Early-Career Games User Researchers (UK/Canada)

• Salary: Annual
• Format: Full-time/permanent
• Location: UK Brighton/Canada Montreal
• Reports to: People Manager & Head of Research Craft
• Applications close: July 14th 2023

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 realise their creative visions by providing meaningful insight into how real players experience play.

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

We work with game developers, publishers, platform owners, incubators, universities… As an external research studio we collaborate far and wide. Around one third of our projects are commissioned by games user research teams inside studios or publishers.

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, to toys-to-life; AAA full-playthroughs, to rapid expert evaluations for indies.

Our consultant researchers are brought to the heart of design decision-making in projects of all types, be that spanning years of development or as one-off strategic research engagements.

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

About the role

We’re looking for passionate individuals early in their career in Games User Research. You’ll bring a passion for games, psychology, and user research to our teams in Brighton UK and Montreal Canada.

Our Games User Researchers ensure the smooth execution of studies that help developers and publishers understand their audience and improve video game development. As a career-starter you’ll first learn our time-tested approaches to gathering insight from players: radically informing game design for titles across a huge spectrum of game genres. You’ll work alongside Researchers, Participant Coordinators, Client Relations Managers and more, building your knowledge and practice of user research in our vibrant and impactful agency.

We expect you to bring unique and relevant knowledge from your prior academic or industrial experience, and in turn help your co-workers deliver evermore incisive consultative guidance to our client teams.

You’ll take on increasing responsibilities in both longform and shortform research studies, contribute to the entire process of running successful playtests and expert-led research, and build essential confidence in your role as a games user research professional. This is a great opportunity to learn from our team of highly-experienced, world-class games user researchers. Leading your personal and technical growth is the responsibility of our dedicated Head of Research Craft and People Manager.

Player Research is an exceptional place to work and grow.

Our team are a healthy mix of expert practitioner and academically-trained staff, each bringing unique perspectives and learnings to help us offer rich insight to our client studios, and one another.

We maintain a strong vision, 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.

Who do we work with?

Game developers, publishers, platform owners, incubators, universities… As an external research studio we collaborate far and wide. You’ll benefit from the long-term relationships we’ve forged with our key partners, while also having opportunities to develop fresh relationships with studios taking their first steps in player-centric development.

Every month we welcome new clients; each places their trust in Player Research to guide their creative vision to deliver commercial success.

Although we collaborate with studios big and small, it’s noted that we choose not to contribute research to certain genres, such as real money gambling, nor adult entertainment games.

Core Responsibilities

• Learn and increasingly own the execution of games user research projects for our varied clients
• Carry out user research activities including running large lab playtests, observing usability playtests, writing competitor and expert analyses, remote research studies, desk and secondary research
• Analysing findings and writing compelling, actionable reports
• Presenting findings and research-backed recommendations to clients, to effectively embed user feedback and player-centric design philosophy into their development processes
• Build a clear understanding of the game development process, and the business contribution of games user research
• Use your initiative to improve our processes for the benefit of colleagues and clients
• Applying continuous improvement of yourself through training, writing, and evaluating video game UX
• Capturing your knowledge in training materials, articles, talks, and committing yourself to giving and receiving feedback
• You’ll have two managers: a People Manager and a global Head of Research Craft, ensuring your professional and technical growth respectively

Skills/Experience Required

• Relevant prior research experience either in games user research, mainstream research, previous experience in a game development role, or relevant hands-on experience from an advanced degree
• We are seeking candidates from diverse backgrounds, such as human computer interaction (HCI), psychology, interaction design, or product design. We will review all candidates regardless of their university degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD) or equivalent experience
• A proven knowledge of the basics of UR methodologies, including designing studies to a clients brief, writing questionnaires, running user research studies, and conducting competitor and or expert analysis.
• An understanding of the game development process
• Someone with a passionate interest in video games and applying research techniques to gaming
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to build trust and rapport with developers and communicate confidently and effectively

Location and Starting

• For immediate start, but we’re willing to wait for the right candidate
• The candidate can be located in Brighton (UK) or Montreal (Canada) in order to facilitate lab-based research; for those needing to relocate, the timeline and support available for relocation will be discussed according to your individual circumstances and goals
• Our playtest lab is presently closed to in-person research in Montreal, when an appropriate location is identified we plan to resume in-person testing, at which point we are committed to flexible hybrid working practices. In the interim we’re working fully remotely in GMT-5 timezones, and can support remote Researchers

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

• To be eligible for a Canadian visa: three or more years of commercial research experience (further information on immigration to Canada)
• To be eligible for a UK visa: Two or more years commercial research experience plus professional-level spoken and written English (further information on immigration to the UK).

Salary, Benefits and Perks

• Great salaries, always in-step with games user research pay
• Generous annual leave allowance
• Life assurance plan
• Pension plan
• Income protection plan
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Optional subsidised private medical cover
• State-of-the-art research labs in Brighton and planned for Montreal
• Relocation support for yourself and family
• Region-specific perks and benefits
• Friendly, inclusive teams with a range of interests and activities to join

In addition to base salary we include a modest personal/company performance-based annual bonus.

Brighton and Montreal are each beautiful cities, with vibrant game development communities, and afford a great standard of living.

Apply

Montreal: Please submit your CV and covering letter outlining your career goals to montrealhiring@playerresearch.com

Brighton: Please submit your CV and covering letter outlining your career goals to brightonhiring@playerresearch.com

If you meet the foundational criteria for both locations, you’re welcome to apply to both positions. Please highlight on both your application emails that you’ve applied to the other also.

The closing date for this role is July 14th 2023. We will confirm receipt of your application, but most applicant communication will occur after the closing date.

We are not accepting CVs from agencies at this time.

We really appreciate the time taken to complete each application. If you haven’t heard from us by July 28th, you should assume that on this occasion your application has not been successful. Due to the number of applications received, we are unfortunately unable to give detailed or specific feedback on applications.

We are an equal opportunity employer and strongly value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, parental status, or disability. Player Research doesn’t simply accept differences — we actively celebrate and support it for the benefit of our job applicants, our employees, our services, and our community.

Your Personal Data

Player Research is strongly committed to protecting your personal information. By sending your CV/Resume, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and consent to your data being managed and retained in accordance with our data privacy and retention policy.

Stand out and be passionate. Good luck.

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