experience.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with a demonstrable experience of building trust and rapport, collaborating effectively and problem solving with confidence.
• Strong commercial acumen with a focus on how to consistently deliver value and positive outcomes into our clients and into Player Research’s commercial strategy
• Highly collaborative, able to pivot between project leadership, project support, and coaching roles, liaising effectively with your colleagues across our team
• Expertise in research design and a wealth of experience conducting user research across multiple research methodologies, including research with school-age children.
• A strong understanding of the game development process, and the role (and limitations of) user research at each development stage
• Excellent written and verbal communication adaptable to a range of environments and levels within an organisation
• Good negotiation and influencing skills. Work well with and win-over our cross-functional stakeholders, including  designers, producers, engineers, artists and studio leadership.

We are pleased to offer visa sponsorship to support international applicants for this role, where they have sufficient relevant experience to be eligible for a visa. Please identify on your application whether you have an existing right to work in the UK.

To be eligible for a UK visa you need:

• 3+ years industry research experience
• Professional-level spoken and written English.

This is a full-time position on a permanent contract.  In mid-December we will be opening opportunities for (minimum) 6-month fixed term contract roles, if you would like to be considered for these alongside the full-time positions please indicate in your application.

Location and starting

• For immediate start; we are willing to wait for the right candidate.
• In order to facilitate playtest lab-based research, relocation to Brighton (UK) is required. We are pleased to offer financial and operational support for relocation.
• We work hybrid. In-office time is required as part of in-person testing, training, and collaborative work. Working from your choice of location – in-home or from our delightful offices at all other times.
• You should expect occasional work on weekends and evenings as part of our research with school-age children.

• Great salaries, in line with regional games user research pay
• Generous annual leave allowance
• Life assurance plan
• Pension plan
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Extra pay for occasional research run on weekends and/or on national holidays
• Optional subsidised private medical cover
• Volunteer Time Off (VTO): 1 day per year paid for all employees
• Relocation support for yourself and family
• Friendly, inclusive teams with a range of interests and activities to join

In addition to base salary we include a modest performance-based annual bonus, based on your personal goals and company commercials.

Stand out and be passionate. Good luck.

Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Commitment:Keywords Studios is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. If you require any adjustments during the process please let us know in your application. We are committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, customer focus, and innovation. We especially welcome applications from candidates of underrepresented groups in the industry.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY

By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice at https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice.

Role Information: EN

Studio: Keywords Studios

Location: Brighton, UK

Area of Work: Marketing

Service: Engage

Employment Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full Time, Hybrid