Senior Research Associate (Automotive Interior/UX Designer)

Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s largest community of postgraduate art and design students. It is also the oldest art and design university in continuous operation and has been ranked as the world‘s number one art and design university for a remarkable ten consecutive years, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 – the worldwide survey of academic and industry opinion.

The Royal College of Art's Intelligent Mobility Design Centre (IMDC) is at the forefront of exploring the future of mobility. We are embarking on an exciting project, “AI design for autonomous mobility”, to redefine the relationship between people and Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). As we navigate disruptive changes in mobility, we aim to instil trust, inclusivity, and joy in AV journey experiences. Join us in shaping the future of autonomous mobility!

Position Overview:
 We are seeking a highly creative Senior Research Associate with a specialisation in Automotive Interior/UX Design. This role is pivotal in crafting novel design directions for future AVs and passenger experiences. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with our team to produce prototypes, demonstrators, and interactive solutions that challenge the status quo and drive innovation in autonomous mobility.  This is a fixed term role until December 2024, based at our state-of-the-art facility at Battersea.  We are flexible on full time or part time applicants (0.6fte and above).  We have a hybrid working policy, but this is a highly collaborative project so 60% on site (based on working full time) is required.

Key Responsibilities:

Project Development & Management:

• Coordinate and deliver project activities, aligning with overall goals and ensuring efficient use of resources.
• Develop and propose design solutions through Research through Design methodologies.
• Create physical and digital prototypes using various tools to explore new vehicle architecture, form, and detail.
• Support research activities including fieldwork, user research, workshops, stakeholder analysis, and user journey mapping.
• Document project outcomes, providing design exemplars, reports, presentations, and academic outputs.
• Supervise and coordinate casual workers on the project under the direction of the project lead.

Communication and Dissemination:

• Communicate project outputs to various audiences through written, verbal, visual, or other agreed modes.
• Present project progress and outcomes to internal colleagues and external partners at Centre events or meetings.
• Foster productive relationships with project partners, academic, industry, government, and policy networks for future collaborations.

Developmental Activities:

• Contribute ideas and techniques from the project to the Centre’s portfolio of research methods and projects.
• Support the delivery of Executive Education courses and workshops.
• Collaborate with Centre team members to prepare and submit project proposals, analysing partner needs and identifying project delivery methods and resource requirements.

Qualifications:

• Masters/Doctoral degree level qualification in automotive / mobility / interaction / communications / gaming design or equivalent experience.
• Proven experience in automotive interior design, UX design, and prototyping.
• Strong skills in digital design tools and prototyping software.
• Excellent project management, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple tasks, and adapt to changing priorities.
• Previous experience in autonomous vehicle projects or intelligent mobility design is desirable.

 Applications close at 11.59pm on 14th May 2024.

See Information Pack for further details.