Design Researcher

Varjo is the world-leading provider of enterprise virtual and mixed reality solutions, delivering the highest levels of immersion, performance, and security for the most demanding industrial customers globally. Used by over 25% of the Fortune 100 to transform how they operate, Varjo is known for virtual and mixed reality that look and feel as real as the real world, allowing training fighter jet pilots and astronauts, designing cars, and conducting pioneering medical research across virtual environments. With our technology, professionals can recreate the exact feeling and conditions of real life in 3D, allowing them to work and train faster, better and more cost effectively.

Founded in 2016, Varjo now operates in over 40 countries worldwide with 200 employees in offices in Helsinki and Washington D.C. Our multicultural team consists of talents from all around the world, and our daily working language is English. We believe in the power of diversity – where different experiences, backgrounds, and ideas drive innovation and results.

We are now offering you an exciting position where you can see into the future and play your part in shaping Varjo’s growth journey.

Job description

You will join our Design & Research team as Design Researcher. You will collaborate closely with a multidisciplinary group of UX and industrial designers, product managers, and software and hardware engineers to organize and carry out user research for our hardware and software products. You will work both in the fields of hardware ergonomics and software user experience, and your research covers the full product lifecycle from early concept testing and customer needs-finding to detailed design validations, usability testing, and in-market product feedback. Your research brings the voice of the end users into product design and feature planning.

You get energized from working with people, and you will be at your best in hands-on research work, interviewing people, and organizing research sessions and workshops. You are able to bridge the discussion between end users and technical teams, and you have an analytical mindset that helps you to distill research findings into clear and engaging insights. You are comfortable managing multiple ongoing projects and your own flow of tasks, and are equipped with a curious and proactive approach to work.

What you’ll be doing

• Plan and organize user research and UX studies, including lab usability testing and evaluations, ergonomics tests, benchmark studies, interviews, surveys, and site visits.
• Analyze research results and summarize the data into research reports. Present your results to relevant project teams.
• Collaborate with designers to translate research findings into actionable recommendations for design and engineering teams.
• Work alongside our R&D organization to improve product quality through early and iterative testing, customer research, and competitor analysis.
• Manage our usability lab as Lab Owner, ensuring everything is operational and up to date: PCs, headsets, audio and video recording tools, and day-to-day research supplies.

Our expectations

• MSc, MSc (Tech), or MA in Human factors, usability, user-centered design or service design, or a related field.
• Minimum 2 years of work experience in qualitative user research.
• Good verbal communication skills and fluent language skills in both Finnish and English. Your role includes conducting interviews both in Finnish and English. You will need to master both languages to succeed in this role.
• Understanding of human factors and ergonomics, and ability to consider them as essential part of user experience of wearable devices.
• Curiosity and capability to work with new technologies and early technology prototypes.
• Experience with hardware products and multi-modal user interfaces is a plus.

This is a hands-on role in our Helsinki-based team. Because you’ll be working with physical devices and prototypes, the work will be performed mostly on site at our headquarters in Kaisaniemi. Full remote work is not possible in this role.

By joining us, you’ll get

• Opportunity to take part in creating the new state-of-the-art in virtual and mixed reality experiences.
• A low-hierarchy culture with minimal bureaucracy and maximum opportunity for you to take charge of your work. 
• An international working environment with tons of opportunities to learn and grow with the company.

Ready to jump into the exciting world of VR/XR? Then please include your CV and a cover letter to let us know why you are interested in this position.

This role will be filled as soon as the suitable candidate is found.