UX Architect

Job Description
We are looking to recruit a UX Architect to join the Literature Services Team at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).

The Literature Services Team develops and maintains Europe PMC, a large repository of over 30 million full text biomedical research articles and abstracts. These records are supplemented with links to biological databases, citation networks and semantic annotation. Europe PMC is one of several digital services which support the ‘Open Science’ movement, aiming to make scientific research and data freely available and reusable, in an easy to access format, for both professional scientists and amateurs. Europe PMC is funded by 26 funders of biological and biomedical research across Europe, led by the Wellcome Trust.

This is a new role has been created to support our ongoing User Experience (UX) research and design activities for a rapidly growing, successful digital service. We are looking for a UX Architect who has some UX experience, but is keen to learn new skills and advance their career. This position reports to the Product Manager in Literature Services. 

Qualifications and Experience
You’ll be working as part of a product team which includes a Product Manager, front-end and back-end developers, a Helpdesk and a Community Manager. You will be specifically responsible for:  

• Helping to plan and conduct user research and ensure the product team empathise with our users and understand their needs and pain points;


• Gathering business requests from stakeholders and colleagues;


• Collaborating with the team to create and implement effective designs which meet user and business needs.


• Helping to run usability tests; including recruiting participants, moderating sessions and writing up usability issues and findings.

The Product Manager has overall responsibility for UX and supports the Literature Services Team Leader to define a clear vision and objectives for Europe PMC. You will be helping to support the delivery of that vision, continually improving and evolving Europe PMC to meet and exceed user needs. You are expected to have an understanding of UX design principles and at least 1-2 years of experience working in a UX role, creating digital products and services. 

Some experience of conducting user research, for example user interviews, surveys or observation is required. You will have followed an iterative UX design process and have experience of interaction design and information architecture (IA), for example creating design concepts, prototypes, page layouts, user journeys and navigation structures. You will have some experience of validating designs with users, such as usability testing and card sorting. Experience of visual design, writing web content, familiarity with HTML/CSS and using web analytics would be advantageous.

You will relish solving problems creatively and effectively. You will demonstrate excellent communication skills, be a pro-active, team player and collaborate effectively with other team members. It would be an advantage if you are familiar with working within an Agile team and using Agile methodologies, including SCRUM and Kanban.

Ideally you’ll have a degree in design, human computer interaction, psychology or computer science, or relevant experience working in a UX role. Experience working in bioinformatics, biological resource development and/or technical experience within scientific publishing or information science would be an advantage.

Application Instructions
Please apply online through www.embl.org/jobs