We’re expanding our human-centred design and research practice

People are at the centre of everything we do at Social Finance. We know that the most impactful solutions are created with a deep understanding of people and communities at their heart.

We’re on the lookout for design researchers who can bring their skills, energy and creativity to an expanding portfolio of human-centred design and research projects. As a design researcher, you’ll ensure systems and products meet the needs of the people who use them and those who deliver them.

Human-centred design and research at Social Finance

At Social Finance, we take an iterative, participatory approach to systems change and design.

We start by asking the big questions. What will it take to change systems to get better outcomes for those at the sharp edge of social injustice? How can we realise a fairer world where together we unleash the potential of communities? We then conduct explorative research to gain a deeper understanding of systemic problems, and collaborate with our partners, service users, and communities to design, prototype, incubate and scale our solutions. 

We’ve shown the value of this approach in developing products such as Family Context, a tool to support social workers make more informed decisions for children and their families, and Track My Request, a text notification service to keep residents updated on their requests for adult social care. We’re also pioneering participatory and co-creative approaches to our policy work across a range of areas, such as improving access to education for children and young people at heightened risk of school exclusion. 

Building a team that reflects our values

We’re looking for people with a real passion for social impact, good dose of pragmatism, and excellent research, analysis and synthesis skills. If you’re as comfortable communicating insights to a senior government client as you are leading an interview with a vulnerable young person, then we’d love to hear from you. 

Social Finance’s mission is to be an engine for social change, in the UK and globally – to do that well, we aim to hire and empower people who reflect the diversity of the communities we work with. We’re keen to hear from analytical, creative and empathetic researchers regardless of gender, age, ethnic identity, religion, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, neurodiversity or physical disability.

We aim to invest and grow human-centred design and research capabilities in our organisation, and you’ll be joining at a time when you have a genuine opportunity to shape the direction of this community of practice. That means you’ll have lots of autonomy, opportunity to experiment and build our culture of learning through practice.

Sounds like something you’d be interested in?

We want to give people the chance to get to grips with who we are before they apply. If you’re interested, please email Millie Devereux, Design & Research Practice Lead (millie.devereux@socialfinance.org.uk). She’ll arrange a chat with you so you can find out more about our growing team and the work we do. We actively encourage people from under-represented and minoritised groups to reach out – including those with experience of the social issues we’re working to address.

This conversation is simply to tell you more about Social Finance and give you the opportunity to ask any questions. It’s not a job application or interview. We’ll be posting job applications on our website in the coming weeks – watch this space!