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Cancer Research UK (CRUK) are hiring a

Senior UX Designer

Senior User Experience Designer

Salary: £45,000 - £50,000 (+ Benefits)

Reports to: Madeleine Conaghan, Lead UX Designer
Department: Chief Operating Office
Contract: 12 month fixed-term contract
Hours: Full time 35 hours per week
Location: Stratford, London
Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)
Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 25 September 2025 23:55
This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: One competency-based interview with an exercise
Interview date: From the week commencing 06 October 2025

How do I apply?

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

About Us

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer. We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you. Without the Design Team, Cancer Research UK wouldn’t have the digital products and services needed for people to interact with the charity and understand our value in fighting cancer. We are looking for a Senior User Experience (UX) Designer to use their UX skills and expertise to support the delivery of work covering a range of products and initiatives across the central technology team and wider organisation (depending on where there is the greatest organisational need and impact). Therefore, in this role, no day will be the same.

What will I be doing?

  • Being part of a multi-disciplinary team as a UX expert, following the double diamond process through running research studies and designing innovative experiences to support Cancer Research UK’s diverse audiences.
  • Supporting the development of medium to long-term UX strategy and driving its delivery.
  • Identifying opportunities in the UX capability to help develop Cancer Research UK's UX maturity.
  • Maintaining a working knowledge of directorate and department priorities to inform your own delivery and impact.
  • Seeking out opportunities to lead and/or contribute to portfolio initiatives.
  • Applying your UX skills and expertise to support the delivery of work for Cancer Research UK.
  • Acting as an influential UX specialist within the Technology department and across the organisation.
  • Maintaining an understanding of other related topics to utilise own skills or expertise for wider directorate or department benefit.
  • Identifying and seeking resolution of complex problems within the UX capability and exploring new ideas and opportunities.
  • Engaging and influencing a diverse range of internal stakeholders to deliver user-centred solutions.
  • Training, coaching, and upskilling team members and colleagues across the organisation in the tools and techniques of user-centred design.
  • Line managing 2-3 direct reports within the portfolio and playing a key role in mentoring, coaching, and supporting more junior UX design team members across the UX team.
  • Acting as a day-to-day point of contact for UX-related enquiries.
  • Representing Cancer Research UK’s UX offering both internally and externally.
  • Building relationships with key staff across the organisation to maintain effectiveness in the role.

What skills will I need?

  • Senior User Experience Designer/Researcher with experience independently leading, delivering, and completing multiple UX projects simultaneously.
  • Strong design skills covering key UX processes, including most of the following: User research, interviews, competitor analysis, persona/archetype creation, user journey mapping, running design workshops, design sprints, prototyping using Figma, usability testing (Lab and Guerrilla), Smoke tests, A/B testing and multivariant testing using Optimizely, analysing Hotjar or GA data, lean UX, accessibility and inclusive design, heuristic evaluations, contextual inquiry, survey writing, design system.
  • Ability to clearly communicate and articulate UX concepts, benefits of user research, your process, and design decisions to peers and stakeholders through innovative storytelling techniques.
  • Agile methodologies with experience working within multi-disciplinary teams.
  • Strong organisational, prioritisation, and planning skills with the ability to work independently and identify where your work has the biggest impact.
  • Proven ability to build and manage strong stakeholder relationships across the organisation with a collaborative working style.
  • Supportive team player who has operated within large design teams with varying levels of experience and diverse design skillsets.
  • Continuous learning attitude and keeps up to date on new advancements in technology and UX ways of working.
  • Empathetic with a proven ability to navigate challenging and sensitive topics in research conversations regarding cancer.
  • Experience working with marginalised user groups or users within a similar setting would be advantageous (for example, healthcare and charities, etc.).

Our Values

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do:

  • Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
  • Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
  • Human: Act to have a positive impact on people
  • Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer. If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

Additional Information

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk. For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.