Head of Research Craft

Salary: Annual fixed, with modest annual performance-related bonus Format: Full-time, permanent Location: Location/timezone compatible with our teams in the UK and Eastern Canada. Reports to: Managing Director Applications close: January 26th 2026 About us 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 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, trusting us 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 fifteen year-long reputation for authenticity, transparency and rigour. 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 each-and-every project we deliver together. About The Role We’re seeking a Head of Research Craft to own the technical skills growth of our consultant games user research team globally, and help us ‘raise the bar’ of research quality in our influential business. This is an established role, developing under your guidance. Head of Research Craft is a central role to the functioning of Player Research, working with Leadership, Client Relationship Managers, and User Researchers. Within this role you will help define and implement the strategic initiatives that drive growth in our staff and across our business. You are passionate about achieving excellence from research teams and lead by example to promote a culture of learning and improvement. You’ll be on-the-job coaching, soliciting feedback, designing and executing internal and external training activities, and implementing your own initiatives for continual improvement. You’ll get stuck into projects as a trusted advisor coaching our busy research teams. Our Head of Research Craft is a domain expert and contributes continually to our research projects and processes, ensuring they’re rigorous, impactful, and efficient, while being unafraid to push boundaries and experiment. You’ll be instrumental in balancing consistency with creativity and innovation in our approaches: delivering to the fullest potential of the method, the project team, and our client’s research opportunity. By involving yourself in key research projects – either actively as a lead or passively as a mentor – your influence will accelerate the domain growth of staff, and shape the future of our service offerings. You will naturally develop relationships with key clients by consultatively designing research strategies, and supporting the delivery of excellent research to plan. You’ll be an ambassador for our business, both project-to-project and in business development events and conferences. The Head of Research Craft is a ‘dotted line’ manager for all games user researchers in the business. Full-time people management (‘solid line’) is owned by a People Manager. Our Head of Research Craft is responsible for providing guidance, mentorship, and performance evaluation on topics of research and technical skills for ~15 researchers globally. Our Researchers are a healthy mix of expert practitioners and academics, of ambitious career‑starters and seasoned professionals. Experienced games user researchers – like you – bring unique perspectives and learnings to help us grow, and to offer even richer insight to our client studios. In return, Player Research provides a stable and vibrant workplace to conduct the most fulfilling work of your career. Overseeing performance and continual professional growth for our ~15 games user researchers Improving our internal processes for the benefit of colleagues and clients. Change‑managing improvements to research protocols by documenting our learnings and innovations Deliver learning and development on topics of research craft: 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 Arrange candid internal per-project retrospectives to ensure systematic reflection, dissemination and adoption of learnings Support our client relationship team to apply our client‑centric strategy . Exploring opportunities to design novel or adapted research approaches to drive ever more insight into the game development process, 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 Exceptional time‑management, involving yourself strategically in ongoing research projects of all shapes and sizes, as either a client‑facing consultant, an on‑project researcher, or as a mentor to the project team Collaboratively drive the recruitment and onboarding of new Games User Researchers ‘Spotlight’ staff excellence to show appreciation, promote wellbeing, and increase eminence both internally to Player Research and on the world stage Be constantly ‘on the pulse’ of our culture, working closely with our People Managers, Strategy and Support teams, including international travel and on‑sites Skills/Experience Required Proven line management skills , with a demonstrable experience of building team trust and rapport, collaborating effectively and problem solving with confidence. Passion and knowledge of video game user experience practice, and a strong understanding of the game development process, and the role (and limitations of) user research at each development stage Demonstrable experience supporting the formal growth of others, e.g. through coaching, mentorship, and/or formal training Knowledge of applied research methods and best practices in user research: behavioural and attitudinal, quant and qual Significant hands‑on experience of leading user research projects, ideally in game development Strong commercial acumen with a focus on how to consistently deliver value and positive outcomes into our clients and into Player Research’s B2B strategy Highly collaborative, able to pivot between project leadership, project support, and coaching roles, liaising effectively with your colleagues across our team Strong communication skills and an empathetic leadership style Bonus Points A PhD or Masters in a relevant field, e.g. psychology, HCI, ergonomics, gamedev Deep/broad experience of games user research specifically as project manager, strategist or lead Experience of formal people management (as sole manager or ‘dotted line’) Experience working ’embedded’ with senior production stakeholders on a project team Specialist quantitative data analysis and/or applied game telemetry knowledge Strong research experience with specialist audiences, including children, people with disabilities, or non/casual gamers. This is a full-time permanent role. Location and starting For immediate start; we are willing to wait for the right candidate. The candidate should be in a location/timezone compatible with our teams in the UK and Eastern Canada. Relocation and visa support available (varies by region) Our teams 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. We are considering remote candidates for this role. Salary, benefits and perks Benefits vary by region; please enquire Great salaries, in line with regional games user research pay Insurance coverage Generous annual leave allowance Volunteer Time Off (VTO): 1 day per year paid for all employees Employee and Family Assistance Program. 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. How to apply Please submit your CV and covering letter outlining your career goals to (emailprotected) We are not accepting CVs from agencies at this time. Due to the number of applications received, we cannot commit to giving detailed or specific feedback on unsuccessful 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 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 . #J-18808-Ljbffr