Customer Understanding Researcher

Contract Type: Permanent ¦ Full Time

Location: Bradford, Petersfield, Chatham or London

Working Pattern: Hybrid—typically a couple of days a week in the office. Part-time or flexible arrangements are considered to support work-life balance. A fear of losing your current working flexibility shouldn't hinder you from applying for new opportunities, which is why we aim to match your existing flexible working arrangements where possible.

What We Offer

• Holidays: 25 days, increasing to 30 days with service
• Pension: Up to 10% employer contribution
• Family Leave: Enhanced maternity (post-probation) and 4 weeks paternity leave
• Workations: Work abroad for up to 20 days a year (approved countries)
• Volunteering: 2 paid days to support a charity of your choice
• Learning & Development: Access to LinkedIn Learning for all colleagues
• Financial Wellbeing: Free Snoop Premium subscription
• Connection & Culture: Quarterly socials, in-person and virtual company updates
• Healthcare: Option to join Private Medical Insurance
• Bonus: Discretionary annual bonus

 The Role

Join Us as a Customer Understanding Researcher – Be the Voice of the Customer.

Are you passionate about truly understanding what makes customers tick? Do you thrive on turning insights into action and influencing strategic decisions? At Vanquis, we’re looking for a Customer Understanding Researcher to help shape and champion our customer vision across the organisation.

In this pivotal role, you’ll lead the charge in uncovering what our customers want, need, and expect—using a blend of qualitative and quantitative research methods. From in-depth interviews and usability testing to market analysis and customer feedback synthesis, you’ll be at the heart of driving customer-centric strategies that make a real impact.

You’ll collaborate with teams across Vanquis, translating insights into meaningful improvements and ensuring the customer voice is heard at every level. If you're a curious, analytical thinker with a passion for customer experience and enjoy storytelling through data, we’d love to hear from you.

As a Customer Understanding Researcher, you will:

• Customer Research: Lead customer research through various methodologies including in-depth interviews, surveys and usability testing to understand customer wants, needs, pain points and Jobs to be Done. Collaborate with teams across the organisation to translate research findings into actionable recommendations. Continuously monitor and evaluate user feedback to iteratively improve the customer experience.
• Market Research: conduct market analysis to identify trends, opportunities and threats within the competitor landscape. Utilise primary and secondary research methods to gather insights on market dynamics, competitor activities and customer preferences. Synthesize market research findings to provide strategic recommendations.
• Customer Understanding: serve as a single source of truth for customer understanding, using existing feedback channels, surveys and social media monitoring. Work in collaboration with stakeholders across the organisation to set the strategy for customer metrics (e.g. CSAT/NPS) and other relevant measures across the customer journey. Use customer feedback to identify common themes, sentiments and areas for improvement. Act as the voice of the customer within the organisation, advocating for customer centric decisions and initiatives.
• Customer Panel: develop our VBG customer panel to solicit direct customer input and create actionable plans that drive better experiences for customers.
• Research Synthesis and Insight Generation: synthesise findings from various primary and secondary research sources including customer experience research, market research, and customer feedback to identify overarching insights and trends. Translate raw data into meaningful insights and actionable recommendations for key stakeholders. Prepare and present research findings in a clear, concise manner to facilitate decision-making at all levels of the organisation.

What We’re Looking For

• Previous experience in quantitative CX / UX research, market and competitor research
• Knowledge of wider research disciplines, methodologies and best practice frameworks
• Hands-on experience with survey tools such as Qualtrics, UserTesting, or equivalent platforms.
• Proven ability to generate detailed reports and visualizations to present research findings.
• Experience in interrogating secondary research and in-house analytics.
• Good commercial understanding and business acumen.
• Experience managing research projects from inception to completion, ensuring timely delivery of insights.
• Experience of working in a regulated environment or similarly complex environment
• Previous experience of working in financial services is beneficial

Offers are subject to satisfactory background checks, including credit, fraud, and employment references.

Who we are

At Vanquis, we have a simple purpose: to deliver caring banking so our customers can make the most of life’s opportunities. Established in 1880, we’re now a FTSE All Share company and leading specialist bank. We lend responsibly, providing tailored products and services to over 1.69 million UK customers.  We see ourselves as the bank that’s got your back.

Vanquis has been named one of the Financial Times UK’s Best Employers 2025, ranking in the top 50 nationwide and seventh in Banking and Financial Services. This recognition is based on independent employee feedback, reflecting our strong workplace culture, career growth opportunities, and commitment to our people.

We take care of our colleagues as well as our customers, working hard to create a rewarding and supportive work environment. That means competitive salaries, benefits, and a Group-wide recognition scheme. Everyone can enrol in our pension and after six months, you can join our ‘Buy as You Earn’ scheme.

We’re about more than financial rewards though. We give everyone a voice in the business and room to be their authentic self. And we know you’re here to build your career, so we help every colleague with training and development opportunities. Making sure there’s always something new to learn.

Equal Opportunities

Vanquis Bank is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We embrace everyone’s unique strengths and identities. No matter your background, identity, or experience, you are welcome here. We believe diversity enriches our teams and helps us better support our customers.

If there’s anything we can do to support you during the recruitment process—whether that’s a different format of the application or additional assistance—please contact us at careers@vanquis.com.

The Company

At Vanquis, we’ve been empowering lives since 1880. As a FTSE All Share company and leading specialist bank, we lend responsibly to over 1.69 million UK customers.

We’re just as committed to our colleagues as we are to our customers, offering competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and recognition schemes. With pension plans, our ‘Buy as You Earn’ scheme, and ongoing training opportunities, we create a supportive environment where you can grow and thrive.

Bring your authentic self, find your voice, and build your career with us—because at Vanquis, we believe in making the most of life’s opportunities.